[JohnnyQuest]

Does anyone else here have the LED headlights? I do, and I'm pretty disappointed with them. First, they are not nearly as bright as I had hoped. Second, there is a distinct shadow line at the top of the low beam area that remains very visible with the high beams on. The high beams are not bright enough to cover the shadow at the perimeter of the low beam. I'm having a hard time describing it so I'll need to take a photo. But the result is that, with high-beams on, there is a distinct horizontal shadow across the field of illumination, and it has a purplish tint to it.

I also have the cornering lights, I should have done more research, but I assumed that they would actually turn right-left with the turning of the steering wheel (as is the case with my other two cars - one of which is a BMW). However, the cornering lights with the Mini are entirely different and not nearly as effective. With the Mini, the head lights remain pointing straight ahead regardless of steering wheel angle, but when cornering hard, an additional bulb illuminates and points to the side. It's only visible when turning sharply at low speed as in when turning 90 degrees into a driveway at night. Even then, it's not very effective.

While, I like this car a lot, the headlights (particularly the LED headlights with cornering feature) are very disappointing.

 

[brandonbardsley]

I've got the LED Headlights equipped on my car, I regret not paying the extra £80 for Adaptive. However I recently drove my dad's CLS 'MY15 with the Adaptive Intelligent Lighting System from Mercedes, I thought the MINI's LEDs were brighter in comparison... However I must admit the Auto High Beam was such a good feature that I'd like on the MINI.

The Merc's adaptive lights are better than you're describing, you can seem them move across the road when you turn... However like an old Range Rover we had - the sharper you turn, additional bulbs light up to illuminate much tighter turns. It's a shame you're disappointed with the Adaptive MINI LEDs.

I think I've noticed the 'shadow' you're describing but I think you're maybe being overly negative... Lets be honest, you could of just had halogen lights and you'd be then complaining they're a safety hazard!

 

[JohnnyQuest]

Thanks. Yeah, everything is relative. But I have Xenon Adaptive Headlights with the dynamic leveling/turning feature on my two other cars and I like them much better in terms of brightness, how they react to steering input, and how the light pattern is "smooth" (i.e. without a center shadow). Granted my two other cars are more expensive, but still, I figured I'd like LEDs better than the Xenons. Plus one car is a 2013, and the other is a 2015. Not old, but still, older technology than the 2017 Mini LEDs.

But perhaps, the Mini LEDs are significantly better than Mini's Xenons. I don't have that comparison. I'm comparing to my other cars.

 

[daydotz]

the Led lights are one thing i cant complain about i had xenons on my last few cars they just as good but i don't tend to worry about full beam i've been curious about the cornering ones due to the placement of the bulb i've wondered how effective it would be if what your saying is true the angle has to be quite extreme before it kicks in

 

[Migomes]

I agree with JohnnyQuest. They could be brighter and the shadow is quite annoying. Searching for a good price on LED spotlights...

 

[KYDan]

Thanks. Yeah, everything is relative. But I have Xenon Adaptive Headlights with the dynamic leveling/turning feature on my two other cars and I like them much better in terms of brightness, how they react to steering input, and how the light pattern is "smooth" (i.e. without a center shadow). Granted my two other cars are more expensive, but still, I figured I'd like LEDs better than the Xenons. Plus one car is a 2013, and the other is a 2015. Not old, but still, older technology than the 2017 Mini LEDs.

But perhaps, the Mini LEDs are significantly better than Mini's Xenons. I don't have that comparison. I'm comparing to my other cars.

I had Xenons on one of my MB SLKs and hated them. I was returning home one evening from a service visit and one failed. I called the dealer the next morning and he said it would take 2 weeks to get a replacement. I was not a happy customer called MB USA and the dealer returned my call and told me to bring the car in and they would replace it. They took one of one of their floor models, a 3 hour procedure. I was speaking with him while I was there and asked why the didn't keep any of them in inventory and he told me they were too expensive to keep in inventory! Seems they cost over $1,000 US at the time, I think this was 2003 or 2004. The real aggravation though was everyone flashing their headlights at me indicating that they thought I had them on high beam. I never bought another auto with Xenons after that. I love my mini LED headlights, I do have the cornering lights and also the LED driving lights.

 

[Another Mini]

I have them on Hekla. Like 'em a lot

 

[AarnMunro]

IF you drive narrow corners...the fog lights can help.
During a night ride...the combination of high beam and fog light...is fantistic!

 

[jeremybingham]

I had hids on my golf r32. The leds on my mini sans cornering assist are fantastic. Equally as good if not better than the hids (high intensity gas discharge) Good reach and coverage and i love the purple line. Minis have driven towards me and they really twinkle!not blinding though.

 

[vetsvette]

I have zero complaints with my LED headlights. Much better than the xenons on my R56, and I thought they were great.

 

[hotrunner]

Does anyone else here have the LED headlights? Second, there is a distinct shadow line at the top of the low beam area that remains very visible with the high beams on. The high beams are not bright enough to cover the shadow at the perimeter of the low beam. I'm having a hard time describing it so I'll need to take a photo. But the result is that, with high-beams on, there is a distinct horizontal shadow across the field of illumination, and it has a purplish tint to it.
.

No issues with LED lights.....personally I think they work adequately....no issues here.

However, I do share the same issue with the shadow and purplish tint to it I raised this issue to my SA...and got a statement that they could not find this to be an issue. Perhaps this was documented to the engineers behind the scene ? Nothing was done, but at least I have it in my file that I brought it to their attention.

See attached photo, is this what you are referring to on your LED Headlights ?

 

[harveycook97]

The led lights on the mini are brilliant so much so that they are brighter then my brothers ones on his bmw and my dads one on his jaguar. Had the car over a year now and have never used full beam. As said above they are very adequate.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[jeremybingham]

And they all have a purple tint or line across the very top of the beam.its a feature of the light not a fault and very pretty imo!

 

[AarnMunro]

Think about the next generation MINI headlights...LASER!
We could burn the traffic jam in front of us with only two flashing...

 

[mjc]

Love the LED headlights/fog lights on my Cooper, one of my favourite features (along with the Head-Up Display). Big improvement over Xenon in my opinion. I also think the classic rounded headlight shape also contributes to the beam output.

 

[JohnnyQuest]

The LED high-beams certainly are bright. It's just the lack of physical turning (with the steering wheel) and the horizontal shadow that bothers me. I did a quick "scientific" test, but with lousy execution. I set my DSLR on full manual and kept the setting identical. I took shots of my three cars with the high-beams on. Then in Lightroom, I turned on the "clipping" which shows the areas that are over exposed (red) and under exposed (blue). I made no changes in LR. The BMW and Porsche have Xenon lights. The Clubman lights are about as bright as the BMW's. Very little is blown out with the Porsche, but the car sits a lot lower so it wasn't a great test. The LEDS are a color temp closer to daylight. And interestingly, I couldn't get the horizontal shadow of the Mini's lights to show up in the photos. I tried various camera settings (after shooting all 3 cars on the same setting), but while very visible to the eye, the line would not show up in the photos. All three cars seem to have equally bright lights when I drive them. (The photos are BMW, Porsche, Clubman - Left to Right).

 

[Omnomnivore]

I don't have the rotating LED headlights, I just came in to comment about the LED's light. I love watching the light go up and down when starting the car at night. Almost like the car is "waking up." Totes adorbs. And the blue-purple light created at the top of the headlight beam is a wonderful color. I love how it just splits the darkness in twain.

 

[ajseymour]

I came from a Countryman with the adaptive HID's and I have now got an F55 with adaptive LED's and I have a few observations. The LED's , better I think on the dipped setting but I also think that once you go to full beam then the LED's I don't think have the distance that the HID's had. Getting used to the fog lights being used instead of actually turning the lights has taken some getting used to but I would still prefer them to turn. The major thing that I have found is that the car seems to be less tiring to drive at night, I work night shift so most of my driving is in the dark and it definitely is less strain on my eyes. I think it's to do with the brightness brightness colour of the light.

 

[James-B93]

I had the adaptive LED's in my JCW and I'm quite impressed with them, easily brighter than the xenon's in my E92 and the hgih beams reach a little further

I do know what you mean about the purple shadowy line in between the hgih beam and dipped but I think this may be as a result of getting the high beam to reach as far as it does

I've also found the adaptive cornering lights to be a little strange, sometimes they work at a certain lock of steering and then sometimes they don't, but it doesn't bother me as this is the first car I;ve owned that has them so I could quite happily live without, even considering the majority of my driving is narrow and sharp country lanes

 

[siriuszero]

I've also found the adaptive cornering lights to be a little strange, sometimes they work at a certain lock of steering and then sometimes they don't, but it doesn't bother me as this is the first car I;ve owned that has them so I could quite happily live without, even considering the majority of my driving is narrow and sharp country lanes

The cornering lights work at speeds under 35 mph and react to steering input. They also respond to when you're making a turn and if you have your turn signal on or not. Try making a 90-degree turn with and without your turn signal on and you'll see.

I had the adaptive xenons on my Countryman and much prefer the cornering LEDs on my F55. They are brighter, don't have that weird warmup phase, and since I live in a residential neighborhood and also drive through cities at night, it's nice having the street where I'm turning illuminated so I don't miss a kid or pedestrian crossing the street.