front Fog lights and MOT, can I just take them out?

[dobbie82]

as the title suggests... The MOT for my 318i is up in about 6 weeks, and the front fogs don't work, I bough the car with a 12 month ticket and they didnt work then either!

Could I just take them out for the test? perhaps get some blanking plates if there is such a thing?

(the rear light works fine)

[dmaxfield]

fog lights have never been part of the mot.but if yours are same as the e30 m3 i have a pair you may have

cheers dale

[dobbie82]

thanks but the lights themselves are ok, they are just standard fogs I think, the numpty who had the car before me put a front valence with iS lip on it, but never wired the fogs up.

[eko]

Hannah they are simple to wire up!

Do you have the double fog light switch fitted?

[orangecurry]

lights and MOT can be a bit odd - if a light is on the car, I believe it has to work - same as the spare tyre; if it's in the car then it has to be legal, but you don't have to have one for the MOT

they might have changed the rules though - just ask you MOTer before you go

[dobbie82]

nope, there is one non standard switch for the rear fog light and that is it, there is just a gap where the switch would be for the front fogs

i am not bothered about them not workin, but if its a ten minute job i'll do it!

[eko]

Hannah,front fogs do not get tested for MOT.

Getting them to work is easy!

Somewhere behind the headlights will be the plugs to connect to the fogs,Blue i think,feed them down and connect both sides.

Plug in relay K8 in the fuse box,and put 7.5 amp fuse in Fuse 29 and 30.

Replace standard fog switch with double switch and thats it,working fogs!

PS if you decide you want them working ive got a switch and relay here

[dobbie82]

thanks for that great info! when Ive got my head together i will wire them up! Little un starts nursery next week so hopefully I will hjave time for all the niggly jobs I should have done in the past year or so!

[dmaxfield]

I have taken hundreds of cars for mots and no one as ever checked the driving lights i still believe the do not come under the mot rules

[Bob_S]

mine werent working for my MOT and wasnt a problem

[Templ8e30]

It does depend on the garage but the general rule is that if it's fitted it has to work. My dad worked at a Renault/Nissan dealer for years and this is the official DOT ruling.

I'd remove them (a couple of screws at the back of each light) then refit after the test.

My wife's reverse lights packed up on the day of the test and it failed on that and a weak sidelight bulb (corroded earth).

Cheers,

Iain T

[orangecurry]

like I said, just ask the MOTer before you go; as has been noted above it's not usually a problem, but if you get a DOT-rules stickler......

[Jerran]

I've never seen my test station test the front fogs on any car, I'm 99.9 % positive they aren't part of the test. The rears are of course, any doubt get them to check in their book they'll have on site which lists different parts of the car and reasons for issuing a failure.

[Brian28]

As other folks have said, front fogs aren't part of the test. Some testers with a niave customer stick on the advice note that fogs (or whatever) aren't working and wander back to the waiting area with an update and ask if the customer would like them fixed before they tell them that the car has already passed MOT, so the punter thinks that the car has failed and gets the garage to do the work.

[Brianmoooore]

nope, there is one non standard switch for the rear fog light and that is it, there is just a gap where the switch would be for the front fogs
:!

Shouldn't be any gap anywhere. The front/rear foglamp switch is a double switch in the same housing as the single one. Looks like a window switch, but without the markings.
One little thing to add to eko's list - a bulb assembly in the cluster for the warning light.
I usually assist at my MOTs, and the tester has never asked me about front fogs or reversing lights.

[nav786]

who cares if they test em or not, it takes 5 mins to wire up. not worth hassle of taking them out and puttin back in.