J11 front fog light fitting

ICE, Equipment, Options
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Nrthwest_Guy
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 3:16 pm

Post by Nrthwest_Guy »

Hi all,

I've not been a member for long on here & found the forums when I was looking up how to fit front fog light bulbs as the owners manual tells you it needs to go to the dealer (yeah right!).

Anyway after a lot of browsing I found a topic where the issue was discussed but it seemed nobody had actually done it bar one person who said the wheel needed to come off.

So we had a bit of decent weather and I thought it was time to delve in and get my headlights upgraded..

I bought a HID kit made by Safego from amazon for both dipped & main bulbs. I also bought a set of Safego led H8/H9/H11 bulbs for the fogs.

Fitting the HID kits was relatively easy, simple & straight forward. Especially as the bay has the perfect spots for the ballast. The fogs on the other hand was a step into the unknown.

I was determined to change them without the wheel coming off and I'm glad to say I did it.

For those wanting to know, here's what I did.....

Directly under the fogs there is a plastic strip/deflector running in front of the wheels. There's 2 Phillips head screws & a clip in the middle.

Remove the screws & clip & the deflector (sorry I don't know it's proper name or function lol) comes away from the body.

You'll now see that there are another 2 Philips screws securing the trim panel/mud shield that comes around under the wheel arch along with a third screw securing the plastic trim around the wheel to thensure chassis. Remove all 3 of these and you're ready...

Put your hand in from the front & push the panel back towards the wheel. This section will now pop down & give you access straight to the bulb.

All you need to do now is reach up twist the bulb counter clockwise & remove it from the housing. Then attach the new bulb to the wiring.

As my bulbs didn't tell you which way to connect the plug in the socket (it will plug in 2 ways). I then turned on the fogs to make sure that they were working before putting the bulbs back into the light unit. If the light isn't on, turn your lights off & unplug the light, then just flip the plug 180 degrees & check it's working. Once you've seen it on, put it back into the housing.

Once you've got your bulb in place, it's just a case of putting everything back together. I found it easier to slot the front end in first & then the panel snapped back into place ready to be secured with the screws.

It's exactly the same both sides and a very easy job. I'd put my HIDs in last week and the original fog lights were a very disappointing yellowy colour. Aesthetically now the lights look a million times better. I just have to wait until night to see if they've made any kind of difference (the HID are a massive improvement).

Sorry if I've made this read like pulling teeth but I genuinely couldn't find a walk-through on changing the fogs.

Spot the difference...
https://flic.kr/p/T7PmUC


All nice and shiny!
https://flic.kr/p/TvmqYg

Any feedback or critique welcome.

Cheers

Guy

gvmdaddy
Posts: 2245
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 11:28 pm

Post by gvmdaddy »

It would be even more useful to forum members if you included links to the bulbs you bought, along with what actual bulbs you have just removed. Were you just running ordinary bulbs or were they LED's?
Nrthwest_Guy
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 3:16 pm

Post by Nrthwest_Guy »

Hi, I was just running the stock bulbs.

I own a 2015 ntec+ the bulbs were all standard halogen bulbs.

The bulbs I bought were all made by Safego & I'll go hunting the links now and then edit this reply with the links.

Wasn't sure if it was allowed, like advertising products etc. Back in a mo

*edit* links below
Bulbs for fog lights: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01FHOED3S/ ... 6yb5XA0AN9

Bulbs for dipped: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LVUY07A/ ... 6ybNYY5DG4

Bulbs for main: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Safego-Convers ... ego+hid+h7

Hopen this helps

Guy
gvmdaddy
Posts: 2245
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 11:28 pm

Post by gvmdaddy »

Helps greatly, thankyou for responding. Can't see any issues regarding posting the links to the replacements you've bought, everyone else does it at some point. As long as you aren't affiliated to the companies involved then there shouldn't be a problem. The mods will soon pick up on anyone just joining the forum purely to advertise their own goods.
Nrthwest_Guy
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 3:16 pm

Post by Nrthwest_Guy »

Yeah I understand that. I went for one brand so it simplified any problems that might rear its head.

Just been out to the car and all I can say is DAAAAMN I won't be struggling to see in the dark lol.

Begs the question why they always put inferior bulbs in when there's much better out there. I mean I've spent less than £100 and have brilliant lighting which is a bit of a safety thing for me. I remember a few years back when the HID kits were about £90 so I'm quite happy I've done all mine for less.

Main point of this post was to help those looking to upgrade the fog lights.

Maybe I should've take. Photos as I did it but tbh I was concentrating on not getting stressed and breaking something lol
gvmdaddy
Posts: 2245
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 11:28 pm

Post by gvmdaddy »

Just be careful and aware that the fog lights may well cast a different light pattern to the originals, and as such may be considered illegal or possibly just be failed on an MOT. When using LEDs the reflector is usually a different shape.
Nrthwest_Guy
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 3:16 pm

Post by Nrthwest_Guy »

I understand what you are saying.

The reflectors are designed around a full 180 light beam (as original halogen H7 bulbs). The new led bulbs have a cre bulb at either side of the unit.

While the light pattern may differ slightly, from the looks of the actual light path (I was really sad and used the on board camera to check the coverage) the beam is almost identical although much brighter & whiter.

It must be said though. I bought the led for the fogs & then a HID kit for the dipped. I used Halfords to find correct bulbs & of course it gave me them wrong. Luckily the HID kit fit in the main beam & I just reordered some H7s.

As the bulbs in the fogs are 55w I am daring to say they are too powerful for a fog light & members may be better advised to buy a lower wattage bulb (obviously the led aren't 55w they're the equivalent). I'm going to keep mine in though as I have a friendly mot which I've never had a fail yet. I'm told what needs doing I do it but he just issues my ticket.

I am an ex mechanic & ex Motorsport mechanic so he knows it gets done. Plus Sally (yes I'm sad and named her) won't be due an mot for another 12+ months.
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