Help w/ fog light install.

[shellback]

Hi everyone. I have a 91 318i without fogs. In their place is a set of plastic covers color-matched to the bumper/air dam. I purchased some used fogs and re-furbished them w/ the acrylic lenses from South Africa.

I also purchased a factory fog switch for the dash, since the car was never fitted w/ fogs (only has a black cover where switch would be located).

I noticed there is a grey plug on each side of the front air dam (same style as the head light plugs). I’m almost 100% sure these are wires for the fogs that came pre-installed from the factory.

Ok, this is what I’ve done:
1)Hooked up plugs to fogs.
2)Installed a 15A fuse tom where the fog light fuse would go. It didn’t have one since I never had fogs in the first place.
3)Obviously, there is no light because I need to get a switch somewhere to power these things.

Any ideas to get these fogs lit would be greatly appreciated. Please mind I’m not too electrically savvy.
Thanks,
Chris

[m42 fan]

I just did this myself a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully I can help.

1) good

2) you will need two fuses, one for left and one for right. I'm running the 7.5A (brown) fuses. They go in the last two slots of the fuse box, the ones in the row closest to you as you look at the box, nearest to the firewall.

3) All of the wiring you will need to hook up your switch is somewhere under your dash right now. All you need to do is find it. Easier said than done, but it is there. mine was actually resting on top of the (airbag?) blaze orange module that is near the colum. From there it hooks right up to your switch. If you don't have a switch yet, I would reommend getting the euro fog switch, because it has an extra button you can wire up to whatever you want. Some on here have set up the euro "rear" foglight. Personally, I wired mine up to raise and lower my antenna, since I spend most of my time listening to CD's or XM.

4) Do you have the relay yet? I had a thread about the relay on bf.c a little while ago where I ran down the pn of the relay. I'll look it up and post it here for you.
Hope that helped
Brian

[m42 fan]

OK. I found the pn's
61 31 1 380 013. This is an updated pn, and is the one you should use if you're going to order the part new. should list for ~$18 or so.
61 31 1 374 631. This is an equivelant pn that has been superceded. Either one will work fine, so look for both if you're going through a junkyard or ebay or something. This relay was used in a lot of cars during the 80's, including 3, 5, 6, and 7 series.

Brian

[shellback]

Finally got some time to start working this out.

Brian, thanks for the P/N's. I've got the relay. Where does it go? Is it go in slot # K8?
Seems like its the only empty relay slot available on my car.

I'm tearing the dash apart tomorrow to work on some burnt our cluster lights and at the same time start fishing for that fog plug. I also p/u a euro fog switch.
Thanks again for the help.
Regards,
Chris

[shellback]

Nevermind:rolleyes:
I found your article on bf.c
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=477409&highlight=fog+relay

[m42 fan]

Glad I could help!

[nickmpower]

what color is your car?

[m42 fan]

Mine, or Shellback's? Mine's Sterling Silver.

Brian

[nickmpower]

Shellback's, i might want those blanks if they are black

[shellback]

Fornicate!
Not good!
- I tore the part under the cluster apart and finally found the plug for the fogs :)
- Hooked up my euro "dual fog" switch I got from Maraka :)
- Plugged in brand spankin new fog relay (plug # K 8 in the fuse box) :)
- Plugged in 2 brand spankin new 7.5 brown fuses in the last 2 slots for fogs :)
- New bulbs in fog lights :)
- Connected fogs to plugs :)

Time to try my new mod........no light :( :confused: :mad: :eek:

I wish I knew something about electronics. :(

The blanks are red.

[m42 fan]

Just a few things here, you probably know all this already, just trying to cover all the bases:

1) unless you "modded" the relay prongs, your fogs will only work with low beams on.

2) This will sound dumb, but try both switch buttons. You never know.

3) Get a volt meter or test light, and check to see power at your switch. The hot lead should have power when your low beams are on.

4) If you're good there, turn the key on, but don't start the car. Turn the low beams on, then push the foglight button. You should hear the relay click on.

5) If you hear the relay click over, use your meter/light, and check for power at the light plug. I'm betting you will not get this far, since the problem is with both lights.

hth
Brian

[M42Technik]

Bumping this because I have a question.

Hooking up the plugs to the foglights, where are the plugs?

I just purchased french foglights and want to know where everything is to retrofit this so things go smoothly. Thanks again!

[ak96ss]

Bumping this because I have a question.

Hooking up the plugs to the foglights, where are the plugs?

I just purchased french foglights and want to know where everything is to retrofit this so things go smoothly. Thanks again!

The plugs that go into the lights? They should be tucked up behind the valance, one on either side.

[Tonyb]

Some plugs are hidden in the harness behind the headlights. Keep looking!

[M42Technik]

Thanks again guys! I will definitely do a writeup for this, its been on my mind how to do it since I got the car.

It only took 3 years and finding a decent valence so I can fit foglights...

[1991318is]

Ya, I took my headlights out, and right below the headlights clumped into the wires which run across the front, you'll se them when you take the headlights out, the wires should be in there, and mine were run so that the plugins were in facing towards the kidneys in that direction.

[wrx2m42]

Hey everyone,
I just attempted to install my fog lights and had the worst time ever. I don't even want to go into every single detail. Although after many hours I finally had everything plugged in and ready to go. Sure enough, NO light from my fogs.

I have come to the following conclusions running certain tests, first the switch is fine, the relay is fine, but something is wrong with the 'switch' for the foglights itself. Therefore my question is this, is one of the wires for the switch (of the 2) powering the switch? Because it seems as though the switch isn't working properly when installed. The relay itself isn't clicking over although I know that the switch is operational and so is the relay from the various tests my friend helped me due.

He said that the switch needs to be powered and that we should create a wire from the battery and wire it up to the fog switch enabling the switch to have power. Is there an easier solution besides wiring power from the battery? I don't like the idea of tearing my car apart just to install the fogs.

Please shoot any idea's you guys might have out and I will answer them to the best of my knowledge. I really cannot believe how many problems I have had with this install.

Justin

[jajou318]

Did you install the two fuses needed?

[ak96ss]

You did remember to turn on your headlights first, right? The factory fogs are wired such that the fog lights don't come on unless the headlights are on.

Good call on the fuses, and check the wire that the switch plugs in to; one of them (I can't remember which) should have +12V when your headlights are on.

[wrx2m42]

Did you install the two fuses needed?
Yes, they were actually already in there.

[wrx2m42]

You did remember to turn on your headlights first, right? The factory fogs are wired such that the fog lights don't come on unless the headlights are on.

Good call on the fuses, and check the wire that the switch plugs in to; one of them (I can't remember which) should have +12V when your headlights are on.

Thanks for the response, yes I did have the headlights on. I think the problem lies in one of the wires going into the switch plug. For some reason I don't think it is getting power at all, or not the +12V needed.

My friend mentioned tapping into the battery source for a +12V power to the switch. Is there another source where I could get the necessary power for the switch besides tapping into the battery?

[ak96ss]

Sure, there is a big ol' connector under the dash that has +12V in several of the cavities, or you can pull it off the fuse box under the hood, or you can use the auxiliary fuse box under the hood if you have one.

I would find out where the problem is first - the multimeter is your friend! :D

[Febi Guibo]

is it me, or does it seem odd that some of us can throw fogs in, no problem... and others it's like... asspain of the year?

is it possible* there are two versions of the headlight switch itself throwing a wrench into the process?



*possible, or more likely, already mentioned in a post i missed.

[wrx2m42]

is it me, or does it seem odd that some of us can throw fogs in, no problem... and others it's like... asspain of the year?

is it possible* there are two versions of the headlight switch itself throwing a wrench into the process?



*possible, or more likely, already mentioned in a post i missed.
I think this is a very good idea,
I have read posts, like mine, where it seems like a nightmare to install. I've never had such a hard time installing something on a car. And others it seems to be plug and play. I'm gonna get a multi-meter and check that wire I referred to in a earlier post.

If my assumptions are right, and it is the wire thats the problem. What's the Big ol' connector under the dash that I can tap into for power?

I don't want to wire to my battery, as my friend is suggesting. And I'd like to not create the hassle of tapping into the fuse box under the hood.

[M42Technik]

Oddly enough I found a headlight switch that had a part number on it ending in 311.

When I ran it through RealOEM and BMWFans, it did not come up at all. It is not an old number either. Its very odd. Anyways, to avoid headaches I am buying the correctly numbered switch...wish me luck.

[jajou318]

is it me, or does it seem odd that some of us can throw fogs in, no problem... and others it's like... asspain of the year?



Well mine went smooth after I found my harness after looking for it 3 times lol

[melloh]

I'm curious how this goes, too. I started a thread months ago b/c I too had problems w/ the fogs... everything was in place and oddly, the fogs ended up working but without even having the (2-button) switch installed no matter what relay I used (as long as I used one)! So, the fogs turn on when the headlights are turned on, but I cannot switch them off independently cuz somehow it's bypassing the switch completely. Odd.....