How to Fix the Mini Headlight Bolts Rotating (when they won't come out!)

Рет қаралды 5,948

2 жыл бұрын

Trying to Remove a Mini Headlight, But the Bolts Keep Rotating - How to Fix!
If you need parts, try...
Mini Headlight Mounting Nut R55, R56, R57, R58, R59, R60, R61 (UK) - ebay.us/xOSFNW
Mini Headlight Mounting Nut R55, R56, R57, R58, R59, R60, R61 (USA) - ebay.us/FDhdgo
M6 Nuts & Bolts (UK) - ebay.us/15Pfi7
M6 Nuts & Bolts (USA) - ebay.us/mpA9d0
M6 Clips (UK) - ebay.us/eWT5zW
M6 Clips (USA) - ebay.us/UCxRbi
Disclosure: The links above are 'affiliate links' This means we may garner a small commission (at no cost to you) if you choose to make a purchase. Thanks for your support... 😃
Mini Headlights - How can I get the bolt or screw out?
Mini Headlight Bolts, (mainly mini models R55, R56, R57, R58, R5,9 R60, R61) have a habit of corroding inside their housing. The headlight bolts screw into captive nuts, moulded into the plastic housing. When undoing the headlight bolts, if the bolts are seized (corroded), the captive nuts break free. You then can’t undo the bolts, as they just go round and round, without ever coming loose. They just won’t come undone!

Пікірлер: 29

@Silvasurfa100 4 күн бұрын

Thank you!!! I had a seized bolt on each headlamp and this method did the trick!!!!

@doitup 4 күн бұрын

Hi, thanks for letting me know it worked. It's great to know it helped someone out... 😃👍

@leorastarkey4206 Жыл бұрын

You, sir, are an officer and a gentleman. I wasted half an hour trying to drill out just one. Head slaps to the engineers who think this is a reasonable design.

@doitup Жыл бұрын

Hi, thanks for your comment. No, no, no... I'm just the same as anyone else, scratching their heads, going "what the...". I must admit, in this day and age you would hope design issues like this would have been discovered and ironed out long before it went into production. But unfortunetly, round every corner there's a fault waiting to happen. We're only human. Now where's the robot that built this... 😃

@FriskyBobiski 7 ай бұрын

This was the most helpful video. I was able to successfully replace my headlamps without a mechanic thanks to your advice

@doitup 7 ай бұрын

Hi, thanks for letting me know. It's great to know the video was of use and it helped someone out. It makes the effort making the video all worthwhile... 😃

@gareth8971 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for creating this video. My captive nuts where completly missing. This video helped a lot in figuring out how to fix this. Thanks again. 👍

@doitup 2 жыл бұрын

It's great when it helps someone out. So thanks for letting me know... 😃

@carolinefarrell8002 Жыл бұрын

Had tried levering whilst undoing as I've done on other fixings, thanks for this suggestion. It worked a treat for both my seized ones on the passenger side, one even finally undid and left the captive nut remelted and secured into the plastic again. The driver's side already had a nut set behind the drilled out captive nut. I've always avoided German manufactured cars as there the only one's I see broken down, and there's plenty of surveys that show even French cars are better. My Son's Mini looks great with all the comfort lighting etc but under the bonnet is a sea of thin brittle plastic. It's cheaply made and sold for a premium, because it looks good.

@doitup Жыл бұрын

Hi, I'm glad you managed to get the headlight bolts undone. They can be a real pain! I like the classic mini's and the older modern types. Couldn't agree with you more on the horrible brittle plastic everywhere, but it seems to be the thing on all modern cars. Cheap to produce and assemble, absolute rubbish to get apart and often breaks! New mimi's are overpriced for what you get, but people are willing to pay..? Glad you got it fixed... 😃

@user-fr3tr5rj5n 10 ай бұрын

A great video which helped me out enormously, so thank you. I had all 4 lower bolts seized on the 2 headlamps, so your high speed drill and large screwdriver trick worked a treat in getting those 4 bolts out. Just remember when they come out the bolts are hot enough to burn your fingertips !

@doitup 10 ай бұрын

Hi, no problem. It's great to know that it helped someone out, so thanks for letting me know... 😄

@FriskyBobiski 7 ай бұрын

Me 2!!!!! The lowers were buggered

@PJVWS 2 жыл бұрын

Great video!!! Saved me hours of trying to figure out how to solve this problem on my Mini.

@doitup 2 жыл бұрын

Glad it helped! It's somewhat annoying when those bolts go round and round and won't come out. Thanks for letting me know... 😃

@tomhomewood8982 2 жыл бұрын

Absolute life saver for this video- cheers

@doitup 2 жыл бұрын

No problem, I'm glad it helped... 😃

@joemac7824 Жыл бұрын

Great wee vid, just done my headlight, perfect 👍👍☘️☘️

@doitup Жыл бұрын

Glad it helped. Thanks for letting me know that you got it fixed... 😃

@TheGunner9545 2 жыл бұрын

I had the bottom 2 screws on drive side so the same thing. I used this trick with the drill and used a flat head on the back side to add some forward pressure and they both came out nicely. Well done

@doitup 2 жыл бұрын

Hi, it's frustrating when the bolts go round and round and won't come out! So i'm glad you got the bolts out. Thanks for letting me know... 😃

@Rikoman17 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video one question.What length bolts are needed

@doitup 8 ай бұрын

Hi, good point... Unfortunately, my daughter has the car at the moment, so I can't measure them! If you desperately need to know, please let me know... I may be able to measure them tomorrow evening, (if she brings the car back!)... 🤔

@Rikoman17 8 ай бұрын

@@doitup I think I found it on the diagram of the headlight unit but thanks anyways been struggling with this after I broke the internal holders so need to replace the headlight unit

@doitup 8 ай бұрын

@@Rikoman17 If the part that's broken is plastic, you may be able to fix using a soldering iron and some tie wraps (cable ties, zip ties, etc). I've fixed a few things in the past by melting the tie wraps into the broken part, stitching \ welding it back together. Bit of a smelly job, but it worked! I don't have a video, but there's quite a few examples on KZfaq. You have to make sure the plastic is properly melted together, otherwise it may be weak and brittle and break again? I have also seen it where bits of wire are melted into plastic to add strengthening. Maybe worth giving it a go, if you have nothing to lose and a soldering iron..? Hope this helps and you get it fixed soon... 😃

@bajonivideos 4 ай бұрын

thx i have same problem

@doitup 4 ай бұрын

No problem, thanks for letting me know... (Nema problema, hvala što ste me obavijestili...) 😃👍

@bajonivideos 3 ай бұрын

I've watched your video several times, and I'm curious can you help me my Mini Cooper D i just buy New plastic chest old one is broke and I replaced . the headlights and hood when I close the hood, the right side of the headlight doesn't align with hood it at all. Its big gap 😫 Could it be due to the original screws, as mine are universal ,

@doitup 3 ай бұрын

Hi. As far as I can remember the headlight fixing's can be adjusted, so that you can position the headlight. See the video at: 3:59. There is a locking torx screw. This can be loosened and the headlight fixing can be slid from side to side. You may need to adjust all of them to ensure headlight fits correctly within the hood. Always close the hood slowly and carefully when adjusting the headlights to ensure a good fit. You don't want to break anything by dropping the hood shut. Hope this helps and you get it fixed soon... 😃