Finally installed the HID headlights

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Oct 31, 2017
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My gently used Mini came with halogen lights. I've had HID lights on my cars since the late'90s. Tonight, I finally installed the OE Mini retrofit HID lights that I got a while ago. Simple plug & play. Four bolts and four adjusters for aligning each housing with the cutouts in the bonnet. I have to get the car coded for the lights. Code for HID and the pinout. My tech guy at work says he can do it. We will see. Adjustment should be easy via the standard two Allen head adjusters. There are protective caps on the horizontal adjusters that can't be removed once the light is installed. I added a little knob for easy removal. I'll take some pictures once the lights are set up.
 
Subaru cheaped out in 2014 and added reflector HIDs. My wife says she gets flashed at occasionally. They’re aimed correctly; it‘s just the most are projectors, I believe.
 
They have a wonderful front-distance distribution. Hard to find that even in the best aftermarket. I mean, ive installed three sets of projectors by hand, gutting the headlamp and all, and what you’ve got is really, really good. Judging by those signs, are they a bit high, or is that more typical for a sedan. In my truck, I’ve got them pointed down a good bit closer to prevent glare. I’m not sure what’s normal for a sports car like yours.
 
I suppose it pays to go for OE vs aftermarket light. At this point the OE Mini-branded retrofit bixenons have been heavily discounted and sell for half price.


This is how the headlamp assembly looks.


Under the three-winged sheet metal nut you can see a headlight housing adjuster. There are four of those altogether on each light and they let you center the headlamp housing in the hood cutout. If any one of these adjusters is turned the beam must be adjusted via the usual two adjustment screws.
 
They have a wonderful front-distance distribution. Hard to find that even in the best aftermarket. I mean, ive installed three sets of projectors by hand, gutting the headlamp and all, and what you’ve got is really, really good. Judging by those signs, are they a bit high, or is that more typical for a sedan. In my truck, I’ve got them pointed down a good bit closer to prevent glare. I’m not sure what’s normal for a sports car like yours.
The signs are past the cutoff. Since the signs are reflective they pick up some weak stray light. The low beam is dipped 1.2% and achieves the proper cutoff distance on the road. The problem are vehicles with high-mounted headlamps. They require more dip, say 3% but they will still blind anyone close to them simply because of the hight of the headlights above the road.
 
Nice. I might add that my 2014 Lexus has oem Hids and your mini’s illumination is better than them.

imma just guess, but I’ll bet with the f150 mine are aimed down between 5-10 degrees, but they are starting up high. Factory alignment actually came with the halogens aimed UP above horizontal.
 
Nice. I might add that my 2014 Lexus has oem Hids and your mini’s illumination is better than them.

imma just guess, but I’ll bet with the f150 mine are aimed down between 5-10 degrees, but they are starting up high. Factory alignment actually came with the halogens aimed UP above horizontal.
Low beams should never be angled up at all. The old DOT lights were aimed level and that was really too high. High beams should be level.
 
I made one modification. The horizontal adjusters have protective caps installed that can only be removed easily without damage to the cap or housing if you remove the headlight from the car. I installed into each cover a small stainless steel knob for pulling off the cover.

 
Any driver paying attention can tell if he's blinding oncoming traffic and other drivers in front of him. Unfortunately, perception, along with situational awareness, is frequently lacking. If the low-beam cutoff hits the ground at more than 270 feet distance the lights are most likely aimed too high. That's with relatively low-mounted headlights on a passenger or sports car. Auto-headlight levelers mean little if they have been set up improperly.
 
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