My 2004 R53 JCW US Spec. Production date 12/01/2003 has a rear fog light switch and the spec sheet says it has 5AA - Rear Fog Lamp. The indicator in the end of the switch lights up white when it is toggled up, but I didn't see any lights on the back. Do the low headlight beams and the front fog lights have to be on for the rear fog lights to work? Where should I look to see if they light up? The middle of the tail light configuration? It has the center white light just above the exhaust that I assumed was a reversing light: the lamp itself is good but I've not seen it light up in reverse either.

My Jaguar has what Jag calls fog guard lamps that are separate and brighter red lamps than the tail lights I suppose to keep folks from rear ending you in the fog. Do the mini's work similarly?

Update: Found a you tube video at that says front fogs must be on for the rear fogs to work and that the rear fog is what I thought was the reversing light above the exhaust; guess that's why it did not come on in reverse. I'll go check this out.

 

I think you have the same light units as on my '02.
The white light in the center of the bumper is the reversing light & is on anytime you are in reverse & the ignition on/engine running - no other lights need to be on.

The top bulbs in the rear light units are brake lights if you don't have the rear fog option - some say this is a modification, otherwise they are not used at all.
If you have the rear fog option the top bulbs are the rear fogs - same brightness as the brake lights. The ignition must be on & also the side lights at least, perhaps headlights OR front fog lights as well.
They go off with the ignition so you can't drive around for weeks dazzling everybody behind you!
It's possible they work as brake lights if the rear fog lights are not on.
There are some other good YT videos of rear fog lights in use.
They should work the same on your Jaguar.

 

For 2002-2004 (such as yours), the rear fog is the top bulbs of your taillights. See your Owners Manual. You will also see from your Owners Manual that for front or rear fog light to operate, either the low beams or parking lights must be on.



The video you posted is a 2005-2006 model with a different taillight configuration with fog light in the bumper. 2002-2004 has backup light in the bumper.

 

Are you saying that you do not have any working reverse light at all?

 

Thanks for the responses. That layout makes more sense than the middle light being a fog light, and you are right that the diagram is right there in the owner's manual, although I didn't see where it says the front fogs must be on for the rear fogs to work. I had tried the rear fogs with the head lights on and didn't see anything in the back, but may not have had both front and rear fog switches on at the same time.

I did not see the reverse light operating when I first brought the Mini home at night but did check the lamp itself when I had the rear bumper cover off to do some repairs. (I still can't talk about my close encounter with a post in the rain and dark on that fateful night) I'll ask my wife to check it from behind once things warm up around here, (she didn't want to get out in the snow right now) or maybe I'll set up my camera in video mode and run it through a rear light check by myself.

 

With mine, the front and rear fog lights can be individually controlled as there are two independent toggle switches. In North America programming your headlights must be on for the front fog lights to work which makes no sense at all but hay, it is DOT. I programmed it to European mode which allows the front to be on with just the "parking lights".

 

I lived in Ohio where driving in a snow storm with even low beams on made forward sight difficult and low fog lights alone on my Jeep Wagoner gave at least some visibility. Fog lights with running lights alone makes more sense to me, but I guess we can't accuse the Big Brother US gov of making sense.

My Mini also has a little switch on the lower panel by my left knee that has a headlight with a little 2 in it. I asked the PO what it was for and he replied, "At some point in time that car had been outfitted with the additional Rally Lights that mount in the hood between the headlights! By the time I got the car they had been removed. I never replaced them because they are a bit expensive ($350 to $500) depending on brand. All of the wiring still runs to the front I just tucked it up in place! The rear fogs never made a difference that I could see or tell."

I looked up Mini Rally lights on eBay and just brackets for a gen 1 are $110 and a mounting bar for a quad setup is $200 without any lights included. They do look cool, but I'll have to just look cool without them.

 

UPDATE:

I Checked the fog lights today with the engine running and the low beam headlights on; the front fog lights can be turned on with the low beam headlights, they go out when the headlights are switched to high beam, and they come back on when the headlights are switched back to low beams. The front fogs stayed on when I turned the headlight switch from low beams to running lights only, and the front fogs and the switch light went out when the running lights were turned off. I tried again turning just the running lights on and the front fogs could be turned on with just the running lights. Yea! The rear fog light toggle switch lights up yellow on the tip with the running lights on, but the rear tail light upper parts did not come on in any of the front fog, running light, or headlight combinations. I need to check the lamps in the upper part, but it is too darn cold today to be messing with plastic parts (-3 degrees F this morning and 6 degrees F at noon) I found instructions two places for installing the factory kit auxiliary head lights and the switch used is exactly like the one on my Mini so it might have been a dealer installed item. However there are no holes in the bonnet where the factory mounting brackets would have gone and no slots in the grill for the brackets to poke through; it makes me wonder if the bonnet has been replaced. The PO said he tucked the wiring out of the way, but I don't see where it might be (I'll shot him an email to ask). If all the wiring is there, the hard part is done and it might be worth the $50 for the brackets to set it up for after market rally lights.

 

The rear fogs would be on a separate switch, at least on the face lift 1st gens. If you have the correct toggle panel, the switch would be next to the front foglight switch and the symbol would be a mirror image of the front fog symbol. The rear fog toggle should light up amber and the front green.

For the driving lights no extra slots are cut into the grille unless you have the aero grille. The brackets slide between the slats so you shouldn't see a difference without the brackets installed on the standard grille. I think the brackets are riveted into existing holes in the hood so you'll probably won't see anything other than some scratches where they mount.

 

Yes, there is a separate rear fog switch that does light up amber or actually more white than amber in this case. My grill is not the slat grill but a sort of honeycomb grill. Is that the aero grill? The PO said the JCW kit included "The areo kit bumpers and ground effects". The aux driving light kit install instructions pdf I found shows drilling holes for the brackets and using pop rivets, although another suggests using bolts like these photos which just happen to be the same color car - not mine. There are no holes in my bonnet where these photos show the bracket mounting bolts and appear also to show a similar grill and talks about cutting a slot in that grill which mine does not have.

 

Yes, thats the aero grille. The grille might have been replaced after the driving lights were removed because of the slits cut into it. On my '05 the wires are located near the drivers side hood strut and run to the lights from there. Maybe your wiring is tucked by the washer bottle or in the cowl by the brake booster.

 

I emailed the PO to ask where he tucked the wires. I suspect under the hood blanket. I did find a fuse holder with a 15 amp fuse similar to the one in the instructions but not in the same place they recommend.

 

Here's a link to the instructions: http://www.motoringfile.com/howto/Dr...Lights_902.pdf

Page 5 has a small diagram of the template to cut the grille, but I don't know if it could just be enlarged as it might not be to scale. There are part numbers for the grille and light switch templates in the instructions but they're probably no longer available.

 

That's the set of instructions I found along with the instructions and photos on the pelicanparts web site which say the back of the grill is slightly depressed where it should be cut for the brackets. They also sell the brackets for $47.50 but don't have a photo; I'd need to call to confirm that they are what I'd need for my 2004. I want to find and test the wiring before I drill or cut anything, but I am intrigued with the possibility of having the factory wiring and bracket setup. I assume 902 was the part number of the kit? interesting that it is also the ID number of liquid Yellow paint.

 

I think 902 is just the part of the file name they used. The part number from the instructions is 63 12 0 144 132.

ECS Tuning has the bracket kit for $44 and they have great photos of it. Just find something else for $6 or more and get free shipping.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...s/63120137304/

 

Thanks for that link. They definitely look like the brackets in the pdf file. I understand there were also some support brackets to keep the lamps from being moved by the air stream at high speeds, but I could probably live without them. Oh wait, there's more. I think the braces are included in the kit. Cool

 

Update on the fog lamps;

I removed both tail light lamp holders and they have LED lamps in the top and bottom positions. I remoived the fog LEDs they both light up using an external 12 V source. With the rear fog switch on and lit, there is only 5.2 to 5.12 volts at the fog lamp center contacts in the lamp holders I checked the left lamp holder disconnected from the car with 12V applied to the main connector's fog light pin and the lamp lights brightly. There is infinite resistance between the fog socket center contact and the lamp holder ground with it connected to the car's wiring, and there is 0.5 ohm between the lamp holder ground and a body stud. Fuse 13 in the left side panel (which shows a picture of a lamp and an R) is OK, and the rear fog switch still lights up with F13 out, but still no rear fog lights with the fuse in.

Anyone know if and where there might be a relay for the rear fogs? Is F13 the correct fuse for the rear fogs? I tried to measure the voltage across the F13 contacts but couldn't get my meter probes in the slots.

BTW, the bottom row of LEDs on the tail/brake LED lamps glow slightly with the running and brake lights off. Is this normal for LED tail/brake lamps?

 

To answer the last question first:
Yes - the LEDs may faintly glow with everything off. It's something to do with the bulb-check circuitry. On my car, I can't see the glow in daylight & even in a dark garage it just looks like bright red plastic. I think it dies away after a few minutes.

For the first question I believe you need the engine running & the parking lights, at least, on in order to check the rear fogs. MINIs turn a lot of things off if the alternator is not charging.

 

There is neither a relay nor a dedicated fuse for the rear fogs. The bulbs are driven directly by the General Module Control Unit (aka Body Control Module), which is an electronic switchbox and computer controller in the passenger footwell. It controls most electrical functions in the car including all external lighting. Here is the wiring diagram for your rear fogs: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/r...centre/s6gWsS0. It shows the module connected to a 50A fuse in the engine compartment, and no doubt other functions are sharing the same fuse. The module is also connected to many other fuses.

It's interesting that both your top and bottom bulbs had been swapped to LED. There was a popular modification that connects the top and bottom bulbs so that both light up as brake lights. Changing the bulbs to LED helps to prevent the brake circuit from being overloaded with two bulbs and possibly burning out the control module (it has been known to happen). Does your top bulb light up at all with the brakes? Use your meter to test if there is any connection between the top and bottom sockets (of course the positive, not the ground). Check this while the bulb holder panel is connected to the harness.

 

This gets curiouser and curiouser.

The engine was running and the running lights were on when I measured the 5 volts at the rear fog socket + with the rear fog light switch on; I think I tried it with the low beams on too. What I forgot to do was check for voltage at the fog socket + with the switch off.

I had not noticed the LEDs glowing when they were in place even with my clear plastic tail light lenses; it was apparent, however, with the lamp holder laying in the luggage area.

The upper fog lamps do not light up with the brake lights. I did not check for a connection between the brake and fog positives, but I saved the instructions for adding a diode between the brake and fog pins on the connector: seems like a good idea. Too bad Radio Shack is out of business now and I'll have to find another diode source.

The spec sheet from http://bimmer.work/ says I have the rear fog option which it numbers 5AA, so It must have had the rear fog switch from the factory rather than as an add on. Makes me wonder if something happened to the programming or if there is a fault in the wiring. Is there a multi connector on the General Module Control Unit that might have corrosion? By passenger side do you mean left side where the fuse box is or the right side? If the wiring is separate for the left and right fogs as shown in the diagram it seems odd that both would be bad, although a lot can happen in 15 years and 180K miles. And fuse 13 with the picture of a black headlamp and an R; would that be for the back up lamp? That would explain why the rear fog switch still lit up with that fuse pulled.

I just had a reply from the PO saying the Aux light wiring is tucked under the hood (bonnet) insulation and that he had replaced the hood and the grill: that explains the lack of bracket holes and grill slots.

 

It's on the right side (analogous to where the fuse box is on the other side). There is no access panel and you'd have to pull the side trim panel to get to it. It has lots of wires coming out of it and several multi connectors. It can get corroded, especially from water leaks.

If your reverse light isn't working, a common failure is the switch attached to the transmission: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post2716252

 

Thanks, I'll see about taking a look at the GMC Unit when things are warmer. I still need to get my wife to check the reversing light for me; I didn't see it on the dark rainy night I brought the car home, but I could have been wrong. Hard to check it by yourself if the engine must be running for it to work. I believe I saw a YouTube video on the switch - I agree that would be the next thing to check if it is not working.

Update: The reversing light is working and I ordered the diodes for the Brake/Fog light mod from Radio Shack on line today: nice to know Radio Shack is not totally dead yet, and I couldn't even drive to a Radio Shack for the $3 shipping cost to deliver them to my door. At least the fogs will be of some use even if I never find out why they are getting only 5 volts as fog lights.

Update 2: I did the diode brake/fog light mod 1/24/18 and they are working nicely, so at least I have four brake lights now if not the rear fogs. It helped to have a 12 foot long pole to press the brake pedal from the boot to check the brake light operation before reinstalling the tail lights.