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      03-04-2014, 08:00 AM   #1
halfmoonclip
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fog light bulb replacement-and a nonexistent problem...

I haven't had a look in the owner's manual just yet, but I thought I'd ask here first.
I had a deer strike in the first 1k miles; the bumper cover was replaced, tho' the hit was on the driver's side and the light that's out is on the passenger's. It's possible that they dropped the ball when installing the bumper cover where the fogs are mounted. It's of course possible that the jolt took out the filament, or that it was simply a bad bulb.
I'm 1k miles away from home at the moment, and just happened to notice the non functioning bulb.
Moon

Last edited by halfmoonclip; 03-06-2014 at 05:27 PM..
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      03-04-2014, 09:57 AM   #2
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Okay, had a look in the owner's manual, and aside from several pages of caveats from the legal department, it wasn't especially useful.
If I were a betting man, I'd bet that the panel behind and below the air dam has to come out.
Advice welcome, but it's looking like I'd be as well served going to the dealer.
Moon
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      03-04-2014, 10:52 AM   #3
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I am pretty certain you can remove the cover in the wheel well to get access to this. I remember seeing this somewhere on a forum when I was a bit more ambitious to change the bulb color to match the xenons...Now, not so much
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      03-04-2014, 05:00 PM   #4
halfmoonclip
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwickberg View Post
I am pretty certain you can remove the cover in the wheel well to get access to this. I remember seeing this somewhere on a forum when I was a bit more ambitious to change the bulb color to match the xenons...Now, not so much
Had a look at that possibility, and it appears to line up with the main beams, not the fogs.
Thnx,
Moon
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      03-05-2014, 02:11 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halfmoonclip View Post
Had a look at that possibility, and it appears to line up with the main beams, not the fogs.
Thnx,
Moon
Nope

Turn the wheels sharp in the wheel well and then pop off that access panel, you can reach under the head light housing and reach the bulb...

Just tried it.
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      03-05-2014, 03:55 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwickberg View Post
Nope

Turn the wheels sharp in the wheel well and then pop off that access panel, you can reach under the head light housing and reach the bulb...

Just tried it.
Good to know. Excellent info. Thanks.
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      03-05-2014, 05:11 PM   #7
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Thanks for the info, guys. I'll give it a look tomorrow.
Moon
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      03-06-2014, 08:25 AM   #8
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Bulb replacement should be covered under the 4 year/50K mile maintenance.
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      03-06-2014, 12:37 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by STE92VE View Post
Bulb replacement should be covered under the 4 year/50K mile maintenance.
That's a more rational course of action. We're away from home, and I wouldn't mind having it fixed, and I'd fix it myself if it isn't too big a PITA.
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      03-06-2014, 12:52 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halfmoonclip View Post
That's a more rational course of action. We're away from home, and I wouldn't mind having it fixed, and I'd fix it myself if it isn't too big a PITA.
Moon
If there's a local BMW dealer near by, I'm sure they would oblige you.
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      03-06-2014, 02:55 PM   #11
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Likely not covered by warranty since he had an accident that damaged front end.
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      03-06-2014, 03:06 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwickberg View Post
Likely not covered by warranty since he had an accident that damaged front end.
If it was damaged in the accident, it should be included as part of the repair. Still doesn't help the OP since he's on the road with a fog light that's not working.
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      03-06-2014, 05:26 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwickberg View Post
Likely not covered by warranty since he had an accident that damaged front end.
This had crossed my mind, but the impact was on the other side....however, there's much more to the situation.
I did contact the local dealer via his website, and their service guy called me back; he was apparently entirely correct on two counts:
-If there was a bulb out, an indash warning light would come on
-He claimed that the one lit fog was part of the 'cornering light' setup, in conjunction with the main beams.
I noticed the bulb out when my wife was driving the car; she had no recollection of turning on the fogs at all, and there was no warning on the dash.
She may have had the wheels turned significantly.
I just tried turning on the fogs manually with the lights in the 'auto' setting, and both fogs obediently came on.
I'll keep an eye on the situation to make sure it's not an intermittent filament or somesuch, but it appears that there really isn't a problem.
So we all end up with a bit of egg on our collective faces...
Thanks for the feedback all the same,
Moon
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      03-06-2014, 05:45 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halfmoonclip View Post
This had crossed my mind, but the impact was on the other side....however, there's much more to the situation.
I did contact the local dealer via his website, and their service guy called me back; he was apparently entirely correct on two counts:
-If there was a bulb out, an indash warning light would come on
-He claimed that the one lit fog was part of the 'cornering light' setup, in conjunction with the main beams.
I noticed the bulb out when my wife was driving the car; she had no recollection of turning on the fogs at all, and there was no warning on the dash.
She may have had the wheels turned significantly.
I just tried turning on the fogs manually with the lights in the 'auto' setting, and both fogs obediently came on.
I'll keep an eye on the situation to make sure it's not an intermittent filament or somesuch, but it appears that there really isn't a problem.
So we all end up with a bit of egg on our collective faces...
Thanks for the feedback all the same,
Moon
I was about to ask about that too. I discovered that weird (but smart) behavior of the fog lamps after I saw my wife pull in to our driveway one night during the first week we had the car. Only one foglight was on and I thought how could the fog lamp be dead right away. I played with the fog light switch and see both fog lights work. So at that point I knew it wasn't a bulb problem. That bothered me that night.

But then a couple of nights after, I saw my wife pull in again to the driveway, this time coming from the other direction. Then I noticed that the foglight issue was reversed.

That gave me a clue that it could be the auto setting of the lights when cornering. I asked my wife to turn the wheel in either direction with the light switch set to auto. That's when I saw the fog lamps turn on and off on either side depending on which direction the wheel is going.

I thought it was pretty cool. But I admit it got me worried and puzzled in the beginning.
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      03-06-2014, 06:22 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halfmoonclip View Post
-He claimed that the one lit fog was part of the 'cornering light' setup, in conjunction with the main beams.
Interesting...on both the E90 & E92 the cornering lights come from the headlamps....

Thanks for the info Moon!
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      03-06-2014, 07:29 PM   #16
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I really like the adaptive nature of the xenon lights, and it is interesting that the fogs are in on the deal; also useful if trying to turn into a really dark spot.
Don't recall that the owner's manual makes any mention of any of this, tho' it bears some research.
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      03-06-2014, 09:23 PM   #17
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Glad it got cleared up...FWIW, the inside headlight on the xenons is just for looks, blank, nada, does not work.

I am trying to see if i could get a bulb in their for some dark runs on long streches of roads...

BMW sure is funny with lights... Coded mine so fos are on with high beams and headlight flash
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      03-06-2014, 10:30 PM   #18
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I suppose the inner light functions if you have the incandescents rather than the xenons. It has long puzzled me why the xenons are frequently made with only two lights and a moveable shield to control lo/hi beams; the xenon capsules can't be cheap, but the moveable parts and relay to operate it can't be cheap either. My bride's Audi works the same way.
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      03-06-2014, 11:48 PM   #19
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The relay is dirty cheap. The cell phone motor that operates the shield is also very cheap. The ballast on the other hand, not so cheap. Also, ballasts have much shorter life span than most motors and relays.
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      03-07-2014, 06:12 AM   #20
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I had the same question about fogs a few months ago. I thought one of my fogs was malfunctioning as I sat at a light waiting to make a left turn. (headlights on, turnsignal on and LH fog was lit up, RH off.) I noticed the adaptive lighting/xenon will turn on a fog if you turn the wheel slightly, like when I pull into my garage.
BMW does seem to be a bit slow on passing good information on about the X1. I recently received a Quick Reference guide in the mail for my X1, although I took delivery of it in November '13.
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      03-07-2014, 06:48 AM   #21
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That fog on during a turn has been a BMW thing for years and years. It's not a new thing at all.

Your quick reference guide should have came with the car when you picked it up at the dealer.
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      03-07-2014, 02:44 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by halfmoonclip View Post
I suppose the inner light functions if you have the incandescents rather than the xenons. It has long puzzled me why the xenons are frequently made with only two lights and a moveable shield to control lo/hi beams; the xenon capsules can't be cheap, but the moveable parts and relay to operate it can't be cheap either. My bride's Audi works the same way.
Moon
Problem is that the xenon bulb takes a bit to warm up and if you are flashing high beams or constantly turning them on and off, it will likely shorten the bulb life
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