[PabloJuan]

Hi all, my wife's R56 has a front foglight out - halfords couldnt physically remove the back of the unit to change the bulb (3 of them tried for 40 mins!!), so decided to just replace the whole unit. I've seen a few on ebay - some aftermarket (Chinese most likely) for around £40 a pair (any experiences?) and genuine mini ones ranging from £30 for a used one all the way to £80. My main question is - are they sided? One seller told me they were sided therefore if my nearside light needs replacing - I need to buy a nearside unit. Another seller told me that they are the same part number and therefore not sided and any unit will fit any side of the car? Any experience with this in the forum?

On a different note - the 12v lighter/charger unit in front of the gear lever isn't working - is this likleky to be a blown fuse or something else?

Many thanks in advance

 

[Peppers Pray]

TBF.....Any light i have bought from china(car/bike/etc) has ended up with water ingress/condensation in the lens. So if you buy cheap prepare to buy twice.( not that its a bad thing if you don't mind replacing again in the future and its cheap enough ).

Cig lighter probably just a fuse as you said. Not sure where they are on the R56 but the panel on my R53 is in the passenger footwell... I know this as I almost broke myself, impossibly contorting my back to change a stereo fuse yesterday lol

P

 

[PabloJuan]

So - main question - are the fog/side light units sided - or does a light unit fit either side of the car?

 

[Scudder]

So - main question - are the fog/side light units sided - or does a light unit fit either side of the car?

Check Realoem(dot)com website for your car and see if the part numbers are the same, that should tell you.

 

[Austin_CS]

HI - do you mean the bulb holder itself or the cover?

I'm asking as I had real issues removing the holder on a 2007 cooper; It's a long black tube that holds the wiring in one end and the bulb in position in the other. I found it sits inside a very close-fitting tube which is part of the light unit itself, and over time the plastic holder had become coated with what appeared to be white alloy corrosion - so a tight fit became very stubborn. I managed to wrench it out after 25 mins, but the end I could grip had become too bent up to re-use and I had to re-order from ebay.
If that's the same part, maybe some WD-40 might loosen it up - but IIRC I didn't wait for it to penetrate in so it may / may not have any effect.

the part I ended up with is the 'Genuine BMW Mini E46 3 Series Headlight Side Light Black Bulb Holder' for about 14gbp - img attached.

apologies if I'm up the wrong tree here!

 

[G-A-R-Y]

I've had the same issues with the side and fog light bulbs corroded into the lenses and peeling reflector. I bought two from Eurocarparts(today28/02/19).

I bought through Ebay because they are doing 20% extra off at the moment. Aftermarket lights from Euro are not handed and do come with only the side light bulb holder. They look decent quality, I'm going to try and fit this weekend through the wheel arch with the wheels off.

The fuse for the cigarette lighter in behind the panel to the right of the throttle pedal, I just wired my dash cam to that fuse which I think is F44. 20amp.

Ebay item 232580653698

 

[G-A-R-Y]

This is the fuse.

 

[cristo]

What year and model?
AFAIK, the fog lights are the same
right and left except for the
adjuster element parts in the mounts
which are right and left.
If you can’t reuse the old ones,
they cost anout 20-30 each.

 

[G-A-R-Y]

On my 2011 car the adjuster is centrally mounted on both lamp units and accessed through a small hole in the bumber. The lights which I removed were heavily corroded, the Eurocarparts unit appear identical to mine in every way. I have no way to tell if my old units were original.