I really haven't even looked on my latest MINI(see signature) to see where the reverse light(s) is/are. I do know that on my Clubman, the reverse light was on one side while the fog light was on the other side. It is just how MINI designed it.

 

The driver side has the red fog light in that location.
Can someone tell me why there is only 1 rear fog light?

I had always thought the backup lights were more for other drivers/ peds to warn them that the car is backing rather than for the driver who is backing to actually use them to light the way.
I just worry that other drivers may not see the single backup light and back into me.

 

Yeah, but why? Why is there only one reverse light?

 

Yeah, but why? Why is there only one reverse light?

 

Yeah, but why? Why is there only one reverse light?

 

Exactly, and exactly my concern.

 

It is all about the designers choice....remember the Mini is desgined too look good...and during the desgin, looks were important. A single light meets all legal requirements, as proven in gen1 mini's, and the designers thought it looked good. As previously stated, the gen1 single backup light owners had noissues, other than lack of brightness during nighttime backing.
If you want functionality, get a ford. You bought a mini...compromises were/are made in the desgin to achieve the look the desginers wanted, to maintain the mini "look". If you don't understand, then I guess you never will understand about compromises. It seems to me to be a good desgin choice to keep euro+US taillights the same...rear fog on the required side according to euro rules, and and backup on the other....
For the obsessive compulsives's out there, it does lack symitry left to right, but it has less parts+wiring than using a center mounted backup light like early gen1 mini's, saving $$$$. Remember, the clubman is a low volume production car...BMW/mini had a strong desire to minimize the changes needed from one market to another....and this was a compermise they made of sorts to keep complexity down...allowing such a variant of the mini to exist.

 

So are you guys saying that I have a rear FOG light on the opposite side to the reverse light?
Philip

 

Only if you have the rear fog light option.

 

I did some research online after posting the above comment and found that it was an option. I know I have the front fog lights but I'm not sure about the rear. The car is in my garage and I will have to wait until I get home to check for sure but I don't believe I have that extra switch on the dashboard. If I don't have the rear fog then what is in that position in the lamp housing?
Philip

 

I'm not sure myself but there actually may be a light in there but not hooked up. Check to make sure.

 

If you did not get $100.00 the rear fog option then you will have a blank spot in the center control panel. However all the wiring and lamp housing, including the fog light bulb will be present and installed from the factory.

 

This is not so true on the 2010 and 2011 cars They changed the wiring harnesses and if you did not order the fog light then the wiring was in many cases not there.

But on 08 and 09 cars all the wiring was in place and the bulb was actually in the socket just needed the switch and cover plate installed and the car re-programed to turn the light on.

Now as to WHY there is only one back up and one fog light that comes down to other country laws as well. Just remember that the car must really meet the laws of many countries not just those of the US that way they do not have to do to many country specific changes.

In the UK rear fog lights are required on the Street Side not the Curb side of the car and there must be at least one back up light. So the designers put the fog light on one side and the back up light on the other side in the same location.

If you want two back up lights and don't car about the Fog lights then get a UK version of the light on the left side of the car and it will have the white backup light. Then run a wire from the other back up light and you will have two.

Now as to whether another person is going to see two back up lights over one well that's just nuts to think about because if they don't see the light from one they most likely are not going to see the light from two.

And I am also wondering how many people that have posted to this thread have NOT read their owners manual as ALL of this is fully explained in the manual. So if it is there and you read it you should be aware of it.

And at BLAUGRANA "it was designed that way" that is the answer to your question the question could be asked a different way as well and the answer will still be the same.

 

The rear fog wiring and bulb is present on my '10 Clubman (ordered Dec. '09). The wire is there in the light housing but I have not looked at the footwell module end. I do have front fogs and am considering connecting the front fog control to the rear fog bulb.

 

Well you are one of the lucky ones then, a couple of friends have clubmans built later in the year and they do not have the wiring in the car.

As for connecting the front fogs to the rear that is a lot easier said than done. The lighting is controlled by the foot well module and as such as some very strict limits on current that can be drawn on each circuit. The front fog circuit is only designed to run a relay that then powers the front fogs, adding a light bulb (rear one) to that circuit may draw to much current on it and burn it out. you could probably run a wire from the front fog light to the rear light housing but just make sure you pull the wire in the harness out so that you do not feed the voltage back to somewhere else in the car that should not have it.

 

When I bought my Clubby in June, the saleswoman was backing up and I was like, "Oh crap, this is a new car and it already has a light out." They told me that if I got rear fogs, it would somehow even out that look as some have said.

 

Yes I understand all that. I would either hook up to the front fog relay output side or install a new relay. What I haven't figured out yet is if the signals to the rear lights (Fog, turn, tail and brake) are source grounding or source +? All the lights in the fixture have a common bus side but the common does not 'ohm out' to the chassis ground. The other signal wires are not 12 Volt either when measured with my digital meter, so they are using some kind of solid state switching or relay.
I may have to totally isolate the fog bulb? However that would be kinda hard to do without really hacking up the fixture.

 

Scion xB has one circular back up light on its right side. It's not unusual.

 

If you have the rear fog light option, I guess you could turn it on before backing up?

 

To those asking why; it's a euro thing -- old volvos, audis.. They tend to have a single rear fog light. Just one, bright white -- consider why, if you had two white fog lights it would look like you are reversing.

 

Kind-of toying with the notion of activating the rear fog on mine, based on what I've read on the forum. But was wondering in my ignorance: what needs to be reprogrammed? If the wiring, bulb, etc. are all there, and you just need to put in the necessary switch module, I'm having a difficult time imagining what software is needed to make the trons flow to the rear fog light...?

 

From what I understand even the micro switch for the fog is present on the control panel circuit card as well. When you add the toggle handle it just presses down on the existing switch.
The electric current for the fog light, as well all the other switches, does not actually flow through the switch directly. Pushing a switch just tells the computer to turn on a relay or other electronic switch somewhere else in the system. Either in the fuse box or in the lighting control module located in the footwell area. If not programmed the computer does not recognize the button press and nothing happens.
Just as with the function keys on your computer keyboard. If not specifically programmed to do something, then they do nothing.

 

Ah, got it now! Thanks!

Now the problem becomes that I've been told that reprogramming is an all-or-nothing affair; they aren't able to reprogram selective items (like the lighting control module), but have to do the whole car. If true, I'd prefer to avoid re-flashing my JCW due to reports of power losses with later software versions.

So, given the choice between horsepower and a rear fog light, guess which one I'll pick...?

 

A "Security Guard"? Really? What a numbskull.

What would he have done if you didnt have a reverse light at all? Give you a ticket?

I hate dealing with "wanna be's". They create more hassle than needed.

 

Sorry, clubmans are not special. Many vehicles have just one reverse light. (Most notably the scion xB)