Hi all,

I have a new 2009 R57. It has a dealer-installed JCW aero kit, and did not come with rear fog lamps installed. Since I live in a foggy part of California, I wouldn't mind having them back there. This was a floor model, so I just bought it as is. It does have front fog lamps, BTW.

The other day, I crawled under the rear bumper to see how difficult it might be to install rear fog lamps, and I saw that there is some wiring already going to the spots where the lights should go. I'm hoping that by some miracle, this vehicle might already be pre-wired for rear fogs, so I took a couple of photos of the couplings to see if anyone who either has rear fogs, or has installed them could tell me if these are in fact their hookups.

The photos show both the front and back ends of one of the couplings. There are two couplings back there (one on each side of the bumper by the respective fog lamp holes), There are two wires going into each of these couplings - one solid brown, and the other black with a white stripe.

I was hoping to see if someone could identify them first, before I go fiddling around back there with a multi-meter.

Thanks in advance!

 

I don't have a direct answer, but the rear fog in my R52 (1st gen cabrio) uses that same type of connector. A multi-meter wouldn't tell you anything until the circuit has been activated by the dealer.

Look here for details about retrofitting the rear fogs: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-retrofit.html

 

Thanks, I appreciate that. At least this seems to confirm that the car is wired for rear fogs. Something else that's interesting in my setup is that when I toggle my fog light switch down, I get the green indicator light on the dash that shows that they're on.

 

There are two different switches for the fog lights. One for the front and one for the rear.

If you do not have rear fogs lights then you have a missing switch in the center console set second from the right.

The other one is the front fogs the second from the left and is for the front fogs and will cause a green light on the dash.

 

Yeah, I know most Minis use two toggle switches (one for the front, one for the back). Mine's a convertible, though, so it uses just one toggle for front and back. Fronts turn on with a flick up, and backs with a flick down. I'll have to find out, however, if the switch itself is ok for dual function, or I need a different one.

 

Switch it self will work fine I am sure. It may just need to be programed.

 

Here's an update:

I spoke with one of the local dealerships today about the rear fogs, and they told me that they cannot be made retroactively operable at this time, as BMW/Mini has not yet released any such programing codes for my vehicle.

Apparently, their records (based on vin number) also show that my car does not have that wiring that I included as a photo at the top of this thread. Not exactly sure what to make of that.

 

Hmm...Given it is a convertible, I guess it may not be prewired, but I bet it is. Do you see the rear fog light indicator on your speedo (just to the right of the green fog light indicator)? It lights up yellow when the rear fog lights are on. I bet you can do it yourself if you want using the minitech.info site and the programming tool referenced in another thread.

 

When did MINI change the 5 switch panel? According to all the parts sources and R57 I've seen MINI still uses the 5 switch panel. As far as the dealers telling you it can't be done that's just complete BS as myself and a few others(at least here on NAM) along with MINI of San Francisco have retrofitted the fog lights. Your pics show the fog light harness so the connections are there and if you have the light on your speedo then you simply need to purchase the lights.
http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop..._lamp_kit.html

 

The change is exclusive to the R57. They use the same 5 toggle panel but rearranged functions to accommodate controls for the cabrio rear windows. See the owner's manual: http://www.motoringalliance.com/pdf/...onvertible.pdf

 

Thanks for the clarification rkw I guess I'm getting a bit rusty.

 

Ok, so an update to this:

I bought a pair of oem rear fog lights, and they snapped right into place in the bumper, and hooked right up to the existing wiring harness. The spedo does in fact have a rear fog indicator to the right of my front fog indicator. Of course, I haven't seen it light up yet, as everything is in place, but it hasn't been programmed.

As for the toggle switches, there are in fact five of them, but since it's a convertible, one is dedicated to operating the rear windows. This is presumably why they had to configure the single fog light switch to operate both front and rear lights.

Funnily enough, it was a technician at Mini of SF who said it couldn't be done. I bought my car from them, and they came to this conclusion based on my VIN number. Of course, they also said that my car isn't pre-wired, but I think we've pretty much seen that it is.

I called Mini of Mountain View, though, and they said they can do it. I'll call SF again and see if I can clarify everything. Hopefully it'll work out, and I can get them up and running when I bring her in for the next oil change.

In the meantime, thanks for that link. I'd be interested in a programming tool - especially when the vehicle is eventually out of waranty.

 

This thread might be of interest as well.

 

I think it's kinda cool that they don't have to make a new toggle panel for the cabrio (just print different labels on the switches), and have the computer handle it all. However with the rear fog switch in a different position, the computer would have to know about it and can't use the same programming as a hardtop.

 

Ok - final update on this to add to the knowledge base. I brought my Mini to the dealer today, and they had it programmed with the rear fogs working properly in about two hours. This was at Mountain View, btw. I'm going to call Mini of SF and let them know. SF told me again the other week that it couldn't be done, so this will hopefully help other folks going there in the future.

As for how they toggle: the single switch controls both forward and rear fogs. Flicking up once turns the fronts on. Flicking down once turns the rears on. Flicking up again turns the fronts off and flicking down again turns the rears off. You can run fronts only, rears only, or both simultaneously.

With summer coming, and with it the fog here along the California coast, I'm glad that I finally have these up and running.

 

Just to clarify for the knowledge base the single toggle control for both front and rear fogs is unique to the R57 convertible only as of now. Also I've found most dealers will claim retrofitting fogs is not possible however as the OP,myself and a few others have found that yes indeed it can be done it's just a matter of finding a dealer who is willing to do it.

 

How much was reprogramming?

 

Cost to program unfortunately leaves you entirely at the mercy of the dealership. I paid $170. This is what this particular dealer charges regardless of how long your car is hooked up to their computer. All told, I paid about $230 in parts and labor to go from black plastic blanks to working lights. I live in a place that sees a lot of fog, so for me it was worth it; I'll need to use them fairly often.

 

I have a 2010 R57S in the Bay Area. SF Mini just told me they couldn't program new fog lights without a lot of difficulty and that I'd need a total reflash of the car and some new module.

I think I may just hook them up to the side makers as someone suggested.