Rear Fog Light

[Strider]

I just realize that my e36 m43 rear fog light lighted on the right side only. When i check the bulb on the left side, it got two filaments same as right one. is it standard on e36? thanks.

 

[Russie]

my e36 m43 also lights up on the right side only. i think it is standard, unless u do some rewiring to connect the left side as well. other m43 owner please confirm this.

cheers

 

[soorian]

my e36 m43 also lights up on the right side only. i think it is standard, unless u do some rewiring to connect the left side as well. other m43 owner please confirm this.

cheers

even for E46 PFL

 

[Strider]

Thanks for the info

 

[machinehead]

Standard for all M43.

 

[Juan Powerblow]

I was under the impression that it was the CKD cars that had it on one side only. I've seen some CBU cars and even my CBU E92 that it's on both sides.

 

[LCP]

My CKD E36 M50 rear fog lamps are on both sides, but I have no idea whether the wiring is original or hacked...

 

[Traveler]

AFAIK, for E36 (at least the ones in Malaysia) are pre-wired for right side only. When I bought my old E36, my uncle (who was ex-AB) told me they designed it that way. I guess later BMW changed their minds and so the E90s have the lights on both sides.

 

[LCP]

So, mine's been hacked by the previous owner(s) before... I think the main reason for having only one side (RHS for right hand drive countries) is to prevent confusion with brake lights. Even for Wira/Wira Aeroback UK edition, the rear fog lamp is on the right only, where the reverse lamp is for domestic model.

By the way, IMHO, try not to drive with the rear fog lamps turned on in inner city heavy traffic driving at night, even if it's raining, I find the glare annoying, especially for the newer cars. I believe there's some regulations on rear fog lamp usage in the continental Europe and UK, where you are supposed to use it under foggy/rainy conditions on open roads only, away from cities... hence the requirement for the rear fog lamp warning light on the dashboard.

 

[absidian]

UK & Europe regulations require the front and rear fogs to be wired independently, i.e two seperate switches.

Thats not the case with Jap cars tho, probably explains the unnecessary glare from the rear when the owners want to look "sporty" with their front fogs.


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[LCP]

Actually the main culprits are those driving continental cars as not many Jap cars here are equipped with rear fog lamps... Somehow I think these people (a minority though, not everyone's like that, thank god) have a fetish need to turn on all available lights on their cars, even during good weather in the middle of a city, with cars left, right, in front and behind them...

 

[jeffreyewe]

Read this thread and straight away went downstairs to check on mine. Both my rear fog lights lites up. Mine's a e36 m43 1995. Most likely rewired by the previous owner.

 

[LCP]

Or maybe all pre-facelift AB E36s are like that?

 

[rezzy3181]

Its e36.... now mine e30/m40 was with both sides rear fogs, European standard requirement needs right fog lights as standard, thats why some comes with one side. I use it during heavy rain and to shine at some fools with high lights from the back.

 

[aramis]

Quoted from Wikipedia....

"Rear fog lamps

(ECE Regulation 38, SAE J1319) In Europe, vehicles must be equipped with one or two bright red "rear fog lamps" (or "fog taillamps"), which are switched on manually by the driver in conditions of poor visibility to enhance vehicle conspicuity from the rear. The allowable range of intensity for a rear fog lamp is 150 to 300 candelas, which is within the range of a U.S. brake lamp. For this reason, many European vehicles imported to the United States have their rear fog lamps wired as brake lamps, since their European-specification brake lamps may not be sufficiently intense to comply with U.S. regulations, and rear fog lamps are not required equipment in the U.S.
Most jurisdictions permit rear fog lamps to be installed either singly or in pairs. Proponents of twin rear fog lamps say two lamps provide vehicle distance information not available from a single lamp. Proponents of the single rear fog lamp say dual rear fog lamps closely mimic the appearance of illuminated brake lamps (which are mandatorily installed in pairs), reducing the conspicuity of the brake lamps' message when the rear fogs are activated. To provide some safeguard against rear fog lamps' masking of brake lamps, ECE Regulations require a separation of at least 10 cm between adjacent illuminated edges of brake lamps and rear fog lamps."

 

[Juan Powerblow]

Or maybe all pre-facelift AB E36s are like that?

Mine was a facelifted E36 and only had single lamp. The same was for my 2001 CKD E46. My CBU E92 has twin rear fog lamps.

 

[aramis]

My Jap-spec 320i had a single one as well, on the right.

 

[Traveler]

How to tell the difference between a facelifted E36 and a non-facelifted E36? My old E36 was a 1996 318i CKD from AB, with one rear fog lamp only. My uncle (if I recall correctly, he was AB's chief mechanic or something like that) told me that the car was pre-wired for only one lamp (in reference to my car, so don't know about other variants).

Aramis, thanks for the wiki quote.. now I know why my US VW Passat didn't have rear fog lights.

 

[aramis]

lol..that I dont know....

 

[LCP]

E36 facelift is sometime in 95/96 me thinks... How to tell... look at the side repeater turn signal lamps (behind front wheel arch), if it has a dark coloured "base" and slightly bigger, it's the pre-facelift model, if it is a small narrow light it's the facelifted model... the turn signal lamp is the more difficult part to modify to the facelifted version