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Has anyone asked a MINI dealer to do the coding? Any idea if they are willing and what the cost is?
I ordered my headlight switch and it will be in tomorrow and my MINI just happens to be at the dealer for the weekend. So I asked the service writer about coding the rear fogs and he looked at me like I had three heads on my shoulders. He said he would speak to the Service Manager and let me know. I can only imagine what that conversation will be like.
Mine is at the dealer for the crank bearing recall as we speak. The original reason I took it in was to have the RFL's coded. They said they would have to update all the software in the process and the flat rate for software update/coding was $125. This is their regular hourly labor cost but they said it would take two to three hours to update everything. they must be used to seeing people with three heads because the service person didn't bat an eye at my request.
Just had my rear fogs coded and everything works great. The dealer here wouldn't order the part because they said rear fogs were illegal in the state. I looked up the statutes and they are legal. So I ordered the switch and had the car coded by a coder. I was charged $110 for the coding.
Just had my rear fogs coded and everything works great. The dealer here wouldn't order the part because they said rear fogs were illegal in the state. I looked up the statutes and they are legal. So I ordered the switch and had the car coded by a coder. I was charged $110 for the coding.
This is what I hate about these computers on wheels! In the days before computers an auto owner could just run as couple of wires to the rear fogs and be done with it?! LOL! Easy times back then!
Hopefully when someone finds the code through NCS expert , they can post it up. We have an update soon to the schwaben tool and when the update is released I will let you know if it can code. Right now its only does very few coding of stock modules for replacement.
I looked into purchasing all the needed stuff to wire this to the factory harness but decided to just hardwire them. There are already bulbs and a factory harness connected to them and all I did was cut the rear fog light harness and tap them into the lights on the rear plastic trim.
I looked into purchasing all the needed stuff to wire this to the factory harness but decided to just hardwire them. There are already bulbs and a factory harness connected to them and all I did was cut the rear fog light harness and tap them into the lights on the rear plastic trim.
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Awesome. Was it a lot of work? Where did you power it to and where did you tap power from?
I may want to do this too but I don't want the light to be too bright as it'll be on all the time.
Awesome. Was it a lot of work? Where did you power it to and where did you tap power from?
I may want to do this too but I don't want the light to be too bright as it'll be on all the time.
Honestly it is not brighter than the taillights! I removed the rear wheels to have room to work and then removed the rear inner plastics in the wheel wells. I cut the factory harness thats in place for the rear fog lights then tapped them into the harness for the lights on the rear black trim. Thats the cheap way to have functioning rear fog lights. You can also wire the lights to a separate switch if you'd like but thats another task. But just a matter of running wires.
Honestly it is not brighter than the taillights! I removed the rear wheels to have room to work and then removed the rear inner plastics in the wheel wells. I cut the factory harness thats in place for the rear fog lights then tapped them into the harness for the lights on the rear black trim. Thats the cheap way to have functioning rear fog lights. You can also wire the lights to a separate switch if you'd like but thats another task. But just a matter of running wires.
These are LED lights, and I'm wondering why there's even ICs (shown in the first page of this thread) where it shows the circuit board. So I'm thinking it's not just tap power and hook them up. Did you tap the power from and to the LED that's soldered on the board or can you just provide a 12V into the plug on the module itself and it'll light up?
These are LED lights, and I'm wondering why there's even ICs (shown in the first page of this thread) where it shows the circuit board. So I'm thinking it's not just tap power and hook them up. Did you tap the power from and to the LED that's soldered on the board or can you just provide a 12V into the plug on the module itself and it'll light up?
The bulbs are just standard halogens. No LEDS were in mine at least. No tapping was done to the circuit board. I tapped into an existing harness for POWER and GROUND. Just a matter of tapping two wires to (one for power and one to ground it out) and you are golden.
The bulbs are just standard halogens. No LEDS were in mine at least. No tapping was done to the circuit board. I tapped into an existing harness for POWER and GROUND. Just a matter of tapping two wires to (one for power and one to ground it out) and you are golden.
Oh.. I see. I thought all F56 had LED lights for the rear fog light.
Mine didn't come with them but I was looking to add them in as it is an easy swap.
I don't really like the easy swap because it's actually just fooling the computer and using same energy. The computer in the car will check for load on the bulb and since LED bulbs have such little load compared to regular bulbs, it'll throw an error thinking the bulb has burnt out. That's why "canbus-LEDs" have a resistor added to the LED to fool the computer. Downside of this is that there's wasted power burned up as heat, so there's no gain in energy efficiency if you go this way. LED light plus all the extra heat coming from the resistor makes it almost as hot as a regular bulb. One of mine actually melted the soldering because the heat and broke into two pieces for the glovebox.
I tried tweaking the coding in E-SYS so that it doesn't check for brake lights, but wasn't successful at it so I switched back to normal bulbs.
Honestly it is not brighter than the taillights! I removed the rear wheels to have room to work and then removed the rear inner plastics in the wheel wells. I cut the factory harness thats in place for the rear fog lights then tapped them into the harness for the lights on the rear black trim. Thats the cheap way to have functioning rear fog lights. You can also wire the lights to a separate switch if you'd like but thats another task. But just a matter of running wires.
Nice idea, is it obvious which wires to tap or does it require a bit of digging?
Nice idea, is it obvious which wires to tap or does it require a bit of digging?
Its obvious. Just take the two wires from the rear fog and tap them into the two wires for the side lights on the rear trim. I believe they are black(ground) and brown (power)
As I just posted in the coding thread, you need to do the following - not just buying the switch, but also using e-sys to enable the feature in the body domain controller (BDC)
First, purchase the version of the light switch for your car that includes the rear fog switch and fit it.
Then, the following coding is required to make them work,
1) add option 5AA rear fogs to the VO (vehicle order)
then in the BDC, code the following :-
2) 3068, NSL_Verbaut = Verbaut
(This enables the BDC to sense the switch, if you just code this and try the lights, it just activates the symbol on the instrument cluster but does nothing else)
These options enable the correct outputs on the BDC to activate the lights. You could choose to have only one light on if you wished
After doing all the above, you will have fully working rear fogs, confirming that both the wiring is already in place, and BMW rape your wallet for a $100 option that only needs probably an extra $1 in components in the switch module. They obviously have a very savvy marketing department who have figured out perceived value of such options like this that cost them next to nothing
BTW, the OP was asking about the light switch connector. It is three wires no matter what version/options you have. Power, ground, CANBUS. This is typical of multiplexed wiring used by BMW.
For my F54 Clubman, step 1 was not required. I only coded steps 2 and 3 to activate rear foglights left and right. Car has LED lighting package. Maybe newer cars don't need step 1, i don't know. I bought the light switch off eBay for 39 dollars shipped. So its cheap and easy.
I did the coding through Bimmercode app, not e-sys.
For my F54 Clubman, step 1 was not required. I only coded steps 2 and 3 to activate rear foglights left and right. Car has LED lighting package. Maybe newer cars don't need step 1, i don't know. I bought the light switch off eBay for 39 dollars shipped. So its cheap and easy.
I did the coding through Bimmercode app, not e-sys.
Just do an eBay search for 'mini f56 light switch' and save that search so that you get email notifications until one pops up with a price you're willing to pay for.
Does anyone have the instructions on how to pull the panel and remove the existing switch to install the new one prior to coding in the fogs?
Yes. Just did mine. Real easy.
Remove the left panel, the one the door closes against. One screw.
Pull fairly hard on the panel under the steering wheel away from the dash until it releases.
There are 6 retainers. https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=51_9610
But be careful of the switch wire so you don't rip it out.
Remove the wiring plug.
Take the panel with switch to a smooth surface like a table.
The switch is retained from the back of the panel by tabs.
For my F54 Clubman, step 1 was not required. I only coded steps 2 and 3 to activate rear foglights left and right. Car has LED lighting package. Maybe newer cars don't need step 1, i don't know. I bought the light switch off eBay for 39 dollars shipped. So its cheap and easy.
I did the coding through Bimmercode app, not e-sys.
Any chance you have a step by step on the coding you did through Bimmercode app?
OK, started to figure out Bimmercode.
But when it reads the existing coding, it shows things I don't have
enabled as enabled. Like starting without pressing brake, shows aktiv.
Others that are too boring to list.
