Retro-fitting front fog lights

[stevebedford]

Can the front fog lights be retro-fitted to a Mk2 Fabia 1.6 TDi CR 105 SE estate (Dec 2010)?  I saw there was a kit avaiable for the Mk 1 Fabia

 

http://www.theskodas...ster)_BFB700001 but cannot find anything for the Mk 2.  My local dealer didn't know if there was any wiring behind blanking grills to connect to.

 

Any help would be appreciated

 

Thanks

Steve

 

[pirving]

Ditto for a 1.2tsi. Also helps to widen the stance of the car.

[Ootohere]

Who is caring how wide a car looks when you are driving with visibility reduced to under 100 meters and you are using Fog Lights?

 

george

[pirving]

I was looking at this from the same point of view as Skoda when they did the FL and widened the grille and headlamp units; have a look at a FL car, one without fogs (eg standard SE spec) and one with fogs (eg Elegance spec and lights off) and no misty stuff floating in the atmosphere around the car. :-) IMO Elegance looks better!  

[Gazbull17]

I'm sure there is a wiring harness and plug behind the front grills.

There was a previous post on here where someone was fitting a new two tone horn with pictures and they mentioned that there's a harness behind the grilles to fit fog lights.

Most models use the same harness to keep costs down then the parts are just fitted on the production line as when the specs needed.

[fabiamk2SE]

Id be very interested if that is the case, mine is an se.

But what about the switch on the dashboard? Is it with the headlight on-off switch? Would you just need to replace that for one with an extra setting on it?

[fabiamk2SE]

Also, dont the fogs have drls built in? Mine has a hole where the switch should be in the fuse board for those

[fabiamk2SE]

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/249552-front-fog-lamps/

[Percy Edwards]

I was looking at doing this, previously fitted them to a Touran.  You can get the lights from Cars Equipment 120 euro for the pair, Kufatec sell the loom with or without cornering function and switch I guess from Ebay or dealer.

 

It would need coding to get it all working I guess.  I'm so shallow I like the look of them and they don't even need to work.

[fabiamk2SE]

Oh so the loom isnt already there?

[Eddie-NL]

Oh so the loom isnt already there?

no, why fit what you don't need

 

copper is expensive

[pirving]

Pleased there's someone equally as shallow as I, but somewhat braver to admit it first. Had fogs on my 2 Avensis and Laguna and, looking back, the onlytime I used them regular was on a single carriageway road in the dark and wet with lots of oncoming traffic to help counteract the glare from the oncoming traffic.

Fot the shallow amongst us, do the black plastic trim panels just clip out backwards and the fog units clip in the same space :-)

[Percy Edwards]

Yes I think they just unclip.  I used to have a Superb and actually found the cornering function quite good.  I think to allow my shallowness to be maintained I might order the lights and think about wiring them up in the summer when it's warmer.

 

I don't mind doing trim removal and the like but pulling all the control units apart to add extra wires makes my wallet scared.

[Gazbull17]

Just pull the trims out where the fog lights should fit and look for a plug where they would fit in to.

I worked at a car factory for over 2 years and the same harness was fitted to every car then the options were fitted according to the build sheet.

It's based on economies of scale, it's cheaper to build more of one type of harness then smaller numbers of different ones.

The extra plugs and connectors that are fitted cost pennies during manufacture so it makes sense just to fit the same harness to every car.

[pirving]

Thank, that's useful.

Was it a Japanese manufacturer half way between the toon and the Wear by any chance :-)

Back on thread, previous request to dealer to supply fogs was met with a bit retisence- other than breakers, any suggestions- is Cars Equipment the name of the supplier

[Gazbull17]

It was pirving, aye, long time ago now though.

Back to the extra horn thread, it definetly showed a plug hanging when the bumper trim was removed and it said this was for when fog lights are fitted.

I've tried looking for the thread but can't find it, there was a video showing a step by step guide to fitting an extra horn, you could try searching YouTube for it.

[stevebedford]

The dealer has quoted £75 for each fog light but I'm not sure if the replacement lights come with bulb holders or not - not a problem as a trip to the breakers can source these if necessary.  The dealer couldn't find the part number for the replacement light switch.  Can anyone help with this please?

 

I'm assuming from reading all the replies that all the wiring is available behind the blanking grilles as well as replacing the light switch - I will need to fit the DRL fuse but is there anything else I should be looking for? 

 

Does the computor need to be reprogrammed??

[Percy Edwards]

I would be very pleased to hear that the wiring is there, I don't think it will be somehow.  Only one way to be certain.  Good luck.

[Eddie-NL]

Just pull the trims out where the fog lights should fit and look for a plug where they would fit in to.

I worked at a car factory for over 2 years and the same harness was fitted to every car then the options were fitted according to the build sheet.

It's based on economies of scale, it's cheaper to build more of one type of harness then smaller numbers of different ones.

The extra plugs and connectors that are fitted cost pennies during manufacture so it makes sense just to fit the same harness to every car.

I safely say that the VAG group don't use this policy

 

same with the using of Mid range Electronic modules when they could fit High range modules which cost the same

[stratosg]

I am afraid that the wiring loom is not there if there are no fog lights. I believe that because they do not include speaker's wiring at rear doors. And as about the cost of copper. Indeed copper is expenive, but since it is me that paying the car it would cost nothing to Skoda to include another five metres of wire in that cost. I do not think that another 20 euros would make the factor to characterise the car expensive or cheap.

 

And since Skoda's moto is "Simply Clever" they should include all those segments in the car (such as fog lights wiring loom, speakers wiring loom etc) in order to keep owners eager to perform that kind of retro fitments. I would like to install speakers in my rear doors and fog lights on my front bumper but I do not want to waste my time (at least a day in service area) and have my car half demolished for two speaker and two fog lights.

 

No sirs, this is not clever, this the misery of stinginess and I really feel pitty for that misery after three Skoda cars the last twelve years.

Edited 10 December, 2013 by stratosg

[Ootohere]

10 euros spent on painting/coating/protecting from cosmetic effecting corrosion, the rear drums on every car without rear discs,

would be money better spent rather than providing wiring on vehicles that have no need for it at time of being purchased. IMO

[gadgetman]

I've looked at this for our Touran. It's £500 just in parts because it needs a new harness and upgraded BJM module (about £350 of the cost).

With labour, dealer wanted near new £1000!

[trundlenut]

I am afraid that the wiring loom is not there if there are no fog lights. I believe that because they do not include speaker's wiring at rear doors. And as about the cost of copper. Indeed copper is expenive, but since it is me that paying the car it would cost nothing to Skoda to include another five metres of wire in that cost. I do not think that another 20 euros would make the factor to characterise the car expensive or cheap.

Skoda sold over 900,000 cars in 2012, so at €20 per car that's a lot of money saved.

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[stratosg]

10 euros spent on painting/coating/protecting from cosmetic effecting corrosion, the rear drums on every car without rear discs,

would be money better spent rather than providing wiring on vehicles that have no need for it at time of being purchased. IMO

 

There is no money spent since the customer pays it. And yes as about anti corrosion protection you are absolutely right.

 

Skoda sold over 900,000 cars in 2012, so at €20 per car that's a lot of money saved.

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If I want to by cables in Greece, the most expensive would be up to 1.5 euros per metre.  For the save of conversation let's say 1 euro per metre. So I would need 5 metres for the speakers and 5 metres (way too much) for fog lights. That makes us 10 euros. Or even 15 euros if we took 1.5 euros per metre. This is retail price for one car.

 

Skoda would need 10 metres of cable X 900.000 cars that makes us 10 X1.5 X 900.000 = 13.500.000 euros. If they do charge us 20 euros then they would have a profit of 10 X 0.5 X 900.000 = 4.500.000 euros. Not bad at all. Plus they would have a bunch of non moaning customers. 

 

But there is no way in the world to buy the cable at 1 or 1.5 euro per metre. No way, I cannot believe it. We as club members sometimes do group buys in order to achieve better prices, I don't think  VA Group or Skoda solely cannot achive this too. It's scale economy. So if they do buy it about 0.5 euros and sell it 2 euros per metre their profit is much more than the above number, plus happy owners. That's simply clever as they say.

 

Now almost none of us is willing to spend about 500 euros for a set of fog lights and another ca. 200 euros for wiring and speaker mounting. Not me at least. That is a money loss for the company since there are no or really few customers in their service area. Plus we are moaning, since we are not that happy because we are unable to retro fit fog lights, or rear speakers in a "plug 'n' play" way. 

 

Someone would ask why didn't you buy the car with fog lights or / and with rear speakers? The answer is because at that time I didn't  want to wait for two months while I was able to have the car in ten days, or even because I regret the fog light miss and now I want them, or, or... It is the same when someone replaces his steel rim with alloys, or his alloy rims with other alloys. How about rims to be welded on the car giving you no opportunity to change them, or to have to replace the whole axle in order to replace the rims? Not clever.

 

Yes I know, I'm moaning at the time.

Edited 11 December, 2013 by stratosg

[trundlenut]

You're looking at this on too small a scale. Of skoda can a few cents here and there, say 5, 10 or 20 components per car, then multiply by nearly a million, multiplied by 4 or 5 years, then multiply by all the parts of the VAG group...

I have worked clients who are saving 1-2 pence per unit but when you are shifting millions it adds up. Once a company finds the easy wins on cost saving then it is down to the little things.

In terms of the number of customers who are interested in retro fitting things (which is probably a very small proportion) then there is no net benefit to the manufacturer.

Remember all manufacturers are interested in the fleet market and mass market not niche buyers.

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