MotoringFile DIY Friday is back with an update of a reader favorite. For those who may remember we posted a Xenon retrofit guide for ’01-’04 MINIs to allow for an upgrade to the newer 2005+ Xenon style. However the guide wasn’t applicable for those who owned 2005/2006 MINIs that simply wanted to upgrade from the stock Halogen’s to Xenons. And now with the GP being released with Halogens, there’s been a renewed interested in this type of retro-fit. So we’re happy to present the official MINI PDF that details the parts and installation procedure. Although be warned, if you have to ask how much, you probably shouldn’t attempt it.
And for full disclosure adding Xenons add about 15lbs including washer fluid etc. Of course that’s nothing that a couple of stomach flus couldn’t fix!
[ Xenon Retro-fit PDF (2005+) ] Official MINI PDF
Thanks to Ian for the PDF
Great! I know somone who pretty badly wants to get xenons in his MINI. He is willing/capable of paying the big $$ this is sure to cost.
Now if the local service sept wold be willing to take this on. It looks like a nightmare install.
Thanks also for the note on the 15 lbs. I’ve got to decide which route to take on my GP. The official Xenon retrofit is intimidating, and using good Hella units custom flush mounted in the aero grill would be a project, too. So, either route has pros and cons. I guess if I convince myself to go with the Hella HID units, maybe that setup will weigh less, and (if done right) will be totally custom (unique). But, every time I drive my ’05 MCS with Xenons, the light is sooo much better than the normal headlights. Pondering …
well. apparently the text font is not embedded. Or am i the only one without “PAPJMA+MINITypeRegular” in my library?
Nearly all of these PDF installation guides from MINI were meant to be distributed only to dealers and not the general public. Dealers already have the custom fonts.
this is the first PDF installation guide that i cannot see the text with preview or acrobat. perhaps a redownload might help…
well it opens fine in safari. with the font warning, but fine.
Great! Now if I can just find someone to steal me a pair… 😉
good one
I used to have a cracked one hanging from my kitchen ceiling, fwiw. Think i kept the bulb, cuz the rest of it’s nowhere to be found.
ooo. .and that brings me to another con: replacement. I went through 5 xenons. OK. 2 were part of a total loss, but the others were lost to deer, wreck, and rock. I’ve been very lucky (knock wood) with these halogens.
What’s up with MINI’s wiring for lighting products. Driving lights, lighted door sills, and now xenons … all require removal of mulitple interior panels located from one end of the car to the other. I have many years of automotive electrical experience and I am daunted not by the wiring so much as I am by the hassle of it all. I am wiring my auxiliary driving lights to the high beams … no cheesy, hard to see button to press every time I want to use them, and NO interior wiring or panel removal. I guess the xenons serve a retrofit purpose for those who found their dream MINI (sans xenons) sitting on the sales floor available for delivery … but the driving lights and lighted door sills seem too complicated and labor intensive for their own benefit, being that they both are essentially cosmetic personal statements and lack any significant or purposeful function.
OK – this is great for those of you with unlimited resources, but some of us are still waiting on the part number for the mystery bulbs Todd referred to a few weeks back. Remember…”next to a MINI w/Xeonons, I couldn’t tell the difference”?
someone please help me out i have an 02 mini and i desperately want xenons on my car i have halogens and have no clue where to look for xenons and i have no idea on how to install can someone please help me out with some info /links ..