[Baker]

Hi Guys,

I've gone and bought myself the OEM Driving lights, and plan on fitting them myself. Its a decision that was made spur-of-the-moment, and one I regret (aftermarkets would have been cheaper/easier I think).

Just a point of interest - the lights in Australia don't have the internal on/off switch, and just come on with the high beams (I've got the installation PDF if anyone wants to see it, different to the one on this forum)

The main reason I'm posting this thread is that I don't want to actually run the lights the way they were intended. They were designed to basically pair with the high beams, which I'd prefer to change. I'd really like to be able to operate them independantly - for when I'm feeling like the "rally" look, but don't want my high beams on (don't worry, I'll make sure I'm not dazzling people).

What I was thinking is:

a) Wire them so that they come on with my foglights

or

b) Wire them independantly to a switch.

Now, I don't want to be ripping my dashboard out - is there any cable entry points inside the drivers side bolster etc that are easy to get access to?

Has anyone had any experience with modifying the OEM lights harness - and if so, what did you change?

Thanks for you help, I'm sure there will be something I've missed but I'm half asleep, sorry

Cheers,

Kevin

[Bilbo Baggins]

Quote: Originally Posted by Baker

Hi Guys,

The main reason I'm posting this thread is that I don't want to actually run the lights the way they were intended. They were designed to basically pair with the high beams, which I'd prefer to change. I'd really like to be able to operate them independantly - for when I'm feeling like the "rally" look, but don't want my high beams on (don't worry, I'll make sure I'm not dazzling people).

What I was thinking is:

a) Wire them so that they come on with my foglights

or

b) Wire them independantly to a switch.

Cheers,

Kevin

Just to state the obvious. There would be NO reason to have the driving lights wired to come on with the fogs. In fact there are several good reasons for this not to happen. 1. When there is fog you would NOT want to have the driving lights on as it would blind you with the reflection from the water particles in the air, 2. If you had need for the driving lights there would be NO logical reason to have the fogs on at the same time as the fogs throw a low flat topped pattern of light quite close to the car and would not benefit your distance vision.

I would check with your local authorities as there is probably a very good reason why the kit is designed to come on with the high beams, it just might be a law in your area.

Wireing them to come on independently is a possibility, though it might still be afoul of the law, but would not be a silly as wiring them to the fogs. However, if you were to try and run just the driving lights without any other lights on you could put yourself at risk of being hit from the rear as you would have no rear lights visable.

Just some food for thought. IMHO.

[Baker]

I live in Australia, and where I live its very rare to get fog at all - and to date I can honestly not remember the time we had fog that was bad enough to require the use of foglights.

On saying that, I can see your point, and it would be better for them to perhaps require the same logic as the foglights (i.e. can only turn on when the headlights/sidelights are on).

I'd never be stupid enough to use them alone at night.

[moorlockx]

Wiring them up on a completely separate circuit is easy to do, but I would recommend against it for a couple reasons. First, doing so makes dimming your lights to oncoming traffic a pain as you have to hit 2 switches instead of just one. Secondly, if you don't use the standard MINI wiring harness a dealer could use it as a way to deny the warranty on your electrical system should a problem come up in the future.

On a side note, I've got the same style wiring as you. I didn't want the driving beams coming on every time I used my hi-beams as I normally will run with the light covers in place unless, I anticipate being in situation where I would use the driving lights. To do this, I isolated the power wire going to the lights and added an inline switch. Works out great wired up like this.

[JoeDentist]

I just finished installing my driving lights with a wireless remote harness. This involved absolutely no wiring into the Mini system - just positive and negative ground. The system can be easily wired to work only when the ignition is on, or even when the low or high beams are on. If you wire the trigger to the high beam, the remote switch turns them on, and hitting the brights stalk will turn them off when the brights go off.

I used aftermarket brackets, but any light and bracket, including the OEM's will work with any of the many wireless harnesses available. The wiring harness cost me $20 US on EBAY, or are avaialable on the net from dealers. The little mounting points I just made in the garage from scrap aluminum rod - the stock mounts will also work. The lamps are Wipac's made for the Classic Mini which are available inexpensively on EBAY on any given day. (About GBP 32 or so.)

[MickyD]

you sure there's no switch so they can be turned on seperately, but linked to the high beam? (as in they can only be on with the high beam, but go off when the high beam is off, or you can have the high beam on, but not the driving lights). It seems a bit strange to me, since there HAS to be a seperate switch for them to comply with the ADR's and BMW shouldn't be able to sell non-compliant accessories....
If it doesn't come with the seperate switch, it's easy to do properly with a relay so they only get power when high beam is on and the switch is on.

Oh, and it IS illegal to have them wired seperately, and the cops DO check it. One of my old cars I used to get pulled over all the time (it's the rally car in my gallery), and every time they were looking over the car, they always checked that the driving lights dipped with the high beam.

[vagt6]

That's a good point. And, why would one wish to use the driving lamps WITHOUT the high beams?

I don't get it?