No front fog lights on (some?) new cars...

[WindyCommon]

My 2021 BMW 540i Touring has no front fog lights. For a moment I thought "Oh dear, must have missed a tick-box when ordering."

I then thought "Perhaps you don't / can't have front fogs if (like my car) you have the laser headlights."

A little google research suggests that there are indeed no front fogs on many new model BMW's.

I took a look in the owners manual. It says "Guiding Fog Lights. Principle: The light distribution of the low-beam headlights may be adapted to the foggy conditions according to the speed. Operating requirements: *Automatic driving lights control is active, *Rear fog light is switched on"

So - my 2021 car has no front fogs, but instead has low-beams that adjust their light distribution if the rear fog light is switched on.

Not sure whether this is a good change or not. On the plus side it stops all of the wannabees driving round with their front fogs on - coz it looks well lush etc. On the other hand, I genuinely found front fogs useful at times (principally when driving in fog...), partly because of their low placement vs headlights. I wonder whether the new "adapted" low-beam headlights will work as well.

I'm interested to hear other PH'ers thoughts on this. Also to know whether this is just a BMW "development" or a wider trend.

[Panamax]

I've never had fog-lights that added anything worthwhile to visibility. Modern dip beam seems more than up to the job.

[Pica-Pica]

I find little use fro front fog lights. However, they are very useful in driving snow as they shine under the snow, rather than into it which can be blinding. I am not sure whether rear fog lights add much nowadays, modern cars have quite bright, and dual lit tail lamps.

[David87]

BMW started by dumping the fog lamps on the M cars (I recall the E60 M5 didn’t have any, but the rest of the 5-Series range did) and the rest seem to have followed suit. Lots of cars don’t have (and don’t need) them nowadays. I don’t think I’ve ever turned them on with any car I’ve had.

[Burgerbob]

This is quite common. Modern led headlights are so much better so that front fog lights are not needed

My Peugeot 308 didn't have front fogs for the same reason, although I don't think the beam changed when the rear fogs were put on.

[Jonny_]

I was mildly surprised to find that my e-Niro has them.

They're halogen, whereas the headlamps are LED. The light from the fogs is both dim and orangey, and proved very little use in actual fog.

Guessing that they're nothing more than a cheap way to add an extra line to the spec sheet.

[TarquinMX5]

Fairly common now: Mercedes ILS hasn't had them for >10years.

[Mercdriver]

Never been a fan of fog lights, the old ones were useless in fog and newer cars dipped beam are more than adequate.

Same with rev counter, useless I have a revolution counter on the each side of my head, much rather have a temperature gauge, then I know when the heater will warm me up.

[Evanivitch]

It's a shame front fog lights are no longer widely available, it was generally an easy way to identify a .

[Johnnytheboy]

I have only ever used them to try and persuade the car in front to turn their rear fog light off, rarely successfully.

[james6546]

A couple of times on a warm rainy night after a dry spell I've used them as they pick out frogs in the road where normal headlights don't show them up at all. Maybe they should be called frog lights...

But I'm always of the opinion where more lights is better than less lights and would always choose a car with front fogs if I got the option

[swisstoni]

All they seem to do is illuminate more fog.

Perhaps they are for being seen rather than seeing. In which case, headlamps seem to do that already.

[Geffg]

I’ve never particularly needed to use them but I do think some cars look better with them. Breaks up the bottom part of the bumper imo. My 5series has them and I think the front of it looks better for it.

[Leins]

David87 said:

BMW started by dumping the fog lamps on the M cars (I recall the E60 M5 didn’t have any, but the rest of the 5-Series range did) and the rest seem to have followed suit. Lots of cars don’t have (and don’t need) them nowadays. I don’t think I’ve ever turned them on with any car I’ve had.

My 2003 CSL didn’t have them either, although my E34 M5 had both fog lights and washers for them

[carl_w]

Didn't it all start to go wrong when the (bloody!) EU decided that dipped beams had to be on with front fog lights?
The point of fog lights was to have them on with sidelights only.
I guess most manufacturers have re-used the position for DRLs.

[tenmantaylor]

Front fogs don't do much but allow people to misuse them. Even in foggy conditions they are unlikely to help you see or others see you vs dip beam.

Quite a few cars use front fog positions as cornering lamps.

These come on left or right with an outward aimed beam when you are maneuvering at low speed to illuminate obstacles, such as pulling into a parking space or driveway. These are very useful. Ford transits gave them where fogs are (maybe also fogs)

[wattsm666]

David87 said:

BMW started by dumping the fog lamps on the M cars (I recall the E60 M5 didn’t have any, but the rest of the 5-Series range did) and the rest seem to have followed suit. Lots of cars don’t have (and don’t need) them nowadays. I don’t think I’ve ever turned them on with any car I’ve had.

That is right, they were omitted to allow more airflow

[Sheepshanks]

tenmantaylor said:

Front fogs don't do much but allow people to misuse them. Even in foggy conditions they are unlikely to help you see or others see you vs dip beam.

Quite a few cars use front fog positions as cornering lamps.

These come on left or right with an outward aimed beam when you are maneuvering at low speed to illuminate obstacles, such as pulling into a parking space or driveway. These are very useful. Ford transits gave them where fogs are (maybe also fogs)

The front fogs illuminate on wife’s Tiguan when it’s reversing - looks quite odd.

[Chlorothalonil]

Always found them useful on unlit country lanes in fog, as it helped to illuminate the sides of the road particularly when narrow.

[Mr Tidy]

wattsm666 said:

David87 said:

BMW started by dumping the fog lamps on the M cars (I recall the E60 M5 didn’t have any, but the rest of the 5-Series range did) and the rest seem to have followed suit. Lots of cars don’t have (and don’t need) them nowadays. I don’t think I’ve ever turned them on with any car I’ve had.

That is right, they were omitted to allow more airflow

BMW did that years ago.

My 2006 Z4 Coupes both had fog-lights that just filled with condensation that eventually rotted the reflectors.

My 2006 Z4M Coupe doesn't have front fog-lights, just vents to cool the front brakes.