I just purchased an '06 S and I want to add the OEM fog lights (the ones that go in the bumper, not the grill). In speaking to the closest dealer (100 miles away) the parts department acted like the car was pre-wired and was a plug and play install. Anyone tried this or have any information? My factory manual isn't here yet.....

 

Bump - for exactly the same question and same year.

 

Not according to the installation instructions from MINI.

Here is the thread I found in a quick search:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...in-bumper.html

According to the official installation instructions it requires installing the wiring harness in addition to the fog lights. The wiring harness requires tearing into the interior as well as placing the wiring harness in the engine bay. Doable, but definitely not plug and play. Plus you have to have the dealer re-code the car afterward.

 

Seems like adding the factory fog lights & then wiring your own harness would be a viable alternative. Although I thing you'd need an independent switch rather than using the factory one in the switch panel.

 

Part of adding the factory fog lights is to replace the center switch console with one that has a dedicated switch for the fog lights. Sometimes you can pick one up here on NAM in the market section but they often go quick and if you are updating with front and rear fog lights then all the switch locations would be filled and those showing up on NAM are really rare. It might be possible to find one of those from an auto salvage business but not that many MINI's seem to have come with the rear fog light option so it might be hard to locate one going that route.

 

Bump on the rear fog light...It literally took me a week to figure out what that switch was turning on. Now that i know, it makes a great defense for nighttime tailgaters. Just flip that switch and their gone.

 

We can't just add a factory toggle switch to the stack? The stack has to be replaced entirely?

 

problem is that stack is not simple toggle switches. They are all momentary contact switches that send signals to the GCU which then controls the lights. That's why there is re-programming involved.

There have been folks who've hacked into the stack and installed a simple toggle, and aux ports for that matter, but it is not a straightforward thing unless you are 'handy'. You must be careful not to damage what's already in the stack piece. Search - there have been threads . .

You could add the factory fogs, ignore the factory wiring and just put in a simple toggle - possibly even hacking into the factory stack . . a set of aux lights is a pretty simple thing.

 

So wow, I have called 3 different dealers and the cheapest fog light install price was $956, including the parts and they need to keep the car an extra 1/2 day to reprogram it (which is a pain since the nearest one is 100 miles from me). The other nice part is that none of these dealers would sell just the kit. Out motoring sells the OEM kit, so I am going to buy it from them and just straight wire it to a toggle under the dash or somewhere (that is easy to remove when it comes time for the state inspection).

 

It definitely needs to have a harness retrofitted and the quotes you got from the dealer aren't out of line.

I just retrofitted mine 90% and I had to run every single wire myself, add pins to the switch panel, bcm and now working on the fusebox under the hood.

Definitely my 01/05 build was NOT pre-wired for front fogs.

Rear fogs, was pre-wired. All I had to do was add the switch panel and code the feature into the BCM.

 

I've done the OEM fog light retrofit. I can answer any questions you have. I've done a lot of mods on my car and this was one of the most involved and difficult, but it did teach me a lot about working on the car! It costs so much at the dealer because of the hours of labor involved. Here's a thread on the topic: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...og-lights.html