switch next to fog lights

[indierthanthou]

I tried searching, didnt turn anything out. Probably i didnt look hard enough. Anyway I have a switch next to the fog light switch, I pulled the panel off and looked at it, the wires are cut off, not going anywhere, just short pigtails about 4 inches long. There's a switch with an LED above it right next to the fog light switch, in the same panel.

[nizmainiac]

the switch next to my fog lamp switch is a reostat (not sure if i spelt that right) to dim or brighten the dash illumination a night, thats the only switch next to mine

[Tiger]

On euro car... they are for the rear fog light.

[LunatiC]

On euro car... they are for the rear fog light.

On euro cars the rear fogs are controlled by the same switch for the front fogs. There isn't a separate switch for the rears. This is how it is on my car, although I live in Australia I am quite sure it's the same for actual European cars in Europe.

There is a thumb-wheel for the brightness of my dash display next to my fog switch.

[Tiger]

Oh... didn't know that.

[DaveVoorhis]

On euro cars the rear fogs are controlled by the same switch for the front fogs. There isn't a separate switch for the rears. This is how it is on my car, although I live in Australia I am quite sure it's the same for actual European cars in Europe.
It is the same on Euro cars. The separate switch is for the rare "James Bond" passenger ejector seat option. Careful with it...

[CharlesAFerg]

It is the same on Euro cars. The separate switch is for the rare "James Bond" passenger ejector seat option. Careful with it...

No no no! That's different, it's actually what top-gear uses to make their E34s remote control! Vroom vroom!

[indierthanthou]

my thumb wheel for dimming the dash lights is next to my headlight switch, on the left side of the steering wheel. the fog light switch is on the dash on the right side of the wheel.

[Paul in NZ]

one of those blanks is for the instrument dimming wheel the other is to adjust the headlight slightly(low beam only)
you can just see both in this shot
http://www.bimmer.info/bmw/kiwi535/int.jpg

[BMWCCA1]

The room seems to be spinning. Okay, that's better: ;)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c378/BMWCCA1/rhdE34.jpg

[Paul in NZ]

you are lucky i didnt put it upside down too ;)

[AngryPopTart]

That's the problem for us americans with the ellipsoid headlights. BMW removed the brightness adjustor for the lowbeams and fixed it on the lowest possible setting! :(

[Paul in NZ]

honestly it doesnt really do much....you can adjust your headlight up a bit...the adjustor is handy if you have a couple of rear seat passengers,and you are travelling at night,just wind the lights down a bit.In my experience even the EE's are pretty poor(on low beam)

[LunatiC]

It's cool to hear the motor whirr up and down.

To tell you the truth, I pissed myself laughing (not literally, but ever freaking close) on BMWCCA's photoflip :)

I like the idea of the Top Gear remote control toggle switch, but then you get into difficult questions like how sure can you be that no one else finds out the frequency to the remote control and then grab their own remote control, tune it in and drive your car away... even more spooky is if they do this while you're in it.

In all seriousness, for RHD cars (like mine and Paul in NZ's), the foglight switch is on the left, headlight switch is on the right. Not sure why they flipped this for RHD, but still have the indicators in the same position (most Aussie cars and Japanese ones have the indicator on the right side and not on the left like Euro cars imported into RHD markets).

[Paul in NZ]

(most Aussie cars and Japanese ones have the indicator on the right side and not on the left like Euro cars imported into RHD markets).

So a new euro car owner /driver is easy to spot,as they approach a corner the wiper slash furiously but no sign of an indicator is seen until immediately after the wiper action.....or on a summer evening the indicators of the euro car in front go off randomly,immediately followed by windscreen washing action......

[LunatiC]

So a new euro car owner /driver is easy to spot,as they approach a corner the wiper slash furiously but no sign of an indicator is seen until immediately after the wiper action

You have just described the first hour I spent with my E34 when I purchased it almost 2 years ago...

[nizmainiac]

exactly the same for me, and i still do it from time to time

[BMWCCA1]

Happens to me all the time. After twenty years of using a BMW 2002 as a daily driver and with over half my -02 fleet pre-73 with turn-signal stalk on the right side of the wheel, I still make that mistake. When it happened on a new car, I figured it was a form of flattery telling me I was at home enough in the car to think I was in one of my -02s. Now my Isetta is another story: the gear shift is on the left on a LHD drive car but the 4-sp pattern is upside-down! Try that one without a diagram.

[indierthanthou]

its not a wheel. i should have posted this at the start, but i didnt have time
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/3541/img5caf061crq4.jpg
by the way, the dash is still tore apart because i havent had time to trace the wires on the ignition switch for my starter kill, theyre the wrong color

[LunatiC]

Thanks for the photo indierthanthou, this doesn't look like a factory-installed switch. Maybe some third-party addition to your car?

[indierthanthou]

thats actually what i'm thinking. its a good install though. they must have bought that little trim plate that the switch is mounted in somewhere. but what would be there if the switch wasnt? just a blank plate? what does everyone else have?

[Rus]

thats actually what i'm thinking. its a good install though. they must have bought that little trim plate that the switch is mounted in somewhere. but what would be there if the switch wasnt? just a blank plate? what does everyone else have?

Was the car ever equipped with a car phone? Could be some sort of control switch for the unit perhaps. In my car there is simply a blank plate there. The LED is green, so most likely not related to any sort of alarm (those are usually red, or like in my case blue). It may be a dedicated valet switch, but no modern alarm system that I know of has one like this. Most are designed to be hidden. Did the PO have an audio system in the car? The switch may have been used to control some audio component. Just my $.02

[indierthanthou]

ya know....when i took the center console apart to put in the starter kill, there were holes in the bottom of the tray next to the e-brake....i'm betting that could have been for the car phone...sounds like that's what it was. I also have a red LED in my instrument cluster between the tach and speedo, could that be for an alarm?

[Rus]

I've never heard of an alarm LED being installed into the gauge cluster, but I suppose its possible. I installed my LED in the grill of the dashboard center vent. Isn't very noticeable unless the alarm is armed and looks near factory. HTH

[LunatiC]

What happens when you flick the switch?

Are you sure you don't have hydraulic suspension gangsta-style, or neon fluro lights in your washer jets or under your fenders? :p

[MTV]

It definitly looks like a non-factory installed switch. The area in question I think usually houses an automatic headlight leveling switch on the Euro models... if i'm not mistaken.

[BMW 5 SERIES]

Here in my 518 you can see one switch on the left side and one led on the right side

The led on the right side is for the aftermarket alarm system and the switch at the left side is for the deactivation of the ABS

[BMW 5 SERIES]

Here in my 525 you can see one switch on the right side. This is for the deactivation of ABS

[LunatiC]

Any reason why you would want to deactivate ABS?

[Alexlind123]

Any reason why you would want to deactivate ABS?

In dry snow, it is possible to stop faster by locking the brakes.

[nizmainiac]

but then you lose all steering control

[indierthanthou]

nothing, i said in the opening post that the switch just terminates to a couple short wires not going anywhere. I have an ABS sensor that doesnt work, so my abs doesnt work, and i like it that way

[Spasso]

but then you lose all steering control
Not if you modulate your brakes properly. Yup, I just contradicted myself.

At times, dry snow can be quite sticky and with experience a person can stop a car more quickly than relying on ABS alone.

You are 100% correct that locked up front wheels =loss of directional control. The wheels MUST be rolling to change the direction of the car, sooooooooooooooo, just don't slam the brakes on unless you are traveling in a straight line.