[bimmer4me]

Today was foggy this morning. Driving to work I was excited as I could use my fog lights for a practical purpose. However, they did not improve my visibility at all. Nothing, nada, zip. My e90 is my first car with fog lights. What is the value add of fog lights if it's not for visibility? Am I missing something here?

[ward]

I agree, but they make your car look cool

and people will yell at you if you use them when it's not foggy
(some here think it's dangerous, illegal, and rude to use lights that only light up the ground 8 feet in front of the car)

[06graphite]

i don't think you're missing anything. I can barely tell the difference when the Fogs are on.

[LEDZEP]

They create a low beam of light near road level (generally below the fog) and help you see the painted lines on the road. They also help in rain or snow at night. The presumption is also that in heavy fog you are driving slow...

[bimmer4me]

Originally Posted by ward

I agree, but they make your car look cool

and people will yell at you if you use them when it's not foggy
(some here think it's dangerous, illegal, and rude to use lights that only light up the ground 8 feet in front of the car)

Why would people think it's rude of it lights up the ground 8 feet in front of the car. It's not exactly like blinding high beams or something. I still have a hard time believing that fog lights are stricly cosmetic, but not that surprised I guess.

[poldim]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

They create a low beam of light near road level (generally below the fog) and help you see the painted lines on the road. They also help in rain or snow at night. The presumption is also that in heavy fog you are driving slow...

Correct. Fog lights are generally designed for fog of about 30 to 40 feet of visibility. So in this type of weather you use them to see the road within that distance, not far far ahead.

[E90Fleet]

Best is not to have high beams on, then when you put the fogs on they light up the road surface itself, instead of having the high beams light reflected back at you by the fog

ie: they shine down, instead of forward like normal lights

[jflecha]

Originally Posted by bimmer4me

Why would people think it's rude of it lights up the ground 8 feet in front of the car. It's not exactly like blinding high beams or something. I still have a hard time believing that fog lights are stricly cosmetic, but not that surprised I guess.

For me it was cosmetic, they were tapped into the headlights on my old car so they always came on with the headlights and the car just looked really cool.

I was a little dissapointed that I had to manually turn them on on my E90 but I got over it and never use them, the Xenons dont need any help, they look fantastic all on their own.

[underDAWG]

Originally Posted by bimmer4me

I still have a hard time believing that fog lights are strictly cosmetic, but not that surprised I guess.

Not exactly true. Most people have a lot of lights on their vehicle including many trucks and Hummer clones; they seldom have the opportunity to used them. Therefore you can say that most of them are cosmetic. However, fog lights do work wonderfully at night in heavy fog or snow fall when there are not much light around. The fog light projects a wide beam near the surface of the road without creating a reflection from the fog or snow. That is why one must not use high beam with fog lights (as you will realized, many fools do that all the times)

In your situation this morning, fog lights would do nothing for you as you already realized, because the sky was brighter than your fogs. People do turn on their fogs in a such situation even they do not help you see better, but the fogs do help others to see you better because fog lights throw out much broader beam.

Yes, fog lights do work. And it is a must have item when you live in an area with heavy snow fall, on the mountain top, or near a large body of water. I lived in Buffalo for 12 years. The fog lights made my driving much easier when I turned on the Fogs without low beams. HTH.

[F32Fleet]

I'm going to add to this since it's a bone of contention I have with young kids who think driving with their fog lamps on is "cool".

Fog lamps are not designed to allow you to drive at hwy speeds in dense fog.

[Synikal]

Foglights, make the car look mean!

[JackMac]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

They create a low beam of light near road level (generally below the fog) and help you see the painted lines on the road. They also help in rain or snow at night. The presumption is also that in heavy fog you are driving slow...

I agree, and would also add that they make you more visible to other cars as well when driving in fog.

[ZenDriver]

I agree, and would also add that they make you more visible to other cars as well when driving in fog.

Bullshit.

Explain to me the logic that makes you think that a foglight will assist you in being noticed when you've got a pair of extremely high lumen Xenon lights with a far more power in a far larger pattern just 12" away?

and people will yell at you if you use them when it's not foggy
(some here think it's dangerous, illegal, and rude to use lights that only light up the ground 8 feet in front of the car)

Front foglights are just fine by me if you want to drive around with them on all the time. I mean, you are basically letting the world know you are a god damn attention whore who wants to look cool, but if that is who you are, embrace your true self and have at it...

Now, REAR foglights are an entirely different matter. I have no problem with attention whoring when it doesn't really effect me, but those rear foglights are blinding to traffic behind you in anything less then the thickest fog. The idiots who drive around with them on should have a 40mm grenade launched into their vehicle because the sight of those lights on proves that they are too selfish to think about the effects of their decisions on others OR they are just Terry Schiavo braindead and should be put out of their misery.

[jflecha]

Originally Posted by Synikal

Foglights, make the car look mean!

OH YEA! Mine are going on tonight.

[StewtheBassman]

Originally Posted by ZenDriver

Bullshit.

Explain to me the logic that makes you think that a foglight will assist you in being noticed when you've got a pair of extremely high lumen Xenon lights with a far more power in a far larger pattern just 12" away?



Front foglights are just fine by me if you want to drive around with them on all the time. I mean, you are basically letting the world know you are a god damn attention whore who wants to look cool, but if that is who you are, embrace your true self and have at it...

Now, REAR foglights are an entirely different matter. I have no problem with attention whoring when it doesn't really effect me, but those rear foglights are blinding to traffic behind you in anything less then the thickest fog. The idiots who drive around with them on should have a 40mm grenade launched into their vehicle because the sight of those lights on proves that they are too selfish to think about the effects of their decisions on others OR they are just Terry Schiavo braindead and should be put out of their misery.

No ZenDriver, how do you really feel?

Actually I had rear fogs (red) on my 2000 and 1994 SAABs. I kept them off until some a-hole would tailgate me like a moron, whereupon I would turn them on. The braindead freak would then ass-ume that I was braking and he would slow down. I would toy with this loser in a like manner until traffic changed or I was able to move aside and let him rush forward to the nearest speed trap.

So yes, rear fog lights can be useful.

[StewtheBassman]

Originally Posted by ZenDriver

Front foglights are just fine by me if you want to drive around with them on all the time. I mean, you are basically letting the world know you are a god damn attention whore who wants to look cool, but if that is who you are, embrace your true self and have at it...

Oh yah, MINE are going on TONIGHT!!!

[- Paul -]

They are mainly for the other users of the road (they do light up the side of the road more - watch out for those rabbits!!). I can understand Zendrivers comments but I know for a fact that the rear fog lights are invaluable. They can be seen in fog when the normal lights aren't visible.

[noflash]

I use them for fog and...

When my "auto" lights haven't come on, but I want them on (e.g., in rain) I just hit the fog light button. This also turns on the Xenons and when I shut the car off all the ligths go off. This is a great feature for me, b/c my warning chime has been disabled.

Lastly, if any of you are Click and Clack fans (CarTalk on NPR) they have several testimonials about how fog lights reduce one's contact with wildlife as they shine lower and more to the sides than headlights.

FWIW.

[JackMac]

Originally Posted by ZenDriver

Bullshit.

Explain to me the logic that makes you think that a foglight will assist you in being noticed when you've got a pair of extremely high lumen Xenon lights with a far more power in a far larger pattern just 12" away?

.

Um, because 4 lights are more visible than 2. If you don't like/need them when driving in fog, then don't use them.

[StewtheBassman]

I don't really like how the E90 foglights look in the whole scheme of the front end. I also don't like that they are a different color than the xenons. I rarely use them except if there is thick fog where I find they do make a bit of a difference.

FWIW the Subaru STi doesn't have fog lights.

[RyBMW]

Originally Posted by ZenDriver

Bullshit.

Explain to me the logic that makes you think that a foglight will assist you in being noticed when you've got a pair of extremely high lumen Xenon lights with a far more power in a far larger pattern just 12" away?

Originally Posted by JackMac

Um, because 4 lights are more visible than 2. If you don't like/need them when driving in fog, then don't use them.

Great answer for something so simple.

[ZenDriver]

Um, because 4 lights are more visible than 2.

The Xenons, being about 10x more powerful (lumen wise) then the foglights will be so much more noticable that the foglights are basically useless.