Hopefully I won't upset anyone buy starting this thread because there are a zillion threads on lights. I could't seem to find the answer I was looking for, so I figured I would ask.

I want the Hella 1000 blacked out lights and have been speaking with Outmotoring.com about their mounts and installation.

I want to put a pair of them in the center of the bumper like shown here:

http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop...ng_lights.html

However, I want them to operate like the factory lights and turn on with the high beams (when the switch is depressed) and go off when you trigger the high beams off for traffic.

It does not appear that MINI sells just the wiring harness by itself, so I would need to buy the driving lights for $260. I was going to install the HELLA lights and pay my dealer (or Grassroots) to hook up all the wiring. It would seem that I need to buy the whole OEM kit, which would leave me a pair of lights left over. I really dont like the OEM lights so adding them to my car isnt really acceptable.

Does anyone see a away around this by wiring them differently? Maybe someone would want the lights buy themselves for $100 and then I'm only out about $160 total to get the harness.

I think the blacked out Hellas will look great


Thanks

 

I assume your Helllas will come with a wiring harness (like my Hella FF500s did) so you can just use the wiring provided by Hella. If you follow the Hella wiring instructions you'll end up with driving lights that will only be on when your high beams are on. The included Hella relay is triggered by your high beams. The Hella switch can be mounted inside the car to the left of the steering wheel just like the oem switch.

 

Oh well if thats the case great!....i assumed it would come with a basic red and black wire you wired to the fuse block. Do the instructions tell u what wire on the MINI is the headlight wire to tap into...

 

The Hella instructions won't tell you which wire is providing power to the high beams. I just wired mine into the wire bundle coming from the left headlight. Unfortunately, I don't remember the wire color. I just tested the wires going into the headlight connector until I identified the proper wire. You can get power at the fuse box under the hood and a good ground at one of the ground connectors under the fuse box.

 

step 5 of the factory install instructions

http://www.minimania.com/pdfile/R56_Rally_Lights.pdf

begins with connecting to one wire for xe's and another for hal' .... the one connection that would be different for the high beam activation. I'll bet a donut this is what you'd want to tie your Hella relay trigger to.

having istalled a dozen sets on GEN1's I'd be going here.....

 

I just followed the generic instructions provided by Hella. I checked on my 2010 with halogens and the wire going to the high beams (at the headlight connector) is yellow with a blue stripe. I connected to that wire and used it for the trigger voltage at the relay. If you're content to have the driving lights on anytime the high beams are on, you can omit the switch from the circuit. The driving lights will turn off when you switch to the low beams. The switch just interrupts the trigger voltage from the high beam connector to the relay. I installed the switch but that will require you to run 3 wires thru the firewall and partially disassemble the left side of the dash to access the knee bolster where I installed the Hella switch.

 

Well if you decide to get the factory lights and sell them. I'll take them I you get the black lights. I'll send you a PM too.

 

Sure, Larry, now I know you hate my driving lights!

Seriously, the Hellas would go well with my color scheme. I know that Annette asked about them once but I never saw the answer. Will the black Hellas attach to the OEM mounts or at least connect to the OEM wiring?