W211 should there be foglights at rear on both sides?

[flango]

Never been that happy about the one foglight thing, especially so one particularly foggy night crossing France/Belgium.

There must be some danger of misleading other road users (especially those who ripping past in very poor visibilty) because my single foglight was of course now on the "wrong" side.

You could always buy a Subaru Legacy, they thought of that one you can have the rear single fog on the left or right or both on together, the Japs used their brains on this one

 

[Smarties]

Many years ago, I wrote to MB on this very issue..never did get a reply though. IMO 2 is better than 1.

 

[MarkJunedd]

Just to throw water on the chip pan, 2 are safer than 1 definitely and you don't need a software mod to have 2. (well I didnt anyway) On my last Volvo S60 ,it was fitted as standard with one (offside) rear fog. On the neasrside cluster there was a blank in the lense but the bulb magazine had provision for the bulb. I fitted a bulb,removed the blank hey presto 2 fog lamps.
On the CLK it was similar but you are not supplied with a bulb holder for the nearside. I bought one for iirc £2.39 from Merc, fitted it and have 2 rear fogs. The loom is in place so why would you need software updating? The one foglight for safety is a load of nonsense. manufacturers do it for country specific reasons so as the lamps meet the minimum legal requirement for that market.

 

[jasonyw]

We need an MOT merchanic opinion why some cars got one and the others got two. Surely this is Brussel directive.

I am used to two but was surprised when I found out there was only one in W201 and W202 in 1996.

 

[jaymanek]

a few weeks back I had a "know it all" type of customer come in... He tried very hard to convince me that all of my Mercedes were in fact illegal as they should have two working fog lamps.... I explained the reasoning but he would not have it... he insisted all of my cars were faulty!

I showed him the MOT manual but he still would not believe me...

I didnt sell him a car in the end.... thank god...

 

[whitenemesis]

From the MoT tester's manual .. http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_110.htm

6. Rear fog lamps

The inspection of rear fog lamps is confined to the one rear fog lamp which is required to be fitted to the centre or offside of
vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1980.
Note: On some vehicles the front fog lamps need to be switched on before the rear fog lamp(s) will work
.
Note: A rear fog lamp is permitted to operate independently of headlamp, position lamp or ignition systems.

Note: at least 50% of light sources in a lamp must illuminate

 

[jasonyw]

From the MoT tester's manual .. MOT UK car and vehicle MOT information equipment car servicing parts and spares - lamps and fog lamps

6. Rear fog lamps

The inspection of rear fog lamps is confined to the one rear fog lamp which is required to be fitted to the centre or offside of
vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1980.
Note: On some vehicles the front fog lamps need to be switched on before the rear fog lamp(s) will work
.
Note: A rear fog lamp is permitted to operate independently of headlamp, position lamp or ignition systems.

Note: at least 50% of light sources in a lamp must illuminate

Well well, as long as there is a rear fog light at the rear or offside, it legal. The law didn't say you cannot have one nearside. It optional, you can fit one if you wish.

 

[tony bob]

Just to throw water on the chip pan, 2 are safer than 1 definitely and you don't need a software mod to have 2. (well I didnt anyway) On my last Volvo S60 ,it was fitted as standard with one (offside) rear fog. On the neasrside cluster there was a blank in the lense but the bulb magazine had provision for the bulb. I fitted a bulb,removed the blank hey presto 2 fog lamps.
On the CLK it was similar but you are not supplied with a bulb holder for the nearside. I bought one for iirc £2.39 from Merc, fitted it and have 2 rear fogs. The loom is in place so why would you need software updating? The one foglight for safety is a load of nonsense. manufacturers do it for country specific reasons so as the lamps meet the minimum legal requirement for that market.

hi everyone, re the issue of rear foglamps, the problem we have with our 2002 model w211 e220 cdi is the fact that on this uk spec car the rear fog lamp function is achieved by using the rear tail lights, they are hip bulbs and receive around five volts in normal night driving use, if we pull out the light switch to activate first the front fogs and then the second pull brings on the single (righthand side) rear foglamp these hip tail light bulbs then receive around seven volts to make them brighter = foglamp! to register the car in spain we need to have the rear fog on the left side, wiring? help!

 

[ianstaley]

The RED light continued

Just to put my 2pence worth in here, I have a left hooker MB W202 Estate, on the continent the requirement is to have ONE rear Fog light working on the drivers side. But there is no legal reason why you can't have two. The fact is that MB like many other manufacturers provide for BOTH sides at point of manufacture. Personally i prefer two, it is an easy fix as the rear light cluster already has the facility and the lamp fitted. All you need to do is run a single wire from your right or in my case left hand fog lamp (wire joint connector one of those blue things) to the other side and use a spade that can be had from MB or a small speaker spade. so this will also work in Spain, if they insist on only having the one lamp, just pull the original wire from the connector. It took me all of 15 minutes to achieve this mod including soldering the spade on the wire.

 

[whitenemesis]

Just to put my 2pence worth in here, I have a left hooker MB W202 Estate, on the continent the requirement is to have ONE rear Fog light working on the drivers side. But there is no legal reason why you can't have two. The fact is that MB like many other manufacturers provide for BOTH sides at point of manufacture. Personally i prefer two, it is an easy fix as the rear light cluster already has the facility and the lamp fitted. All you need to do is run a single wire from your right or in my case left hand fog lamp (wire joint connector one of those blue things) to the other side and use a spade that can be had from MB or a small speaker spade. so this will also work in Spain, if they insist on only having the one lamp, just pull the original wire from the connector. It took me all of 15 minutes to achieve this mod including soldering the spade on the wire.

Might this upset the onboard lamp monitor found in later cars?

 

[corned]

Might this upset the onboard lamp monitor found in later cars?

There's only one way to find out...

 

[shorty]

hi everyone, re the issue of rear foglamps, the problem we have with our 2002 model w211 e220 cdi is the fact that on this uk spec car the rear fog lamp function is achieved by using the rear tail lights, they are hip bulbs and receive around five volts in normal night driving use, if we pull out the light switch to activate first the front fogs and then the second pull brings on the single (righthand side) rear foglamp these hip tail light bulbs then receive around seven volts to make them brighter = foglamp! to register the car in spain we need to have the rear fog on the left side, wiring? help!

One soulation might be to swap the pins at the rear SAM for the left and right tail lights , this would then sawp the wiring at the lights .

 

[johnsco]

I'm pretty sure that our old W126 (now deceased) had two rear fog lights and two reversing lights.
I remember thinking when I bought the W210 ... "Well - The stingy b.......s !

My vote is definitely for two rear fog lights

 

[Diesel Benz]

Might this upset the onboard lamp monitor found in later cars?

Not sure about a W202 but later models would get upset. But on later models you can version code the SAM to illuminate one or the other, or both fog lights. No need to get hands dirty.

 

[whitenemesis]

Not sure about a W202 but later models would get upset. But on later models you can version code the SAM to illuminate one or the other, or both fog lights. No need to get hands dirty.

I like that idea

ALFIE !!

 

[Alfie]

I like that idea

ALFIE !!

I will have a play with STAR tomorrow or later this evening and see!

 

[ianstaley]

rear fog

Regarding the lamp out iindicator, it hasn't affected mine, in any way as far as i can see. but to be fair all I have done is to take a tap off the merc fittedposative supply and connected into the switch on the rear of the light box. just no connector in that space, so in theroy no matter which bulb is gone it SHOULD (in therory) indicate whenever a bulb is out? but only time will tell.
Ian

 

[MOCAŠ]

There were a lot of ill thought so called safety ideas in the 1970's and 80's and if you look back not many of them stand the test of time, the genuine safety advances do though, 3 point seatbelts, ABS, Airbags & Curtains etc.

Not forgetting pedestrian safety, of course, circa 1975...

 

[MOCAŠ]

Or it could be they deemed one cheaper than two.

Ah, that reminds me of my Fiat Uno. Uno by name, uno by nature: one windscreen wiper (very MB-like!), one stalk on the steering column (also familiar), one washer jet nozzle, one tailgate strut. All part of the concept, you see. Nothing to do with cost-saving...

 

[MOCAŠ]

That photo is giving me flashbacks. All I'll say is that Quartic steering wheels and Alpine passes were not made for each other...