Hi. I have a 2006 R53 in Astro Black and I would like to replace the tails on my car with those infamous clear/white ones on eBay. I would also like to replace the turn signals, lights in the tails, and possible the fogs with LED's. I would like to know if anyone can point me in the right direction in terms of what types of LED's I particularly need to buy and such. You know, what type/model number I need for each individual light. I appreciate the help in advance!

 

I'm pretty sure that the new 05+ model's of MINI's use a different style of light than the older 02-04 MINI's. I don't remember seeing any lights anywhere made for the MY05+ Cooper's

 

Okay, well the tail light mod is out of the question, but I still want to replace the incadescent bulbs with LEDS...all of them.

Now I need to know if the side repeaters, wheel arches, fogs, tails (all 3 bulbs in each tail), and rear fog can be replaced with 194 LED's. Is that possible?

Also, can the turn signals be replaced with an 1157 LED? Because I found a cool LED called the switchback on autolumination that i'd like to order. Thanks in advance!

 

You could, but you might not WANT to. Amber bulbs especially are NOT a good color in LED - the color is paler (more yellow than orange) and is quite dim by comparison. You'd need to go with like a 5 LED bulb max to be able to fit it inside the housings. I replaced my white running light bulb with an LED initially and hated the light it gave out - switched to basic orange incandescents (yes, I changed from white to amber running lights) and the light was MUCH brighter from the standard bulb.

I'd take measurements of the bulbs you want to replace and then check to be sure that their replacement LED equivelent isn't larger. Be sure that the vendor will accept a replacement if the resulting light is not plesent or bright enough.

 

Thanks for the info and reply! Initially I wasn't going to have any amber on my car except for the tail turn signals and possibly front turn signals (if the switchback thing below would fit)...but I was also considering making the tails a white or red bulb...

Would you reccomend the Matrix bulb from autoluminations for all positions? I also found an alternative (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-SUP...5128QQtcZphoto. And I also found a "lot" auction of those that contained like 10 for $20. What about this type of "new" LED I found on eBay? No bulbs...even flood. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/V-LED...QQcmdZViewItem)

Also, for the front turn signals, would this work/fit?
http://autolumination.com/switchback.html

 

Re: the first bulbs - they gave you measurements so compare those to the stock bulbs - if they fit through the housings you can try them. BE ADVISED HOWEVER that LEDs are not omni-directional like traditional incandescents - they are very directional. Most lights (MINI signals included) use a reflector to catch and direct as much of the bulb's light as possible, and with LEDs those reflectors will be practically useless. This is why LEDs often appear less bright, even though lumen-for-lumen they might have similar output ratings to an equivelent incandescent bulb.

Re: the Autolumination bulb for the running light/turn signal: Try it! That bulb came out after I tried my LED experiment. The reason it has LEDs facing in all directions like that is to get past the directionality of the LED light that I mentioned above. They still look much more "yellow" than the true amber turn signal to me, though, but it might just be their photo...

I was actually considering a set of something like that in the tail lights - red LEDs are pretty bright.

 

You won't be able to use that switchback bulb as a direct replacement. MINI does not use 1157 for turn signals. The front turn bulbs are 7507 (basically 1156 with offset bayonet pins) and I believe the rear turn bulbs are 1156. However I think it would be quite interesting to retrofit that switchback bulb for the front as a combination running light/turn bulb. You'd have to install a 1157 socket and do some rewiring.

I am using a lot of LEDs for interior lights, but I've been hesitant to use them for any of my exterior lights. The exterior lights are in housings that have reflectors designed for the light pattern of incandescent bulbs. You'll have a hard time finding LED direct replacement bulbs that will match the brightness of the OEM bulbs, when used in those light housings. LED lights that work well are custom designed, not as LED retrofit bulbs. If you still want to go the LED route, concentrate on those bulbs that have many side firing elements that would utilize the reflectors in the housing. There are some bright LEDs like the 3 watt Luxeon but they would just produce a small concentrated hot spot in a taillight lens. Whatever you get, be sure to check their brightness and visibility in the daytime, compared to stock bulbs.

For clear/white taillights, they can be used on 05/06 MINI with some minor rewiring, and you'd need to use the older style backup light in the bumper. Or else you can go half way with just white turn signals: http://motoringfile.com/2005/08/22/2...ghts_reviewed/

 

Excellent point - the MINI uses seperate running (OEM is white) and turn signal (OEM is amber) bulbs. I didn't read the description of the Autolumination part close enough...

I went with amber running lights because I like the look better, but you could easily get a white LED and an amber LED set if you want to keep the OEM look. The benefit will be that even if you go amber/amber though, the bulbs will still be clear.

I agree with everything else RKW said - be sure to only buy from someone that will accept a return of you don't like the brighness/color/clarity of the resulting light. I too have a LOT of LED light in my car, but I've left the exterior lights more or less alone (save the amber running lights) for safety reasons.

 

For the every-which-direction type LED, how about these? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-HID...5152QQtcZphoto

 

I have those in my cabrio's dome light (I don't use the festoon bulb that the hardtop uses). I also put them initially in my door puddle lights. Depends on where you mean to use them - the white ones have a cooler light than the OEM incandescents, but make a harder "spot" type light, not a glow, even with the 5 multidirectional LEDs.

If you go with a color (amber, etc.) only expect to get about 70% the brightness (tops) as the OEM white incandescents. Even with all this, you may like the quality of the light and so the dimmer light might not be an issue...

 

On the exterior, the 194 size is used at the front running lights, side repeaters (turn signals in front of the doors), and possibly at the wheel arch marker lights. Those bulbs should work well enough but they might not be as bright as the stock bulbs. Look at the high power 1 watt 194 bulbs for more brightness.

For the interior, the following 194 bulbs work very well in the footwell and puddle lights -- brighter than stock and whiter color: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2pcs-...em200104387823

 

Well i was going to come in here and lay down my LED knowledge but it looks like the ever so wise rkw and Imagox gave you most of the info. I will put my $0.2 into the hat here. I have converted my whole car (minus the headlights and front fogs) to LED inside and outside. The majority of the bulbs are 194 but i have experimented with several of the different styles autolumination sells, and have noticed some interesting things. I started out with the 5 LED matrix bulbs everywhere but have noticed that 4 star SMT bulbs fit better in the side markers (on the fenders) since this is already a directional light the LED isnt a problem. Also the map lights in the interior can use these as well cause they are directional too. I have the matrix in the front running light right now but i dont like that its more blue than my HID headlights, so im going to try the SMT tower with 5 high output LEDs but i have heard it doesnt last as long so we will see.

On the turn signals and taillights for the turn sig i used the Light Tower II in amber and for the brake i used the same bulb in red. Now i see they have a better one which i might try and see if its brighter. If you are planning on doing the 02-04 light conversion you can use the same bulbs and as they said it requires some rewiring. The fog light on the 06 would become the reverse light if you did the 02-04 light swap. BTW you will need load resistors for the front and rear turn signals 1 each. Its not needed for the side repeaters.

As for the footwell and puddle lights and the boot light i did the now famous LED strip replacement for all those places.

And i will be getting shortly the LED dome light from Moss MINI for my interior dome.

BTW that switchback is pretty cool, i wish they had stuff light that back when i had a car that used it.

 

I came across a UK vendor who sells it with a 1 year warranty. Price is about the same as autolumination and from what I can tell shipping cost is reasonable.
http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/u5015hpw5...ds-p-1407.html

 

Ill have to check that out, i havent had any of the problems other people have reported about LED going out. I havent had a single bulb go out yet

 

eBay has these 45 LED bulbs in 1156 (rear turn) and 1157 (rear brake). The bulb has 9 LEDs on the end, and 36 LEDs on the side. They're still only about 80% as bright as OEM.

 

Do you have a link?

 

I see you have an m|u logo on the sig so you should ask melissa about clear tails. She has them on her 06 AB MCS. I'm predtty sure they are an OEM part

 

You can use 02-04 OEM tailson 05+ models. Check outmotorings listing for them for directions. I know they guy who helped Aaron put that together

 

Just search for 45 LED and 1156 or 1157 on eBay
http://search.ebay.com/45-led-1156-1...1156Q2c1157Q29

 

Have you tried them matma92ser? Did you notice a brightness difference?

 

Yes. I would estimate that they are 80% as bright as OEM.

 

Hi, if LED are max. 80% as bright as OEM

why do ppl want to switch to LED?

 

Hi IrishCooper ,

can u post some picture of your LED brake light.

 

Ill have to take some pictures.

 

Usually because they look cool, they operate at lower temps, and the most important to me, is the response rate, LEDs illuminate almost instantly, where as incandescents can take a few fractions of a sec. So supposedly its a safety issue cause the faster your brakes light the sooner someone can see them.