Hi,

I ended up picking up an 09 MCS this past weekend. This is the first Mini that I have owned. I knowingly purchased the vehicle with both headlights not working properly. I didn't think much of i as I figured worst case scenario it's a ballast/bulb issue. I already purchased and installed new ballasts but I am still waiting for the new bulbs from Amazon. The vehicle came with one bulb in the passenger side headlight so I've been swapping it in between the headlights to diagnose. They are OEM bi-xenon headlights.

My passeneger side works after replacing the ballast, however the bulb still seems to be the issue as the headlight is now a strobe light. It'll work fine the first 5 seconds, but as it heats up it turns into a strobe light. I should be receiving my bulbs tomorrow to see if that fixes the issue. Any insight on this?

My main concern is the drivers side headlight, as it is not turning on at all. I am using the same bulb I used on the passeneger side. I also swapped out the headlights (used the drivers side on the passenegers side) which seemed to work with the same strobe issue the passeneger side headlight had. So after some diagnosing, I've come to the conclusion that--

-When I connect the drivers side headlight to the passenger side harness, the blinker and low beam work but stop working when I connect it to the drivers side harness.
- The passenger side headlight and blinker work when connected to the passenger side harness but does not work when connected to the drivers side harness.

Does this without a doubt mean that it's a harness issue and not a fuse/bulb/ballast issue? I attempted to find the fuses that feed the headlights but was unsuccessful. I assume that if one headlight is working, it wouldn't be a fuse issue. Would this be correct? Or do they run on separate fuses?

At this point, any insight would be helpful.

Thanks in advance!

 

Anyone? 😱

 

you should ask the previous owner what happened to the light and when did it stop working...know the history of the issue is half the battle. otherwise you will be trouble shooting all say long no know where this issue started.

try to test the wires for signals and power at the driver side. at least you'll verify juice flowing.

 

The previous owner doesn't know what's wrong with it either.. or doesn't care to disclose it. I plan to check voltage this evening. If it was the harness, how would I go about replacing it?

 

i think the harness runs all the way to the FRM.