[soonerstu]

I live in Northern California and there can be dense fog on the way to Tahoe. Was wondering how the X5 performs in foggy conditions without having additional fog lights. In the owner's manual of the 2024 X5 M60i, it mentions that the sensors for the automatic headlight control cannot detect fog. No other information related to fog lights.

[BMPHIL]

"Some modern headlights use sophisticated LED beams which can adapt to different conditions, including fog and poor visibility. These make conventional front foglights obsolete.28 Nov 2022"

[whynotme]

They will perform about as well as the fog will allow. The thicker the fog, the worse they perform.

[BMPHIL]

Originally Posted by whynotme

They will perform about as well as the fog will allow. The thicker the fog, the worse they perform.

Agree but isn't that the same as fog lights!!!!!.

[eelnoraa]

, the so call fog light in G05 is more of a driving light, provide more light at very dark places. They are not adding much in fog because 1)they are too high. you want fog light to be low. 2)they are entire wrong color. LED color temp is too "blue". If you ever use a proper fog light, which is yellow, you know how much better yellow is in fog.

[GREENPUS]

My experience with LED fog lights leads me to believe LED fogs when white are terrible. Too bright and too white and most of the light reflects back into your face. Really doesn’t matter how low they are installed. I turn my fogs off on my X6 when driving in fog. I had a Toyota that had factory installed LED fogs with the same issue. I pulled the LEDs and installed yellow LEDs and it was 100% better in fog

[tooloud10]

BMW has slowly been abandoning fog lights for years, at least back to 2008. I never found them to be useful for all of the reasons already mentioned.

[LDT]

Yesterday I drove through dense fog on I-77 in WV and VA without issue. Illumination of the highway wasn’t a problem. A few blithering idiots driving 80 mph were problematic.

[AGONXF30]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

, the so call fog light in G05 is more of a driving light, provide more light at very dark places. They are not adding much in fog because 1)they are too high. you want fog light to be low. 2)they are entire wrong color. LED color temp is too "blue". If you ever use a proper fog light, which is yellow, you know how much better yellow is in fog.

Wait what?

1) The height, while important, is not what makes a fog light be a good performer.
2) The “Yellow” color while in the EM spectrum where its scattered and abosorved less in high moisture environment and also easier on the eyes, does not mean the white light is the wrong color. LED temp is white, not blue.

I have used both yellow and white in fog and the yellow performs slightly better, but not light years ahead. It’s only marginally better.

A fog light is designed to provide a wide beam (which the X5 ones do) which terminates just ahead of the car to help illuminate the road and not cause eye fatigue due to light reflection (Scattering). Not light can see through fog, yellow, white, or otherwise. During foggy conditions one must drive slow. I use fog lights a lot in snowying (snow falls) conditions at night white driving at a slow speed as they cause a lot less scatter than the main dip beams.

My biggest pet peeve is the inability to have cars in the US with rear fog lamps, which in turn help a lot more in places where fog and rain is dense.

[tooloud10]

Originally Posted by AGONXF30

My biggest pet peeve is the inability to have cars in the US with rear fog lamps, which in turn help a lot more in places where fog and rain is dense.

Agreed, but did something change legally? I've had several (and still have) US-spec cars with rear fog lights.

[jad03060]

My 2011 535GT had fog lights in the rear, but as sold, there was no way to turn them on! But, all it took was a Euro headlight switch, about a 10-minute, easy swap, and they were there. They were already in the rear panel. My i3 had the same situation, but needed a simple coding to make them work after the switch was replaced. Unfortunately, BMWUSA does not offer rear fog lights on (any?) vehicles sold here, and while retrofitting them from Europe can be done, it requires not only the lights, but wiring changes and coding with the new switch to make it all work properly. I wish it was similar to the GT's just change the switch and they work.

Rear fog lights can be distracting to drivers in the rear, so my trigger to turn them on/off was whether I could see the vehicle in front's rear lights easily or not...when I had trouble seeing them, I'd turn mine on, but if conditions cleared up, I'd turn them off as the storm's intensity changed. While front fog lights may not be as useful with decent headlights, being able to be seen from the rear in heavy fog or rain or snow, is a big deal, at least to me especially if you're stopped at a stop sign out in the middle of nowhere. Why BMWUSA doesn't at least offer them, don't know. Smart people would buy them if not standard. But, hate those that run with them on all of the time! That is really distracting, and that may be the reason...typical US drivers often aren't as well trained or considerate of others and the conditions.

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by AGONXF30

Wait what?

1) The height, while important, is not what makes a fog light be a good performer.
2) The “Yellow” color while in the EM spectrum where its scattered and abosorved less in high moisture environment and also easier on the eyes, does not mean the white light is the wrong color. LED temp is white, not blue.

I have used both yellow and white in fog and the yellow performs slightly better, but not light years ahead. It’s only marginally better.

A fog light is designed to provide a wide beam (which the X5 ones do) which terminates just ahead of the car to help illuminate the road and not cause eye fatigue due to light reflection (Scattering). Not light can see through fog, yellow, white, or otherwise. During foggy conditions one must drive slow. I use fog lights a lot in snowying (snow falls) conditions at night white driving at a slow speed as they cause a lot less scatter than the main dip beams.

My biggest pet peeve is the inability to have cars in the US with rear fog lamps, which in turn help a lot more in places where fog and rain is dense.

You are reading out of context. G05 for light is driving light. Beam is very high for fog. And I out blue into “”. It is bluer than it should be, refer to higher K value than it should be for fog. In dense fog, yellow definitely stand out better. The long wavelength defract less, reflect less back to driver and penetration more into fog. It has nothing to do with moisture. Sky is blue for exact reason.

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by tooloud10

Agreed, but did something change legally? I've had several (and still have) US-spec cars with rear fog lights.

I think US Dot is not against rear fog, just not require, so manufacturers don’t include it. An Audi 4A avant I once had has rear fog. My European deliver 3 series has rear fog and still legally came back

[AGONXF30]

Originally Posted by eelnoraa

You are reading out of context. G05 for light is driving light. Beam is very high for fog. And I out blue into “”. It is bluer than it should be, refer to higher K value than it should be for fog. In dense fog, yellow definitely stand out better. The long wavelength defract less, reflect less back to driver and penetration more into fog. It has nothing to do with moisture. Sky is blue for exact reason.

Where are you getting your information from. There I no a single light that can penetrate fog.

Also sky is not blue. That is a reflection.

[eelnoraa]

Originally Posted by AGONXF30

Where are you getting your information from. There I no a single light that can penetrate fog.

Also sky is not blue. That is a reflection.

Sky is blue is of defraction of blue color, or maybe more accurately call scattering. Rayleigh scattering is the technical term. Blue light, short wavelength is a lot more subjective to this. For the same reason long wavelength light, yellow or red will penetrate fog better because less of them are being scattered.