Hey all, as in mentioned in some other posts I was interested in upgrading the fog light bulbs and decided to go with ones I had been happy with - the Supreme Power Parts brand. I had the yellow fogs on my E46 and they looked and worked great; looking at the car they went with the color of the xenons yet the light they projected on the pavement/into the fog was distinctly yellow. The bulbs had lasted well and came with a replacement warranty, which I appreciated, so when it came time to get bulbs for the MCS I felt good about getting them again.

When I placed the order I also decided to get replacement high beams, the modder in me figured 'why not improve them too'

The Fogs
From the outset I was not thrilled with the stock fogs, they seem rather weak and not only looked sub par they did not seem to be very effective fog lamps. As I stated above the yellow Supreme Power Parts bulbs had done well before and I figured they'd be equally good on the MCS so I ordered the 55 watt H11 yellow ions.

This is what the bulbs look like compared to the the stock ones (obviously the SPP yellows are on the right):




You can't see it in the photo, but the interior workings of the bulb look very robust, equal to the stock Philips.

So, we installed one side and went to see how the fog appeared. I was happy to see the same yellow lighting projected with a generally white appearance to the lamp itself - the optics of the Mini fog though did make the lamp look more yellow-y and less bright white then it did on the M3 fogs so it doesn't match the xenons in the same way. Its difficult to see in the photo but the projected light is definitely brighter on the SPP fog vs the stock one, however the brightness of the lamp itself is about the same (what I mean by this is that when you look at the car the lamp brightness is about the same vs the projected light on the pavement which is brighter on the yellow SPP bulb). Here is a photo of the stock and the SPP in and on:




I have both sides with the SPP bulb in now and can really tell when I have them on, the tinge of yellow on the ground is very obvious from the driver's seat, and it certainly makes things brighter and clearer then it was before. I'll see if I can take some more photos to show you guys the way it looks on the car and the way they project.

Functionality wise I am very happy with these yellow fog bulbs, however, from a cosmetic point of view I am thinking that I would actually prefer brighter white fogs on this car so I am going to order the 55w H11 SPP super white bulbs and see how they look. (I know that many people opt for higher wattage bulbs but I prefer to stick with the stock 55 watt.) I'll post about those when I get them :smile:

Coming next, the high beams....

 

Excellent write up! Looking forward to the next chapter.

 

Thanks! Just hoping it can help others. So glad to see NAM back up, went on a loooong drive in the meantime rather then endure NAM withdrawl

Will post high beam segment in a minute - was surprised how much new fogs helped on the drive back through the dark trees

 

And now for another episode of 'As the Bulb Turns'

The High Beams
I went into getting new high beams as an afterthought and wasn't as excited about the change as the fogs; in the end though I am very glad I did it!

Like the fogs, the SPP super white bulbs look robust (like many xenon matching bulbs they are blue coated but project very white light):


We put them in and it was night and day; long story short they look just perfect! Bright, white light that matches the xenons I didn't think that I cared about that, but seeing it side by side was a revelation: with the Mini xenons the highs go on along with the HID projectors and the difference in the color is pronounced. The stock high beams looked very off white alongside the xenons but the SPP super whites are perfection and I found that I really liked the change. Yes its mostly for appearances since I do not need to use the highs all that often, but they do work very very well as highs so I'm glad to have them both look and work equally well now

Here is a comparo of the light projection agains the garage door:



Head on:



And, finally, close ups of the lamps:

Stock:


SPP Super White:



I am super happy with the super whites and the fogs and hope this helps any of you interested in changing out your stock bulbs.

I'll let you all know how the super white fogs compare to the yellows when I get them.

Cheers

 

I just got a set of superwhite H7s for the high beams that i will install tomorrow, how hard to replace the high beams, can you give me directions?

 

It's very simple, for the '05 you just have to remove the cover for the high beams (bottom one near the bonnet's edge), unplug the power, and the remove the bulb from the pressure fit clamps. I released them from the top first.

Note that the indented tab portion of the bulb is pointed to the top of the headlight when you install them.

Voila!

 

Are the high beam lights you ordered 55 or 80 watts? I see both on the site (althought the 80 watt lamps are backordered).

 

I am sticking with the stock 55 watt.

 

thx for the write up!!!

....so! would u say that the yellows made a greater impact in visibility?

 

Nice to see someone recognize that blue bulbs are not the way to go for fog lights. Blue / cooler light scatters a lot more than the warmer end of visible light spectrum. For anyone that doesn't believe this, see how many blue tinted ski goggles you can find on the market. If we could only see in the IR...
-B

 

I did really reallly noticed an increase in visibility during the drive last night - I can't say if its due to the yellow or just that the light projected was brighter then the stock. I was just focusing on driving and the difference lept out at me when I was going through the dark forest of trees - the sides of the road were much clearer; the fogs were now really spreading the light out and the details of the leaves and debris by the side of the road was amazing. I don't think the entire reason was color, I think the bulbs just illuminate better somehow, but the yellow did make it look nice

As for the blue vs yellow thing, I don't know if you can compare snow conditions (considered for ski goggles) to regular street driving ones (and we have no snow here) but the light wave colors likely do make some difference. That said I am going to try the super white fogs just to see if they put out more light (which I think they will). The bulb may be tinted blue but the light output really appears white (matching the xenons in the high beams), so I do not think there will be any drawbacks like using those really blue projecting bulbs.

 

Alright I just went to the site, which ones exactly did you get? Also if you could please go into more detail on the install, it would be greatly appreciated! I know how to do it but just want to be sure!

Thanks they look awesome!

Mike

 

BTW does anyone know what the bulb used in the front indicators/drl are?

 

Hi Mike, I got the H11 Yellow Ion 55watt bulbs for the fogs (seen here: http://www.supremepowerparts.com/category/spr/h11.html). I will be trying the super whites in 55 watt too.

For the high beams I used the H7 Super White 55watt bulbs (http://www.supremepowerparts.com/category/spr/h7.html). These are the same bulbs that would be used for your DRLs in a semi brightness mode.

The turn signals are your standard BMW 21 watt turn signal. I have the Silvervisions in there to quash the egg yolky amber bulb effect inside the clear lenses (SPP happens to have them, here is what they look like - http://www.supremepower.com/category...ervision.html).


Which install do you want detail on? I can try to write it up more and/or even find other's instructions for doing them here on NAM if you need.

 

Nice comparison & pics. Thanks!

 

the high beams. The Drls in the front indicator are easy, just the high beams, there just seems to be alot of stuff there that I would rather not screw up!

The parking/drls, are the same wattage and size as the high beams though? Interesting!

Thanks

Mike

 

Oops, no wait, we have a misunderstanding - when I was talking about the DRLs using the high beams I was referring to the programmed option of the Daytime Running Lights, not the parking lights/turn signals! I never heard of the turn signals being called drls before so I misunderstood what you were asking and no, the high beams and turns do not use the same bulb - the turn signal lights are the 21 watt ones I posted above as Silvervisions.

I'm not sure what else to say about installing the high beams in an 05> Mini with xenons (which is what I have) - I can take a pic if you think that will help. Thing is, if you have an earlier year or halogen headlights I can't be sure it will be the same...

 

No I have an 05 with Xenons. Are there two or only one bulb(s) in that setup (the one for the parking/turnindicators)?

 

There is only one bulb in the turnsignals - they are easy to access via the cut outs above them (when the bonnet is open).

 

ok 2 questions.
How do u take ur fogs out to replace the bulb with and on their site, what set is this? H7...H9?

 

You can replace the fog bulbs by taking the bumper off or by going through the wheel well. Taking the bumper off is not difficult - see instructions here: http://mini.uglydoris.com/archives/000020.html

Ther other option is to get access to the fogs via the wheelwell by removing the inner fender liner; it's held in by plastic clips that unscrew. If you prefer to do it that way search around and you should be able to find better instructions.

The 05 MCSs use H11s as the fog bulbs, but as I understand it other Minis had used H7s at one point so you should double check that before you order.

 

I believe only '02's had H7 fogs. We had some problems (read branch of a tree) courtesy of the hurricanes a couple years ago and MINI replaced the fogs in our '02 with H11.

From what I've read, H9 and H11 are interchangable and H9 produce ~500 lumens more light. I haven't tried them myself but if anyone wants to give it a try, let us know how it went.

 

Actually, I have a pair of blue tint goggle lenses and a pair of orange tint. The blue tint is fantastic for overcast/shadowy weather, as it seems to enhance the amount of light. Unfortunately, you can't use the blue lense on a sunny day as it tends to magnify the amount of light that your eye sees. The orange lenses are better for sunny days.

I'm confused how a blue fog light is a bad thing if HID lights project blue for better visibility?

 

Your thinking of clear weather, not foggy or rainy. Have you ever turned your high beams on by accident in the fog? You can't see anything as the light just reflects on the fog, making it impossible to see through. For this reason, fog lights are designed to shine low and on the road so there isn't much fog that get lit up. A yellow color is the easiest for the human eye to see (and arguably cuts through fog the best as well).

Honestly, if it was VERY thick fog, I'd be turning my HID's off and leaving the parking lights and fog lights on.

 

I knew that fogs were low for that reason, but didn't realize that a yellow light is easier for the human eye to see. Thanks for the clarification