It won't look any worse than the red tail lamp cluster...

As a former '03 BRG owner, the light in the bumper, be it red or white doesn't look wrong, bad, out of place, etc...

If a concern that the red fog lamp will affect the aesthetic of the car is what's stopping you... Then you're overthinking this...

 

One way I use my rear fogs (besides better visibility in the fog, obviously), is to say "hello!" to fellow MINI drivers who are motoring behind me. I just flick them on and off a couple of times. The other person usually flashes their brights at me to respond.

Nice system, I think.

 

I'll second mbabishkin.... This morning the fog was low and thick driving north along Hwy 1 out of Monterey. The rear fog light makes the car much more visible from a distance and casts a red glow on the pavement - to the extent I can clearly see a difference in the rear view mirror.

Also, it's great to have the toggle bank filled out. Makes the dash look complete.

 

We don't get much fog where we live. I've toyed with the idea of overlaying the light with some text. But I haven't figured out what it should say yet...

 

Given the size of the light, that would have to be some mighty small text... It could lead to people getting way too close to your bumper than they should be in order to read it...

 

How about "If you can read this, you're too close"?

 

Update from the king of "minutae" as someone noted a few days ago!

No rear fog. toook it off the order. The MCS 2006 has a continuous design of black on the bumper, the black plug is identical to the black longer plugs next to it. looks more streamlined and smooth visually and being that I paid for chromeline exterior, I get to really showcase those highlights more with keeping it simpler.

I wish I could get the MC lower grill bumper area to compliment the front foglights that I kept.

Added: HK system. ....oooo! i liked it.

112 status about to go 150 this week!
vrroooommmmm!!!

 

We have thick morning fog. Front foglights aren't needed to illuminate the road, but the rear fog light helps others to see you. It is also handy in a driving rainstorm. As a rule of thumb, if I find it hard to make out other cars' taillights, I flip on the rear foglight. Don't use it on a clear night, it is absolutely blinding. You memorize the switch locations pretty quick. The rear fog icon is reversed from the front fog icon. It lights up orange whereas the front fog switch lights up green. (There's a tiny LED in the end of the switch if you aren't familiar with MINIs)

I think the light looks a lot better than the el Cheapo black block-off plate. It certainly looks good on a Chili Red car...it almost blends in.

Rawhyde

 

FWIW, I was told it is illegal in some states. Driving trucks for a little while I found out that "some" states have extra light/non required DOT light laws. Some states even have laws about running the white driving/fog lights.

For the record.....I am not against the use of front or rear fog lights, just want to throw this out there.

I wish our Mini had this.

 

see, you ahve a red car. it looks great on that. on a green car with extra chrome and the MCS new bumper, it breaks up the black. the black goes nearly continuous from side to side except for a bit of bumper style breaking it up a little. on the green it looks as good as the light.

If it cost 3000 more dollars to improve the looks of my mini, i would go for it!

I am deciding on driving lamps. that's "aftermarket though" dealer does them. shrugs.

 

That alone is worth the $100. Nothing rubs me more than when someone is riding you and you have no place to go. Not to mention that I will be driving alot from Socal to Norcal, it's worth having that extra visibility. (Myself and others)

 

'It' meaning a rear fog light? AFAIK, MINI could not sell the car if it did not meet State regs. This was a point of contention for CA and OR, where apparently the regulations were changed in '05 so the lower middle mounted rear fog was legal.

 

In my 2004, the rear foglights are in the brake lenses at the top, and there are two of them versus the single light on the 2005-6 models. I wonder if the legal issues are due to having two lights which look like brake lights...

Also, IMO the rear fog(s) pay for themselves during the first thunderstorm or blizzard.

 

well, I thought about it.

Looks over safety. looks over performance. performance over safety.

Billy Crystal said it best, "It's better to look good, than feel good." on sat. night live.

vanity r0x0rz

"You looks marvelous!"

 

Here's how I see it:

Do you ever drive in thick fog, the kind where it is difficult to see the car in front of you, and makes you afraid of being struck from behind? If yes, then get the rear fog and you won't regret it.

If you don't encounter thick fog conditions, you can skip the factory rear fog and you have some options about appearance. The car would come with an unattractive black rubber plug in the bumper. You can leave it that way, or to change the appearance you can simply replace the plug with a non-functional light fixture in either red or white. The red fog light itself costs about $25 from the dealer, or a clear/white light (the reverse light from pre-05's) about $10. If you go for the red than you may as well have gone for the factory option and the light would also be functional.

Frankly, I don't understand the concern over a small spot of red when the taillights are already large red masses.

 

My thoughts exactly

Although 6 months from now, I wouldn't be surprised if el_jefe starts asking about retrofitting the rear fog!

 

It takes your eyes away from scanning the expanse of the back. The PW mini has this the best, looking broad and smooth. THe green already has an automatic visual pinching going on.

 

And it looks just fine...

its not too late, you could add it back to your order, right? Seriously, as others have pointed out, the fog fills in the "black hole" in the rear bumper nicely and the general consensus is that it looks better than the blank-off plate. Also, as others have pointed out, it is a nice safety feature not just in the fog, but in other inclement weather situations, such as heavy rain or snow. I love my rear fog!

 

Does your mini have a green top? eh!?

 

IMHO the black plug is so ugggggly that I couldn't stand it...it made the rear of the car look unfinished, not to mention the interior also looked unfinished because of the missing toggle.

When I bought my '05 MCS, it was during the couple of months that the rear fog wasn't available. I waited almost a year until the retrofit kit and wiring came out for my car and paid FAR MORE than probably anyone else on here paid for their rear fog...my car was without the main wiring harness. I paid the dealer do it as a b'day present for MCS for its 1st birthday.

Anyway, to make a long story long...I don't regret it. I don't have BRG, but as others have said, the tail lights are red as well as is the center brake light...and well, now you'll just have the ugly black plug that you will notice. Also, the advice everyone else has given you about actually using it for the fog...I do (and did on my previous A4) and honestly anything to help an already small car show up better in the fog!

 

I dont want one. I wont buy one. I think it detracts heavily from the near black green of the car. If I could get a matching dark green lens, that would be something else then. Someone said to colour it, but eh, I'm a stock kind of guy and any colour on top of red will look muddy.

bye.

 

We get some serious fogs here in the Hudson Valley so I use that baby often. Good safety feature AND the toggle bank is FULL.

 

i wonder if i can get a "rear fog" owner's club badge for my signature.

just kidding

 

I'm in the same situation as you. HOWEVER, my car came with the toggle but no rear foglight as it was not available yet. My dealer offered to sell me just the foglight (no wiring) for $65CDN. I was thinking of adding it and then having it wired up. How many hours did your dealer take to add the harness and wire it up?

SOrry for hijacking the thread. I really think the plug is ugly. There are other on NAM than have added a foglight and wired it up as an additional brakelight or added a back-up light (like in the 04's). I was considering adding a back-up light as I don't think the reverse lights in the 05 and later MINIs are bright enough.

That black plug, in my opinion really makes the back end of the car look unfinished.

 

I don't really know the answer to this...I'm travelling for the weekend and don't have the paperwork. I believe they quoted me 3.5 - 4 hours of labour. What happened in my case was when my car was in the shop to have the rear fog installed, they ended up discovering that I had 2 inches of water inside due to a faulty evaporator hose from the ac. They ended up taking out the entire interior and replacing all the carpeting and a bunch of other stuff because of the water. I believe they partially billed the labour to the warranty work so I only got billed for a little over 1 hr labour on the fog light wiring install.

Also, they discounted the parts because I was so patient about all the confusion over part numbers, whether the parts were available, what parts were needed...the whole order process took about 2 months.

If you send me a PM, when I get home I'll pull my paperwork. I have all the part numbers, etc. and you might at least want the one for the wiring harness as I know a few other people have been told that there is no such thing as this retrofit and there is no wiring harness available or the wrong harness has been ordered.