Has anybody setup their fog lights to work as DRL’s?

I have replaced my fog lights with Valeo LED versions and want to run them as DRL’s rather than having every freaking light on with the factory DRL setup. The fog lights are not the DRL/fog type with separate wiring for a DRL function. They are however approved to be DRL’s.

I’ve looked at the wiring for the factory LED DRL’s which looks like about what I’d need to do this.

Overall goal is to have them turn on when in gear with no indicator on the dash, switch off when the side lights come on and still be functional with the fog light button as normal.

Imagine I’ll need some diodes and a relay as well as some factory pins for where they need to wire up inside the car. Just curious if anybody has done something like this. 2011 RRS HSE Luxury 3.0 TDV6 Fuji White on Ebony/Ivory
Born and raised in So Cal. Moved to the UK in 2018 for a few years. Now in Poland and looking at moving back to the UK.

Yes its real easy.
Pull the fuse for the fog lights,
Use a standard single pole 4 terminal relay and wire one side of the coil and one of the contacts to ignition live using a jump out adaptor in the under bonnet fuse box by the battery, You can leave the relay in there ..plenty of room, Check handbook to select suitable circuit as layouts vary.
Connect the other contact to your fog light by removing the unit and tapping onto the live wire . This will also feed the other fog unit.
Connect the other coil wire on the relay to the sidelights.
The idea is that the relay gets ign live to one coil terminal and an earth through the 4 sidelight/tail bulbs.
The current is so small they dont come on,
When the lights are turned ON the relay coil gets +12v to both sides so switches off.

When you turn the lights ON the DLRS go OFF passes MOT no problem .

change fog bulbs for LEDs which equate to about 15watts.

EPLS Always listen to old people or when they die you will live on in ignorance.
The avatar is a picture of the man with a big cock.
Learned to 4x4 on 100 mile beach and Frazer Island QLD
Dont spend money on old cars you will never get it back

NoExpert wrote:

Has anybody setup their fog lights to work as DRL’s?

Just passed MOT on Jaguar xk8 with this set up.
What does it not comply with . Just checked the gov website and can see no problem.

15w bulbs so not sidelights (7w max) or headlight 45w. min
Goes off when headlights turned ON.
If you think the positioning is not right then just fit some "correct" units and light them up.

do you really think the UK police have any interest in this. Always listen to old people or when they die you will live on in ignorance.
The avatar is a picture of the man with a big cock.
Learned to 4x4 on 100 mile beach and Frazer Island QLD
Dont spend money on old cars you will never get it back

Can't help if UK MOT technicians are underperforming. This is anecdotal evidence anyway and does not change the rules.
A fog light has a completely different light pattern from a DRL. Fog lights are designed for a wide spread low in front of the car. A DRL is designed to make the car visible to other drivers and does not illuminate the road by design. More info on compulsory lighting in cars: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUri...089:EN:NOT

While the physical placement of both types is compatible, the light pattern difference is the reason for offering replacement front fog lights with additional DRL piece (usually a LED halo ring) which lights up on engine running and turns off once marker lights or main beam is on - as intended in a DRL.

This is actually a topic dating back to 2011 and it has been repeated ad nauseam, fog lights are not DRL and can not be used as such. Regards etc.,

Wojtek

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WAS: 2006 RRS Supercharged
IS: 2010 RRS TDV8 HSE

Last edited by TheWojtek on Wed Nov 15 2023 8:59am. Edited 1 time in total

just checked your link and it says no longer in force .
We are not in the EU.
If you had driven on the UK motorways you would realize that cars without DRLs are far less visible so I feel its a good mod Always listen to old people or when they die you will live on in ignorance.
The avatar is a picture of the man with a big cock.
Learned to 4x4 on 100 mile beach and Frazer Island QLD
Dont spend money on old cars you will never get it back

Oh, you should've clicked further until arriving at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en...32019R2144

The fact that the UK is no longer in EU has nothing to do with it, actually you still need to comply with the EU car laws by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK.

Don't know what the difference between a UK motorway and any motorway elsewhere is, apart from driving on the opposite side of the road, the cars without DRL are always less visible. This is the reason a couple of EU countries go even further and mandate using low beam if the car is not equipped with DRL. Regards etc.,

Wojtek

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WAS: 2006 RRS Supercharged
IS: 2010 RRS TDV8 HSE

UK motorways very very crowded compared to say france Always listen to old people or when they die you will live on in ignorance.
The avatar is a picture of the man with a big cock.
Learned to 4x4 on 100 mile beach and Frazer Island QLD
Dont spend money on old cars you will never get it back

I had been driving countless times in the UK and do not find them motorways any more crowded than Berliner Ring, A8 Karlsruhe-Frankfurt, A8 to Nice or A13 Brenner Autobahn. This is irrelevant to topical DRLs anyway. Regards etc.,

Wojtek

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WAS: 2006 RRS Supercharged
IS: 2010 RRS TDV8 HSE

Considering the hokey @$$ BS I’ve seen people getting away with for DRL’s here in Poland, I’ll take my chances. One guy had LED strips for home interior wired up and had been there long enough to turn yellow and connections rust. If that garbage passes a Polish vehicle inspection I could shove two crappy flash lights in the fog light holes and pass.

The real winner is my LED fog lights are also DRL8 stamped… 2011 RRS HSE Luxury 3.0 TDV6 Fuji White on Ebony/Ivory
Born and raised in So Cal. Moved to the UK in 2018 for a few years. Now in Poland and looking at moving back to the UK.

A bit more information on those DRL stamped lights would be helpful ..did you get them on e bay ?
I have looked buy not found anything with DRL on them Always listen to old people or when they die you will live on in ignorance.
The avatar is a picture of the man with a big cock.
Learned to 4x4 on 100 mile beach and Frazer Island QLD
Dont spend money on old cars you will never get it back

I used the Valeo LED fog lights out of a Citroen. They have the same mounting pattern as the 2010-2013 L320’s, but the adjustment knob is further forward so had to trim a little inside the bumper.

This is the non-branded version from Valeo: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186009904127?ch...voQAvD_BwE

As for legalities, the main thing is they dim or shutoff with the headlights on, which is exactly what I plan to do.

Also, WTF’s the difference between running my headlights for DRL’s (as JLR has setup) and my fog lights? They both emit light to illuminate the roadway for the driver. The LED fog lights I have have the traditional thin emitting pattern, but also throw light outside this pattern so they are easily visible at all angles to other drivers. If I was talking the factory halogen 55w bulbs with dead flat cutoff then we could have a discussion about using them as DRL’s as I agree they would be terrible for this. But these are far from those lights. I just don’t really like driving around with ALL my lights on 24/7. We’re talking HID’s, indicator lights, taillights and even license plate lights. I’m okay with some lights on, I’m not okay with every light on.

Last up, so what inspection place would fail me for that setup when plenty of cars have to turn on their headlights for DRL’s? Not to mention I’ve seen cars with their fog lights replaced with some junk China LED’s (as front fog lights are not a requirement in Europe) and wired to come on with the ignition.

And the 2011 EC gig is only that cars have to be sold with the ability to have DRL’s, not that they have to be activated (they weren’t on my car which is a May 2011 build date). Some countries, like Netherlands, do not have a law saying DRL’s are compulsory, same goes with the UK. Our 2012 Vauxhall Antara did not have DRLs activated. So the whole EC 2011 thing is just from a manufacturer’s standpoint on what the car must be capable of doing, not what all cars on all European roads have to do.

A list of countries with compulsory 24/7 DRL laws:
Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland 2011 RRS HSE Luxury 3.0 TDV6 Fuji White on Ebony/Ivory
Born and raised in So Cal. Moved to the UK in 2018 for a few years. Now in Poland and looking at moving back to the UK.

Last edited by NoExpert on Wed Nov 15 2023 5:42pm. Edited 1 time in total

I didn't go for any fog provision, pure DRL, but both are available from

https://www.powerfuluk.com/



Dave 2010 3.6 TDV8 HSE (Gone)
2011 Discovery 4 Commercial SDV6 (Gone)
1980 OBLIC 4.0ltr Range Rover (went a long time ago)

Pistnbroke wrote:

Yes its real easy.
Pull the fuse for the fog lights,
Use a standard single pole 4 terminal relay and wire one side of the coil and one of the contacts to ignition live using a jump out adaptor in the under bonnet fuse box by the battery, You can leave the relay in there ..plenty of room, Check handbook to select suitable circuit as layouts vary.
Connect the other contact to your fog light by removing the unit and tapping onto the live wire . This will also feed the other fog unit.
Connect the other coil wire on the relay to the sidelights.
The idea is that the relay gets ign live to one coil terminal and an earth through the 4 sidelight/tail bulbs.
The current is so small they dont come on,
When the lights are turned ON the relay coil gets +12v to both sides so switches off.

When you turn the lights ON the DLRS go OFF passes MOT no problem .

change fog bulbs for LEDs which equate to about 15watts.

EPLS

Pistnbroke wrote:

Yes its real easy.

Fit a relay, blar blar