If anything that will help to keep the diode in place. Mine shifted a little a few weeks ago, not a problem just one light was turning on with the brakes, a quick re-seat fixed it.

Now that I have the rear-fogs activated as well I've added a little electrical tape to hold the diode in place. Although I bet the heat-shrink tubing looks better...

 

Regarding white tail lights and the brake light mod:

If you have the white lights installed (or do this yourself) there are some things to consider. The white light kit comes with a relay and wiring harness that gets installed under the dashboard and into both kick panels. This extra wiring provides the same function as the brake light mod (diode or not). That is, the upper parts of the white tail lights come on with the brakes. However, this supplied harness precludes the use of the rear fog lights. The reason is that the relay functions much like the jumper would, and will not let the fogs operate independently of the brake lights. If the fog lights were to be enabled and turned on, the relay would encounter a 'latch-up' condition where the fogs (along with the brake lights) would be stuck on and unable to be shut off with the toggle (you have to shut off the car). ALl is not lost however...

If you plan on installing the white lights, install the lenses and the third brake light, but do NOT install the harness. Instead, install the diode brake light mod. You will get the proper operation of the brake lights, but will be able to have independent control of the upper section as rear fogs.

If you already had the white lights installed by the dealer, or by yourself and you have installed the wiring harness, simply remove the relay from the harness (leave everything else in place) and do your favorite version of the diode mod (the relay is hidden inside the driver's side kick panel, which will have to be removed or pulled back for access).

This should allow the brake light mod (a 'standard feature' of the white lights) to work with rear fogs, as well as nullifying the factory bulletin which says the two are not compatible with one another.

 

great post! i'm late to it but interested. one question: what about those of us who are DIY mod impaired :???:

 

>>If you plan on installing the white lights, install the lenses and the third brake light, but do NOT install the harness. Instead, install the diode brake light mod. You will get the proper operation of the brake lights, but will be able to have independent control of the upper section as rear fogs.

Yes, that's exactly what I did. I have white tail lamps without extra wirings and diode brake light mod. The top light comes on with brake on and also with fog light switched on.

------------------
>>...the factory bulletin which says the two are not compatible with one another.

For this reason, I switched the white tail lights back to the original red ones before taking the car in to activate the fog light. After activation, re-install the white lights and they worked perfectly.

 

>>great post! i'm late to it but interested. one question: what about those of us who are DIY mod impaired :smile:

How to switch out the switch module:
1. remove 2 screws on each side of the down tubes
2. remove 2 screws on the under side of the center panel above the down tubes
3. pull out the lower part of the center panel
4. slide out the 2 down tubes
5. remove 2 screws holding the switch module
6. pull the module out
7. unplug the the module (rotate a top lever downward as the plug will slide out)
8. plug in the new switch module with rear fog light switch
9. re-intall all the screws and panels

How to access the rear light plugs:
1. remove the 2 side panels in the boot
2. reach inside and find a plug behind the light assembly
3. push the tab to unplug the light
4. follow GreatBear's instruction by adding a diod, available from Radio Shack

 

However, if your DIY impaired as you discribe, spare yourself the aggravation and have the dealer install the toggle and activate the fog lights. Then go back and install the diode yourself, it's easier than you think.

You merely need to bend the diode and pop it into the plugs in the wiring harness. The wiring harness unplugs from the light easily giving you plenty of room to work.

 

Thanks, guys, for all of the good info and details. Last night I put in diodes after covering the exposed areas with heat-shrink sleeves and curling the ends of the diodes to keep them in place. Works great!

 

Good job guys but I found an easy way to turn the rear fog light on. I have them spliced with a small wire that connect to the parking light wire.

 

I did the brake light mod yesterday. Very easy, thanks to the info here and Octane Guy's how to on his web site. I got the diodes from Radio Shack, no problem.

It only took 15 minutes. The hard part was getting the harness plugged back into the light assembly. It involves some hand contortion.

Here's a pic.

 

I hate the yankees!

 

 

>>I did the brake light mod yesterday. Very easy, thanks to the info here and Octane Guy's how to on his web site. I got the diodes from Radio Shack, no problem.
>>

Congrats CountryM! Glad I could help.

 

I was looking at this old thread....I am thinking of doing the brake light mod but not interested in the rear fog option....how do you remove the wiring harness from the tail light aassembly.....are there tabs someplace to press to release it?

 

umberto, do yourself a favor - go get the diodes from Radio Shack and use them as the jumped - this way you wont have to do it again if you change your mind about the rear fog - OR - if you sell the car the next owner wont have to re-do it...

 

Thanks to this thread, plus the pix on Octane Guy's home page, I got mine modded a few nights ago. My hands are almost too big to get at the pull-out panels, but only almost.

The big problem I did not see mentioned elsewhere was verifying both lights are working with no one around to help. Is there a foolproof way to keep the brake pedal depressed? I put a box on the floor and shoved the seat forward as far as I could get it to go, but only got flickerking lights, which was enough to verify that both top and bottom flickered but not enough to convince me I had not managed to somehow introduce a flicker into the mix.

 

Next time you are at the store or near a building with big windows, check your reflection in the glass. I do that out of habit to check my lights from time to time, regardless of what I am driving.

 

I finally wound up using the old-fashioned "get a kid to sit in the driver's seat" routine instead, and the lights look great. Thanks, Greatbear.

Has anyone found a good way to keep the pedal depressed with no kid on site?

 

We tried to use the Radio Shack diodes properly in contacts 1 and 4 on an 04 MCS and it didn't work. Has anyone done the diode/wire/paperclip mod on an 04?

 

I used an extendable paint roller pole. Pushed on the brakes from the rear w/ the hatch open. Worked great.

While I like the option of having the fogs I don't ever see myself getting them so I took a different approach to this mod. I just soldered a jumper between the two traces on the bulb holder. I won't ever have to worrry about jumpers falling out. I know it is not for everyone. Good luck.

 

Can this mode be done in an 02 withoug rear fogs?

 

So I'd say that's a yes.

I soldered the diodes (some I had lying around, yes, I'm a nerd...), and used shrink tubing. As a nice touch, I used some more tubing to denote the cathode of the diode...

You can undo the white cover on the connector. I small screwdriver can be used to press down on the clips that hold the pins in.


On the second one, I used the connector as a holder for soldering. Be careful here, too much heat can melt your connector!


This is with the pins put back into the connector, but the white cover isn't back on yet.


Matt

 

I did, and it works just fine on my 04MCS. I do not have the rear fogs, nor do I intend to get them, but this method was so well illustrated and explained that I decided to use it anyway.

 

if it works with a wire and not the diode, your diode is backwards! IF it doesn't work with the wires, see if you have bulbs....

Matt

 

Just finish this Mod., it was easy to do and cheap. Once I had all the parts and tools, each side took about 10 minutes. Now my 2004 Cooper S has "5" brake lights.

 

Wow I am amized and just worder where are the pictures on the page 1? I really want to do this mod to my R56 MCS is it possible.?