Our Mini Cooper S is fresh off the boat and at the dealership. Picking it up on Saturday.
Anywho, I was informed today that our driving lights are not in stock and will not be installed.
My immediate response was that's OK - when they are in I will bring the Mini in to have the lights installed.
I was then told they are indefinitely out of stock and he has no clue as to when they will be restocked. I was then told they will refund us for this option.
He also mentioned it would be cheaper to buy aftermarket ones - - that's fine but I'm guessing it will void out the warranty.
Over all I am not pleased. I don't understand why they can't have the lights delivered from else where.
Anyone have any idea what could be going on?
Geez for the amount we are paying for this car - I want my driving lights.....

 

Might want to try contacting somewhere like Outmotoring.com. They may be able to get the OEM lights. Maybe call some other dealerships?

Not sure why aftermarket lights would void a warranty.

 

I see that your in central jersey...where are you purchasing your Mini from?

also, try contacting angelo at prestige mini. They have a pretty large online store and i would bet they would sell you a set.

 

Prestige MINI of NJ has an ebay page where you can order driving lights from. Then all you have to do is have them installed.

 

When I ordered my 2007 MC, I was told the rally lights for older models would not work on an '07, so I had to come back once the dealership had the right ones. Don't know if that's the case in your situation, but it may be.

 

I am guessing that you are getting a 2011 Cooper S since you said it is right off the boat. It isnt that the lights will never be offered it is just that with the LCI refresh the front grille changed and a new mounting bracket hasnt been made and tested yet. The 2007-2010 driving lights will not work on the 2011 because the front bumper and grille are different that is why they are saying that arent available and dont know when they will be. As soon as a new mounting bracket is made and tested driving lights will be available again

 

Hmm, my '11 is due to dock next week and I am expecting driving lights as well. No one has mentioned it to me so far, guess I'll see.
Annette

 

I received my MCS in January (22nd) and had to wait a couple of days for the grill and mounting hardware to come in but they were installed quickly and work great. Shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps just ask another dealer / parts guy.

 

You would think a global corporation like BMW would have better sense than to make something available for sale that hasn't even been made and tested yet.

 

+1 For me it was two extra days of waiting for the install, ultimately picked up my new MINI on 1/27 with the OEM driving lights and new grill work mounted and fully functional.

 

Definitely will not void the warranty. If you're worried that it will I would try and have any mini dealership do it for you. Honestly I would say that your MINI dealership saying they don't have the lights is a blessing because personally I think they look like ****. outmotoring.com has a 4 driving light kit that looks reallllly good. They mount in between the lower and upper grille instead of in front of the upper grille which would block some airflow and its around the same price if not cheaper and they look pretty angry check them out:
http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...ng_lights.html

 

As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Personally, those are way too big for my needs and I don't want to mount anything on the bumper if I can help it. I tried for years to find someone to mount some driving lights on my '06 and I never found anyone to do it significantly cheaper than the dealer. At least the dealer mounted ones will be covered.
I did email my MA today and he said that the brackets are not available yet, but should be out in a few weeks. Guess we'll see.
Annette

 

Fair enough...I mean any experienced body shop will do it for a fair price and jsut as well as MINI. I dont know about you but I'm on Long Island so I hae tons of bodyshops that can do the job...you just have to find the right one

 

Yeah, I'm in the country. All anyone works on around here are American trucks LOL. There is a new Land Rover mechanic that just set up shop, wonder if he'll work on a MINI...
I do like the black magic lights by Hella, since I'll be blacking out as much as I can on the '11 when it gets here. Maybe the 500s, hmmm. Wish they had the FF200 in the black.
Annette

 

Here's a pic from the Hella site of the Black Magics mounted on a MINI. I'm not sure if this pic is of the 500s or the 1000s since they used the same pic on both descriptions. The 500s are 6.4 inches and the 1000s are 7.3 inches.

 

Those look nice for sure

 

Aftermarket lights are certainly cheaper, but will they void your warranty? The answer is yes and no. The Magnuson-Moss warranty act actually is supposed to make the dealer prove that the aftermarket part caused the failure of the part of the car in question (i.e. if you have electrical issues after you install aftermarket driving lights, the dealer may find that it was casued by your lights and void your eletrical warranty, but not the warranty on the rest of the car). Unfortunately, most of the time this doesn't happen and a dealer will immediately void your entire warranty as soon as an non-stock part is discovered. You could potentially be forced to have to take the matter to court and it could quickly become more trouble than its worth.

Hopefully it works out and you can get your MINI just the way you want it.

 

Here's a pic from another thread of the OEM lights with black housing. They are nice and understated for sure.




I do like the clean look of them, and do love the fact that it doesn't void the warranty. I'm thinking I will keep looking at other lights but if the part for these come in before I find something I like better I'll probably go with these.
Annette

 

Wondering if the switch, relay, wiring, and programming if needed are all installed and ready? If so aftermarket lights would not be too hard

 

The supporting wiring harness and associated components are part of the kit and require installation along with the lights, brackets, and compatible grill work.

 

This comment was extremely interesting to me as I have a 2011 MCS with OEM driving lights installed by the dealer... Looky, pictures!

 

Just tell them the car is NOT what you ordered and will not take it unless they make it "As ordered". Give THEM the option to do the aftermarket lights and let them pay for it and go through the hastle of getting it done.

 

agreed

 

After an 2-3 month wait, that will show 'em!

 

We just got our installed on our 2011 Convertible S. And they look great. Don't do aftermarket unless they are OEM. At least we know they have them in stock in Scottsdale, AZ.