Reverse Fog Light December 19, 2006

Rear foglights???

I’ve never heard of this feature offers on automobiles … well with the exception of off-roading vehicles … but not on street driven cars.

From what I understand, MINI being an European automobile, rear foglights are a safety necessity in Europe where the fog can be thick and visibility compromised. Therefore MINIs shipped over-seas are factory equipped with the rear foglight feature. However, in the United States there are many states which deem the implementation of rear foglight illegal, specifically California.

To make a long story short, MINI was forced to offer rear foglights as an option rather than a standard feature on U.S.-bound MINIs.

Ok so what??

Well if you are like me and didn’t see the need for the rear foglight option, you were provided a black plastic cover used to fill-in the void. Not only is this useless but also cosmetically unappealing.

Clear Vision December 8, 2006

Found a pair of “Silver Amber Bulbs” to replace the stock orange turn signals.

When not illuminated, the silver-coated bulb appears clear through the lens. However, once activated the standard orange/amber color is emitted rather than the typical clear/blue light I was once accustomed. Although this type of bulb is probably common-place to many, it’s a new discovery to me.

Cracked Third Brakelight December 3, 2006

Earlier this week I was showing off my new stubby antenna when I noticed my Third Brakelight is cracked from end to end.

I don’t recall this crack appearing last weekend while washing Kahu. Looks like I’ll be making my first visit to MINI of Hawaii parts department. Hope this is covered under warranty or something.

Remote control & lights November 27, 2006

The foot-long protruding antenna made it look like a remote-control toy car. Being smaller than most on the road, I didn’t need to perpetuate the MINI any further.

Replaced it with a 2.5″ stubby antenna I purchased off Ebay. Although shorter I do not notice a negative effect on radio reception.

While replacing the antenna I decided to change out the stock lights with a set of aftermarket Hyper-White high- and low-beams. Although it’s hardly noticable in the picture above, the aftermarket light is much whiter than the stock bulbs.

In keeping with the legal-theme, I decided to purchase a pair manufactured by Euro Dezigns which claims to be Department of Transportation (DOT) approved in all 50 States.