why do i have a fog light switch if car has no fog lights stock

[izericson]

why is there a fog light switch to the right of the headlight pull lever? my 1985 318i has no factory fogs but has the button and when i press it the fog indicator lights up on the dash? help please.

[halmotors]

Were they deleted by a previous owner?

[aaronhoy]

Get that VIN decoder guy to find out if the car was sold with fog lights stock. It could be like halmotors said and they removed them, or also, maybe the light controls broke and they replaced it with one from the junkyard that had fog lights. That's if they are the same unit rather than coming apart, I cant remember right now. Do you have wires that would connect to the fog lights?

A side note about the fog lights: If you leave the lights off, but the foglight button on, the lights will all be off, but one of the relays involved in that mess will stay on and drain a little current. Enough to kill your battery in under a month if you leave the car sitting in the garage, and way faster if the battery has been deep cycled before.

[halmotors]

Originally Posted by aaronhoy

A side note about the fog lights: If you leave the lights off, but the foglight button on, the lights will all be off, but one of the relays involved in that mess will stay on and drain a little current. Enough to kill your battery in under a month if you leave the car sitting in the garage, and way faster if the battery has been deep cycled before.

That's very interesting. Is there anything else that can do that?

[Camal Puddle]

Originally Posted by halmotors

That's very interesting. Is there anything else that can do that?

Yeah, I've also had a phantom dead battery.

[aaronhoy]

Originally Posted by halmotors

That's very interesting. Is there anything else that can do that?

I'm not sure off the top of my head, but there probably are. I only know about that one because it burned me pretty good. I thought I had an electrical short or something for a long time until I got out my multimeter and started measuring current when the car was off and various switches were on.

[CHIF8008]

mabe foglight were an option, and your did not get them

[jcbrown630]

As old as the car is, i'm willing to bet the lights were deleted at some point in its life.

[Camal Puddle]

Originally Posted by jcbrown630

As old as the car is, i'm willing to bet the lights were deleted at some point in its life.

Not to mention the fact that some didn't have an air dam so the lights just kinda hung under the bumper.

[izericson]

i found the wires for the fogs tucked away in never never land. thanks for the help

[mulholland]

Originally Posted by aaronhoy

A side note about the fog lights: If you leave the lights off, but the foglight button on, the lights will all be off, but one of the relays involved in that mess will stay on and drain a little current. Enough to kill your battery in under a month if you leave the car sitting in the garage, and way faster if the battery has been deep cycled before.

How can a current draw occur when there is no load for the current to pass through? Without the ligths there, there is no circuit. No circuit means no current, no flow. You'd have to have a short to ground without the bulbs there.

[Mala]

Originally Posted by mulholland

How can a current draw occur when there is no load for the current to pass through? Without the ligths there, there is no circuit. No circuit means no current, no flow. You'd have to have a short to ground without the bulbs there.

You're right, there's no current draw to the fog lights that aren't there. What he's saying is that if you leave the switch on, the relay windings will be energized and THAT will draw a few hundred more milliamps.

[djb2]

Are you certain that the relay coil remains energized with factory wiring?

On my model year, the relay current is switched through the low beam relay. Only if you do a sleazy bypass of the wiring to allow the fog lights to be switched on alone or with the high beams will the relay coil remain energized with the ignition off.

About the original question: your fog lights may have been removed as a quick way to pass inspection or comply with a fix-it ticket. In Maryland you don't need fog lights, but if they are on the car they must work and have clear uncracked lenses. Yes, they are completely optional but you will fail the inspection if they aren't perfect. So the quick solution is to just remove them.

[richardodn]

djb2 is correct about the current draw. On an unmodified harness, there is no current draw when the foglight switch is left on and the car ignition is off.

[halmotors]

Originally Posted by richardodn

djb2 is correct about the current draw. On an unmodified harness, there is no current draw when the foglight switch is left on and the car ignition is off.

Good to know. Thanks for the clarification!