Hope someone can help with my infuriating issue I'm having!!

On my 2009 1.2 Dynamic, I have not been blessed with front fog lights. Fear not, I have been just about able to get by.....

However, I do fancy fitting some DRLs. I bought a kit off eBay, and (separately) with what was supposed to be fog light trim for both sides, the aim being of fitting them straight in and hopefully making the front of the car look better too.

Unfortunately, the round DRLs are ever so slightly too small for the round holes in the trim, so keep falling in/out, the bracket for them has no matching way of screwing to the trim.

From the parts catalogue, it is showing there are two different versions of the trim (735390884 & 735357172), have I bought the wrong one?

Any ideas of a way of getting this sorted?

I fitted Ring BRL0402 DRL's to mine. They are slightly smaller than the hole, sealed with clear RTV (Bath sealant) to keep the muck out.
The original foglamps use two tiny plastic ears with screwholes, and a hole below on a ledge. The new lamps have a saddle bracket. Helpfully, below the lamp hole is a flat ledge. I used some plywood, about 12mm thick I think, to raise the height of the ledge. A paper template gave the shape, secured using the original lower screwhole. The saddle bracket then mounted onto the plywood. They look as if they always belonged, as no-one has commented on them being added.

I was too impatient when fitting to take photos, but the end result is here.

portland_bill said:

I fitted Ring BRL0402 DRL's to mine.

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That looks good.
How did you wire them? Do they come on with the key (as they should do if they are used strictly as DRL's), or with the normal foglight switch?
If with the key, where did you tap in to the circuitry?

The Ring lamps have three wires, a live feed, an earth and a signal wire.

The live feed goes onto the battery positive, with an in-line fuse. The earth, either to the battery or a suitable earth. I used the one below the left headlamp on the inner wing.

This senses battery voltage. With the engine off, the battery should be about 12.5v. Once running, this rises to 14v, so the DRLs light up. When you turn the engine off, they take a few seconds to turn off, as the battery voltage drops, sometimes up to 30 seconds.

The signal wire senses when the main lights are turned on. DRLs should either extinguish or reduce their light output when sidelights are turned on, or when main headlamps are turned on, depending on which bit of the legislation you read. Ring recommend that the signal wire be spliced into the sidelights, but I chose the dipped beam, allowing me to retain the DRLs with rear lamps if I wish. This gives the bizarre effect of dropping them to sidelight power when dipped beam is on, but returning to full power with main beam. Not an issue as lamps are dipped whenever there is oncoming traffic. Connection made at the left headlamp.

If you want these Ring DRLs, search the net. Retail was about £80, but I got mine from Amazon for about £65. This may seem expensive, but I had a broken foglamp from a stone, didn't want to run with a broken lamp, even though foglamps are of little use, replacement foglamps are about £50, so £65 for the DRLs seemed a good way to go.

Good info, and many thanks.
Info for anyone else thinking of going this route - these are on EBay just now for less than £30 a pair. Hope they're genuine!

The front fogs on the 100hp are losing their reflective coating inside so these will make an excellent replacement.

Can they be wired in to the fog light wiring and operated by the switch on the dash instead of the way described by Nigel?

panda panda said:

The front fogs on the 100hp are losing their reflective coating inside so these will make an excellent replacement.

Can they be wired in to the fog light wiring and operated by the switch on the dash instead of the way described by Nigel?

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I doubt that they can. They contain the sensors to turn them on or dim them, and use the battery feed to power them. I suppose you could use the normal battery feed via the foglamp supply, into the battery sense/feed wire of the lamps. As long as the car is supplying battery voltage, not 12v to the foglamps, they should sense the higher voltage and turn on. If this works, it would probably be a good idea to connect the sidelamp sensor too, so that they dim when the other lights are on, otherwise you'd have to remember to turn them off each time. If you forget, you may attract the attention of a policeman, who may or may not know the rules, but will either way inconvenience you.

Only advantage with wiring them through the foglamp switch that I can see is the option to run with them off if you wish. Is it worth the hassle?

panda panda said:

The front fogs on the 100hp are losing their reflective coating inside so these will make an excellent replacement.

Can they be wired in to the fog light wiring and operated by the switch on the dash instead of the way described by Nigel?

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That thought went through my head, as mine are also losing their reflective coating, but these are of course not fog lamps, so will not do what a fog lamp is supposed to do.
They are pure and simple low-intensity running lights.

Thanks Nigel, your way seams best then!

I don't mind losing the "fog lights" - I just want the cars to be a bit more visible - the grey 4x4 and dull red 100hp - the Alessi doesn't have that problem!

panda panda said:

Thanks Nigel, your way seams best then!

I don't mind losing the "fog lights" - I just want the cars to be a bit more visible - the grey 4x4 and dull red 100hp - the Alessi doesn't have that problem!

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"Visibility" is not just about colour. Our brains don't always compute logically. A bright small car will still have others pull out in front of it, whereas a dull large car is less likely to suffer, as we see the size rather than the colour.

Since fitting the DRLs fewer people have pulled out in front, so the lights are presumably getting their attention and breaking through their subconscious.

I always found front foglights to be a waste of effort, so never used them.

portland_bill said:

Since fitting the DRLs fewer people have pulled out in front, so the lights are presumably getting their attention and breaking through their subconscious..

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Looks like someone's also a biker!

Sweetsixteen said:

Looks like someone's also a biker!

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Used to be. 1974 - 2003 Bike got used less and less, can't use it to work, so biggest journey was to MOT and back. Was teaching learner motorcyclists 1979-1984, coaching motorcyclists for their advanced test 1984 - 1987, then got soft and moved to cars.

We've been driving with dipped beams permanently on for 20+ years (like the Aussies and supposedly the Italians).


Up until the last few years, some old dear would always 'remind' us. Nowadays, nobody seems to notice. Far easier to see a car with lights on - shame they don't make them automatic for all the lazy tossers who drive with no lights on in fog and at twilight.

AB100 said:

Up until the last few years, some old dear would always 'remind' us.

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Snap, I always used to get that 'you've got your headlights on' until the last 18 months or so. Used to make be laugh with the blank faces when I'd respond yes I know, I take it they're both working

Thanks for all the advice, I bought some off eBay a while ago but never quite got around to fitting them...

I drive with my lights on all the time too, and really annoys me when other drivers don't put them on when it's getting dark, some people just don't get it.

The main reason I want them though is the fact that my stereo display dims when the lights are on, and gets brighter when they are off. I'm in the situation that I have to have it set to bright full time as otherwise you can't see what it shows during daytime, but it's like a Christmas tree on the dash at night! So hopefully I will be able to set it back to auto and still have appropriate lighting......

I will in the future have a question about wiring a set of spotlights using the front fog switch for them, that's for another day though......

Well I finally got around to fitting them on Saturday.

I found some black silicone sealant in Halfords so gave that a go, works really well but the RHS one is at a funny angle so will have to redo that. I've had to temporarily use tape to fix the trim in the bumper, will need to get a couple of nuts & bolts to fix them properly and have some tiger seal on order which should set them right in the next couple of days. Will wait till then to get a photo up.

They are quite bright though and you could even use them in the dark if your headlight bulbs blew. They only come on when the engine is started though, not the ignition. I wired them to the sidelights though as portland_bill says, maybe more effective wired to the main beam so you can have the tail lights etc on, might try that sometime.

J4MIE1243 said:

Well I finally got around to fitting them on Saturday.

I found some black silicone sealant in Halfords so gave that a go, works really well but the RHS one is at a funny angle so will have to redo that. I've had to temporarily use tape to fix the trim in the bumper, will need to get a couple of nuts & bolts to fix them properly and have some tiger seal on order which should set them right in the next couple of days. Will wait till then to get a photo up.

They are quite bright though and you could even use them in the dark if your headlight bulbs blew. They only come on when the engine is started though, not the ignition. I wired them to the sidelights though as portland_bill says, maybe more effective wired to the main beam so you can have the tail lights etc on, might try that sometime.

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With them being that bright you've wired them in as you're legally required to, to extinguish when you dipped beam headlights are on haven't you

Re: Front grill trim - fog lights & DRLs

I haven't used the fog lights that were fitted to my '08 Panda. We don't get fog with any frequency. But the reflectors became very discoloured with no reflecting coating in the bottom segment and they were very unsightly. I considered a conversion to DRLs but then decided it might be better to fit these in a higher position.
The fog lights have been refurbished and are waiting to be refitted. Didn't cost anything 'cos I had all the materials to hand. One thing surprised me was how thin the reflector plating was, hold the reflector to a light source and you could see through it.
Has anyone fitted DRLs other than in place of foglamps?

Re: Front grill trim - fog lights & DRLs

daveincaol said:

Has anyone fitted DRLs other than in place of foglamps?

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Yep

Re: Front grill trim - fog lights & DRLs

Yep again: