Since nearly every other light on the SE is LED, the incandescent bulbs in the scuttles seemed a bit...outdated/out of place. To remedy this, I bought and installed some dynamic LED indicators: Most people who get these opt for the smoked version. Since I'm keeping the chrome trim and doorhandles, the clear version seemed more consistent to my eye. Also, they appear stock to the casual observer (while they're off). It seems there are several brands/retailers for these, but I suspect they're either all using the same design or outsourced manufacturer because they look identical. Some considerations to be aware of: Some advertise plug-n-play compatibility and cost a bit more. The ones I bought require using Bimmercode to re-code the controller to know they are LED (avoids fault messages and hyper-blinking like a bulb is out). Note: Bimmercode will identify these lights as "turn signals mirror lamp", NOT "sidemarkers lamp" (which are already coded as LEDs). This confused me for a bit. There is an "old style" and a "new style". The ones I bought are the "new style", which I prefer. The "old style" does not follow the trailing contour of the scuttle (converges to a point instead) and illuminates rear-to-front. The ones I bought are advertised as Vinstar brand, and I bought them from ECS Tuning. ECS has both clear and smoked versions, as well as "normal" blinking versions in case you like the look of these but not the "dynamic" animation. (I am not affiliated with ECS and don't care where you buy yours; I'm just sharing the available options I found.) You can find some vendors who sell these with different scuttle inserts, but I chose the ones without inserts so I could transfer the stock SE inserts from the original units. You could also buy them with inserts and swap in your stock SE inserts if you prefer. Installation was pretty easy, taking less than an hour start to finish (fumbling with Bimmercode seemed like nearly half that time). There are many Youtube videos showing how to swap the scuttle indicators and their inserts. I wasn't keen to try any of the prying methods, so used the "remove the access panel" method as shown here (with the "old style" dynamic LED blinkers):
I'm shocked, shocked (pun intended) to learn my space-age MINI's side-scuttles utilize Edison-era tech! How much did you save by purchasing the scuttles that required you to fiddle with Bimmercode? I'm surprised there is a version made that illuminates rear-to-front--who would want that? The light-bar indicators in the 2022-edition MINI side-scuttles appear to be LEDs, but I could be wrong. The only incandescent bulbs on our Clarity are next to the sun-visor mirrors. The color of the warm-spectrum illumination emanating from our MINI's sun-visors looks much the same. Are those LEDs in the MINI sun-visors?
$12 - $18 (USD) from what I can tell. That's less than the purchase price for Bimmercode + Bluetooth OBDII dongle, if you don't already have them. Different strokes for different folks, but that version does not appeal to me. I nearly dismissed the whole idea until I found the "new style"...and we must not be alone in our taste since the "new style" exists. I agree that they look like LEDs. No idea, and I didn't notice the setting for them in Bimmercode. I would suspect they are incandescent, which is likely cheaper.
Rather than a cost-saving measure I've postulated that those who use sun-visor mirrors to apply make-up prefer a warm incandescent light to the usually colder LED spectrum. Scuttle-viewers aren't quite as particular about the spectrum, they just want information. But spectrum-smechtrum, I'll be bummed when my high-tech ECM tells me my low-tech scuttle bulb has burned out.
Here is the link: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-vinstar-parts/clear-lenss-amber-flash-led-turn-sginal-set-dynamic-flash/v-173305lg~vin/
@MichaelC Finally installed mine over the weekend...look and work great. Thanks for your post & recommendation!
