Do we have REAR FOG lights?

gajah

Member
bloomington, IN
i just noticed that the inner side of my tail lights never go on
are they the rear fog lights?
do we really have the rear fog lights?
wow, i just realized that
i thought i got all options because i bought my car fully loaded

if we do really have the rear fog lights, how to make those work?
how about the expenses?

thanks!
 
Indeed there are rear fog lights. There's two buttons near the main light control knob which are for the two sets of fog lights, one for the front set and one for the rear set. I can never remember which is which, though :)
 
Stupid usability issue, I think ... they should have put the two buttons on top of eachother rather than next to eachother. That way, it's more obvious which is which.
 
US specification Zed do not have the rear fog light and it is not an option in the US... :cry:
 
Gosh - I'm surprised. It never crossed my mind that they would be different in the US. I wonder why - some legislation in the EU requiring rear foglights, perhaps?
 
davidpfitz said:
Gosh - I'm surprised. It never crossed my mind that they would be different in the US. I wonder why - some legislation in the EU requiring rear foglights, perhaps?
Without doing a lot of research I know the question came up before on Z4um and as I recall someone indicated that USDOT (United States Dept Of Transportation) has rules that define the lighting allowed or required and their rules don't allow a rear fog light.
 
In the UK a rear foglight is required, when people import cars from japan they usually get an unsightly fog light bolted to the bottom of the bumper.

The problem is, when its foggy half the people don't use them.. the other half leave them on all the time and blind people :headbang:
 
WLH said:
davidpfitz said:
Gosh - I'm surprised. It never crossed my mind that they would be different in the US. I wonder why - some legislation in the EU requiring rear foglights, perhaps?

Without doing a lot of research I know the question came up before on Z4um and as I recall someone indicated that USDOT (United States Dept Of Transportation) has rules that define the lighting allowed or required and their rules don't allow a rear fog light.

I think they are allowed because its very common on VW/Audi forums to buy the Euro bits and enable it...but daftly they tend to wire up both (not just the drivers side) creating a confusing constant braking effect for following cars. I've never quite understood why US cars don't get them as you get fog too and contrary to popular belief (Family Guy!) its not foggy here any more than it is anywhere else LOL
 
fire-n-ice said:
...^^^y'all do a lot of backwards driving there huh?! :poke:

hahahaha :rofl:

OK, so if we do really have the rear fog lights, how to activate them?
I really want those
anybody did this be4?
 
gajah said:
OK, so if we do really have the rear fog lights, how to activate them?
I really want those
anybody did this be4?
You'll need to buy parts that are not avaiable from your local stealer because they are not in his parts catalog. I know because I asked my stealer about this about 4 years ago. The switch that turns on the rear fog light on European models is different. As I recall and someone accross the pond can correct me if I am wrong, has 3 position. One for front only and a second position for front and rear and off. There is also a indicator light for the rear fog light.

I also checked with the local police dept and a rear fog light is not authorized in Pennsylvania. Would it get you a ticket if only used in appropate conditions. Not likely but if you were stopped you might get a warning and have 30 or 60 days to have it removed and inspected.
 
The term 'rear fog' light could be a bit misleading. EU spec vehicles have one red light on the rear with a 21 watt bulb, IIRC, much brighter than standard tail lights, to warn following drivers. It's to be used only when there is greatly reduced visibility from fog, rain, snow, dust, smoke, etc. The intent is to avoid chain reaction, two mile long pile-ups. For some reason, these lights are not required on motorcycles, but after almost becoming a hood ornament in the rain, I installed one on my bike.
 
A EU spec car has 5w tail lights as standard with 21w for the brake lights. The fog light is a 21w so is in effect the same intensity as a stop light

The switches are simple as described earlier 2 simple on off switches but interconnected such that Front fog will only come on if the side or headlights are on rear fog only if headlighs are on. Switching off the headlights cancels the rear fog out.

The BMW switch is poor in that while truning the lights on its possible to knock the swithch and put front or rear on. Other makes uses a rotary switch on the light stalk that interconnects headlights then front and then rear.

Link to a non Xenon UK switch http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-Z4-light-...ryZ10374QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

In theory a good idea but in practice useless. Drivers put them on in rain or minor mist and dazzle anyone behind, others in dense fog don't use them. It's normal on a motorway to be dazzled on a clear night following somone with one on and sitting behind someone in a line of slow traffic is just painful. The law is vague in their use and few people use them correctly
 
we're not talking about the inner and outer on the brake lights are we? My manual tells about the reactive braking where the outer half of the brake light comes on when I really hit the binders.

In california, the only white lites allowed at the rear of the vehicle are the license plate illumination and backup lights, which cannot be on when going forward (I got the ticket on that one to prove it)
 
Yal said:
we're not talking about the inner and outer on the brake lights are we? My manual tells about the reactive braking where the outer half of the brake light comes on when I really hit the binders.

In california, the only white lites allowed at the rear of the vehicle are the license plate illumination and backup lights, which cannot be on when going forward (I got the ticket on that one to prove it)

thank you

WE DO NOT HAVE REAR FOGS AND WE CAN'T RETROFIT THEM IN

look at my DIY for the inner circle to light up when braking all the time.
 
Too bad - Audi's used to have them a couple of years ago and it was great to pop them on while some hoser in a jacked up pickup truck was tailgating you. They almost always freaked and would slam on their brakes thinking you hit yours :D
 
Yal said:
we're not talking about the inner and outer on the brake lights are we? My manual tells about the reactive braking where the outer half of the brake light comes on when I really hit the binders.

No - totally different. It has nothing to do with the brake lightcircuit

Yal said:
In california, the only white lites allowed at the rear of the vehicle are the license plate illumination and backup lights, which cannot be on when going forward (I got the ticket on that one to prove it)

Same in the UK. The fog light is a red lens, same colour and intensity as a brake light
 
Apparently we get different functionality. From the manual:
The rear light clusters combine the tail light, brake light, reversing light, rear fog lamp (EU), reflector and direction

And:
Brake force display
The Brake force display indicates to the road user behind you how hard you are
braking. The display has two levels:
> Normal braking:
Brake lamp 1 lights up on both sides of the vehicle together with the center
brake lamp
> Forceful braking and braking with ABS:
Brake lamps 1 and 2 light up on both vehicle sides together with the center
brake lamp.

This is what Black Sapphire Z and I were going on about. BSZ has done a DIY to make it so that both brake lights per side come on when any time you step on the brakes.
 
i hope everyone knows REAR FOG LIGHT takes spot on the BACK UP light. where ours is both clear, some euro models are ONE clear and ONE red, either side depending on the location
 
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