Fog light delete 550 Msport

I really can't stand the way the fog lights look on the M-sport bumper. Is there a way to remove them and replace with a flush grille? If not, I was thinking of getting blackout covers to at least conceal them so they blend in a little better.

I think the M550DX has no foglights. You can buy the grille inserts for that car from Germany, and then install those and hide the fog lights behind the bumper to avoid error messages.

How would I find the part numbers for those inserts?

Hey guys, just an update on this. Thanks to Stealth's idea, I bought the M550d lower grills from a BMW dealer in the UK right before I moved back to the US. I removed the fog light grills then removed the fog light housing and tucked the actual bulb away inside the bumper with a twist tie. Keeping the bulbs connected prevents any error codes. The new grilles just popped right in and fit perfectly. I think deleting the fog lights gives a much cleaner look. I'll post some actual pics tomorrow, but below is a photo that is representative of the look.

I knew that would work.

Now you should get the M5 euro foglight switch from ECS tuning. Then your dash will be consistent with the look.

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

Then your dash will be consistent with the look.

You, sir, are a true purist.

Here's a pic with the new grilles.

Wasn't sure if I would like it, but that looks really good. Nice and clean. How much were the grills in the UK?

Raj

Originally Posted by RajG

Wasn't sure if I would like it, but that looks really good. Nice and clean. How much were the grills in the UK?

Raj

Thanks Raj. I paid £53.58 each. They had to be ordered from Germany and took about a week to arrive at the dealer.

Originally Posted by Mbbrewer

I paid £53.58 each.

$86.63 USD.

I'm interested in doing the same thing and deleting my M-Sport fog lights; can you give us any information about how you ordered the M-Sport bumper mesh grills without the foglight holes?

Thank You!

Originally Posted by MWPos

I'm interested in doing the same thing and deleting my M-Sport fog lights; can you give us any information about how you ordered the M-Sport bumper mesh grills without the foglight holes?

Thank You!

I ordered these parts online from my local dealer in England and had them shipped to my house there right before I moved back to the US. They were back ordered in Germany and took 2 weeks to arrive. I was not able to find the part numbers through the US, so you will probably need to do 1 of 2 things.

1. Find a dealer in the US who can source them.
2. Take a vacation to Europe and order them while you are there.

The part numbers you will need are 51118055133 and 51118055134.

Thank you! Fortunately, I work for a multinational program which includes Germany as a partner nation....I feel a business trip to Munich may be necessary in the near future

Lol, there are far easier ways.

I like the inserts, but I love the way my fog lights look; Part of the reason I got the M-Sport over the regular front end 535i.

I've done more research...and looked more closely at the photos and the actual parts at realoem.com, and lo-and-behold found that the left and right fog light grills are not identical mirror images...I would have noticed from your photos had I looked closely enough.

My solution for my low-budget but full OEM M bumper conversion for my 535i is to buy two of the center grill meshes, use one, and cut the other in half and trim to fit into the bumper's fog light housings. I'll use small plastic strip-ties to hold this mesh in place with solid flat plastic inserts behind the mesh to hide the tied-up fog light bulbs.

Originally Posted by MWPos

I've done more research...and looked more closely at the photos and the actual parts at realoem.com, and lo-and-behold found that the left and right fog light grills are not identical mirror images...I would have noticed from your photos had I looked closely enough.

My solution for my low-budget but full OEM M bumper conversion for my 535i is to buy two of the center grill meshes, use one, and cut the other in half and trim to fit into the bumper's fog light housings. I'll use small plastic strip-ties to hold this mesh in place with solid flat plastic inserts behind the mesh to hide the tied-up fog light bulbs.

You are correct, the driver side grill is solid while the passenger side is open. For some reason this is also the case on my wife's X5 35d (which is stock). Its very hard to tell in person. I considered doing something similar to what you described. I look forward to seeing how they turn out.

I was thinking of tinting over them, but I like the foglights look actually. Gives it a more aggressive/sporty appearance to me, and the function can't hurt.

I just wish they were LED's so you could turn them on at night if you want more lights on but don't want to add a dash of "yellow" to your hyper white. Then again, I believe fog lights only work properly if they're yellow as being white would be regressive in the event of.... fog.

I had mine tinted at first while I was waiting to get the grilles. It looked better and blended with the mesh well but it just liked like two holes. For some reason I think the fogs are distracting. It's the first thing my eye picks up on the M sport.

ahhh...the old fog light color question...discussion on this topic by Car Talk http://www.cartalk.com/content/do-fo...ou-see-through is quoted below. Unfortunately for me, and possibly I'll offend you, for which I profusely apologize in advance, but the M bumper fog lights look to me more like "frog" lights....something about their outward facing geometry...sorry!!!

BEGIN QUOTE:
Do fog lights work? Do they help you see through the fog, or do they just light up the fog? Are yellow fog lights better than clear fog lights? Should they be mounted low on the vehicle to search forth underneath the fog cloud? I am so confused -- you might even say I am "foggy" on the fog-light issue. Therefore, I ask you to search through the fog of your collective brain cells and enlighten the world to the truth about fog lights. -- Pat

RAY: Great question, Pat. How I wish this were the only subject we were foggy on!

TOM: There are many different kinds of lights that people put on the front of their cars these days. There are driving lights, fog lights, Velux motorized sky lights ... we've seen 'em all. Most of them are purely decorative. And many are used and/or aimed incorrectly, and they simply blind oncoming drivers.

RAY: But fog lights, when used and aimed correctly, might be useful to some drivers. As you probably know, if you project light directly into the fog, it bounces off the fog droplets and reflects in all directions, making it even harder to see. That's why you use your low beams in fog rather than your high beams.

TOM: Fog lights are low-mounted lights (bumper level or below) that project light that's cut off at the top. So the light pattern on a good-quality fog light goes straight out at bumper level and down, but not higher than that.

RAY: The reason for this is that fog tends to hover about 12 to 18 inches off the ground. So by projecting light in that fog-free pocket, you can illuminate the road a greater distance from your car and therefore see farther ahead. Some people swear by fog lights. Others claim that they don't really make much difference.

TOM: So the question becomes, to yellow or not to yellow? There's a lot of debate about this, but the research says that yellow lights are no better than white lights at penetrating fog. The theory bandied about was that yellow light has a longer wavelength and is therefore less likely to be reflected by the fog particles. Turns out, this is complete poppycock.

RAY: Apparently, the fog particles themselves are so big that they reflect all colors of light. Basically, all light bounces off of them, so using yellow light instead of white light gives you no advantage.

TOM: Plus, in order to get yellow light, what fog-light manufacturers do is put a yellow lens over a white light. That cuts your light output by 20 percent to 30 percent, which is counterproductive.

RAY: So if you live in a coastal area where fog is a real problem and you want to give fog lights a try, we'd suggest a set of high-quality, white fog lights that are professionally mounted to be sure they're aimed correctly. And don't forget to check their aim periodically. Since they're mounted low, they can be knocked out of alignment when you run over things like snow banks and stalled Toyotas.