How to and where?

[scotty01]

was thinking about upgrading to HID's soon as halogen is ****! ..

just wondering roughly how to fit them, and where the hell can i put them because for the life of me i cant see any space under my bonnet! (gen 2 mini one)

also what colour is closest to the standard xenon colour? 4300k?

thanks.

All the best,
Scott

[Jay1989]

apparently 8000k is the legal colour temperature as i have been told by the manager of carnoisseur in Gantshill ...where you could put the ballast is attaching them to the headlight covers with adhesive tape in the bonnet...im hoping to do upgrade my lights to HID as well...but still in two minds...still under the 3 year warranty lool

Anyway hope this helps

[scotty01]

will this 3m(?) tape work? bearing in mind going over speed bumps, hitting potholes etc, might the ballasts fall off?

does anyone have pics?

[Fowleerrr29]

Im planning on upgrading mine this month soo i will let you know how it goes... although pretty glad i've read this as i didnt think the space would be an issue. I'll keep you posted.

[Jay1989]

Well yea should be no problem using that as my mate has put his ballast on his headlamp cover in his engine bay with adhesive tape...you could use the same adhesive tape they use to stick the number plates on to our Mini's

Sorry about the grammar mistakes before was sleepy

Yea that be cool Fowleerrr keep us updated on how it goes and what they look like

[scotty01]

so just stick it to the headlamp covers then drill a hole through the covers for the wires to feed through?

Thanks for all the replys!

[Jay1989]

yea you can do that, the person who did my friends vectra he just brought new covers with the holes already in them, so when the wire is in the cover it has a rubber cover around it so it can become "water resistant" apparently

Np also ill look at my friends tonight to see how his setup is!

[Fowleerrr29]

Well i checked out under the bonnet off the beauty last night and i now realise what your saying... i went round to my mates who has got a corsa-D and he was fitting HID's to his car. He showed me where he was mounting his and we used cable ties to attach it to different parts of the bay...looks pretty tidy actually and they wouldn't even move when i tried to rattle them about... We just drilled a small hole into the headlight back cover and then fitted with 2 o-rings and silicone grease to form a water tight seal... Looks sound as!

Will take photos when i do mine at the end of the month as stated before

Hope this helps

Cheers

Fowleerrrrrrrrrr!

[adam_Randell]

any holes in the back of the headlight/any holes on the headlight unit WILL need sealing with silicone. otherwise you will get condensation in the headlight.

there isnt really anywhere. if you get the new, slim ballasts they should fit down by the inner side of the headlight. but here is where i had mine mounted before i took them off because they didnt look too good with the bonnet up at shows! alot of the higher end kits these days have slim ballasts.

[Murker1991]

if your around the east london way, a bloke in barking side fitted hids on my cousins mini and he rags the **** out of that no problems so far, he has them for headlights and fog lights, Autolights.co.uk i think thats the site if your interested, i think its 240 fitted for headlights and fogs which is reasonable for the improvement i think

[Jay1989]

Murker im located in gantshill...does he do a good job and how much would it just cost for the headlights only?

[Murker1991]

well my cousins mini looks powerful with the headlights and fogs for 240 he hasnt had any problems another mate with a golf just got the headlights done for 120 with no problems, so i think its 120 per set fitted with life time warruntee, he also does some bright led sidelights to complete the look, worth giving him a call see how much he charges, its just one person who runs that company he does it at his house so you might not think its proffesional but the end results speak for themself

[caveman_dave]

Before you go to trouble of fitting HID lights, take note they there fitting is illegal.
The following is from the DLVA website.

In practice this means:

1. The headlamp unit (outer lens, reflector, bulb) shall be type approved to ECE 98 and be "e-marked" to demonstrate this. That can only be done by the headlamp supplier - Hella, Valeo etc. who must test the headlamp in an independent laboratory.

2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam.

3. The headlamp must be maintained in good working order, kept clean, and aligned/adjusted correctly like any other headlamp.

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence to supply, fit or use vehicle parts which are not legal.

In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs. The entire headlamp unit must be replaced with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs and it must be installed in accordance with the rules stated above.

[M.O.S]

Thanks Dave, very clear

[adam_Randell]

very true dave. however, i had HIDs on my Cooper for 3 years in total and never go pulled once.