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      03-02-2016, 10:44 PM   #1
dbs600
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Headlamps and Fog Lamps

Anyone have any clear photos G11/12’s at night with both headlamps and fog lamps on?

Thanks!
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      03-03-2016, 07:36 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbs600
Anyone have any clear photos G11/12’s at night with both headlamps and fog lamps on?

Thanks!
Any specific combination? Base LED, Adaptive LED, Adaptive Icon LED, or LED with Laser Light? There are differences in the illumination patterns among the units.
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      03-04-2016, 12:40 PM   #3
dbs600
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Found this video:



Not sure with which equipped, but was curious as to the fogs.

May add an M Sport front bumper to my F02 and would like to include the G12 fogs.

Thanks.
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      03-04-2016, 02:33 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbs600
Found this video:



Not sure with which equipped, but was curious as to the fogs.

May add an M Sport front bumper to my F02 and would like to include the G12 fogs.

Thanks.
For a retrofit on your F02, the Fxx 6er lamps would be the units to use if that's the look you prefer as they're visually identical and have self contained drivers and resistors compatible to your car. Due to the new BUS Architecture with FLE and Chassis Lighting Control Modules on the G11/12, it would be far more difficult to integrate them.
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      03-04-2016, 04:00 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by miamiten View Post
For a retrofit on your F02, the Fxx 6er lamps would be the units to use if that's the look you prefer as they're visually identical and have self contained drivers and resistors compatible to your car. Due to the new BUS Architecture with FLE and Chassis Lighting Control Modules on the G11/12, it would be far more difficult to integrate them.
True; thanks for this!

Would like to stay as 'OEM-look' as possible.

Also considering the fog lamps of the F10 M Sport front bumper.

Too bad no fog lamps on the F02 M Sport front bumper...

Making my choice to switch a difficult one.
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      03-04-2016, 10:07 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbs600
Quote:
Originally Posted by miamiten View Post
For a retrofit on your F02, the Fxx 6er lamps would be the units to use if that's the look you prefer as they're visually identical and have self contained drivers and resistors compatible to your car. Due to the new BUS Architecture with FLE and Chassis Lighting Control Modules on the G11/12, it would be far more difficult to integrate them.
True; thanks for this!

Would like to stay as 'OEM-look' as possible.

Also considering the fog lamps of the F10 M Sport front bumper.

Too bad no fog lamps on the F02 M Sport front bumper...

Making my choice to switch a difficult one.
No problem however mounting them would be a bit of a challenge. They're heavy (between 4-6lbs each) and quite deep to accommodate the massive heat sinks. The openings in the F0x 7 M Sport Air Dam are a bit narrower than the standard car as it made it look "fat cheeked" otherwise. There isn't any usable space or structure to mount them where the decor strips are and below there would interrupt the airflow for the intercoolers (the fog lamps on the non M Sport are quite far out to the side and are just below the additional crash supports, straps, and deformable absorber (for a US car).
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      03-05-2016, 12:22 AM   #7
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Thanks again.

What's your take on the attached.

Not too keen on it, but most integrated I've seen so far.
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      03-05-2016, 02:52 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbs600
Thanks again.

What's your take on the attached.

Not too keen on it, but most integrated I've seen so far.
Personally, that particular installation and components are simply daylight decoration (and a bit tacky), serve zero functional benefit, and can be quite glaring to other motorists at night; especially in low visibility conditions.

What is your reasoning/goal for adding additional lights? Is it purely for aesthetic purposes, do you want to improve forward lighting, both, or something else?

There are numerous supplementary products available but the ones that are of a good quality, actually functional, and are specifically designed for the application tend to not be easily found in the US. I know of a number of products only distributed in Japan that will achieve the aesthetic and useful benefits, but wouldn't come up in a online search using English words. If all you're looking for is improved lighting in low visibility, useful improvement on your car can be made by simply enabling some inhibited functions of the headlamps and installing the control switch with fog lamp button(s). No need for separate fog lamps. This can be taken further by retrofitting ECE Adaptive Bi-Xenon or LCI LED Headlamps. Parts expense would be less to just slightly more than attempting to retrofit OEM or quality Aftermarket Fog Lamps. The Labor (pardon the assumption but I don't get the impression it would be a DIY job) will be pretty high for a OEM quality install.
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      03-05-2016, 09:16 AM   #9
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Thanks for the detailed analysis.

Yes, I'd say my intent is for a bit of both function and design.

Many say the fog lamps of the F01/02 serve no purpose, but they in fact do when used properly.

Why do you believe what's pictured is blinding? I thought when the light is aimed low it serve it's purpose, or is what's pictured not able to be directed so?

If aware of anything in particular and can post a link or two to that found in Japan, it'd be appreciated, so I have a better sense of the possibilities.

Otherwise, correct, it's not going to be a DIY job. Recently found my front bumper damaged while parked, likely requiring replacement and figured I'd take this opportunity, but this fog lamp matter is an impediment.

Thanks again.
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      03-08-2016, 10:05 PM   #10
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That was ALWAYS one of the very reasons I did not go with a M Sport F0 the fact that it has no Fog Lights. Call me old fashioned but I love me some fogs! Especially LED. Just gives the car even more road presence and of course light output.
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      03-08-2016, 11:30 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TXSTYLE View Post
That was ALWAYS one of the very reasons I did not go with a M Sport F0 the fact that it has no Fog Lights. Call me old fashioned but I love me some fogs! Especially LED. Just gives the car even more road presence and of course light output.
Agreed; not sure how they decided for the F10 M Sport front bumper to have fog lamps, but not the F01/02 M Sport front bumper; weird.

Unfortunately, still undecided. Is the F01/02 M Sport front bumper better looking than the non-M Sport front bumper anyway? Ugh. :|
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      03-19-2016, 01:47 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbs600
Thanks for the detailed analysis.

Yes, I'd say my intent is for a bit of both function and design.

Many say the fog lamps of the F01/02 serve no purpose, but they in fact do when used properly.

Why do you believe what's pictured is blinding? I thought when the light is aimed low it serve it's purpose, or is what's pictured not able to be directed so?

If aware of anything in particular and can post a link or two to that found in Japan, it'd be appreciated, so I have a better sense of the possibilities.

Otherwise, correct, it's not going to be a DIY job. Recently found my front bumper damaged while parked, likely requiring replacement and figured I'd take this opportunity, but this fog lamp matter is an impediment.

Thanks again.
Those are definitely DRL lights which don't have focused optics. They're designed to give off highly diffused light rather than optically focused light. Even if they were true optical fog lamps, positioning them that low wouldn't provide any useful light. The illuminated area would stop within 2'-3' from the front of the car. Too short to even see from the driver's seat.

Fog lamps with good optics and alignment do serve a purpose, but there are other ways now using the headlamps instead. Your car is capable of producing an adverse weather beam pattern that is far more useful than any supplementary fog lamp would be. Activating it would be a few minutes of coding and installation of a headlamp switch with a front fog lamp button. When activated, the headlamps will lower and widen the beam pattern. This way glare is further reduced and more usable light is projected where it can be of use.

The F01/02 M Sport front bumper cover is cleverly designed and it's more aggressive appearance is really an optical illusion. The size and placement of the kidney grills necessitates the main horizontal impact assembly be quite low, the bottom of which is behind the trim pieces just above the lower air intakes. The lower air intake opening is actually narrower overall than the standard car and only marginally taller. Below there, more pronounced splitter elements are integrated. Because of those, the drag induced flex requires additional support structure to keep it all nice and snug.

So there really wasn't any place to physically mount fog lamps while keeping adequate intake area. I've seen a mockup of a preliminary design that included fog lamps and the result was not attractive for the car.

Although the F01/02 and F10 are virtually identical between the firewall and core support, the F10 has more vertical space for the air intakes as the main horizontal impact assembly is higher. This allowed fog light to be incorporated while keeping the required surface area. The F10 isn't completely immune though as the M550d needed more air while retaining the MSport front cover and the M5, despite even larger intake surface area, needed all of it to feed the intercoolers.
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