joshg1001

Kinda stupid, but before i bought my C350, i was always laughing in my head about the poor mercedes reliability, especially in the electronics field. I always scoffed at the fact that one rear light would be brighter than the other.

but i just found out tonight that its an option to turn on the "rear fog light" which makes the driver's side red lamp just a tad brighter for cars to follow in heavy fog. just thought this was interesting. very easy to think its a flaw if you dont own a benz

C300Sport

Don't feel too bad, I was there with you for many years myself. Your salesman really should have run through all those things with you on delivery.

Diesel Benz

Are these really this new in the US? I believe my first MB that had this rear fog light on the driver's side was a W123. Those have been a mandatory feature for all cars in Europe for quite some time.

Untertürkheim

They have always been here in the US from what I can remember. I know my 126 has two fog light settings, as did my 123 and 124.

You see it all the time, so many idiots drive around LA with fog lights.

Ron Jr

Not part of the US DOT standard. I had an aftermarket one on my SAAB 900 in the early 80's. If I remember right I also had it on my '76 911, I only had the car two weeks before it was stolen from my driveway.

Derspeed

My 1997 Saab had it, and so does my Volvo 850. The 850 is capable of having it on both sides with some trimming of plastic and adding a bulb. Makes playing with tailgaters more entertaining.

jstaneff

My 04 XC70 has it (as does the C), but previous cars didn't, including an 89 740, which you might expect would have had it.

When did it become a requirement in Europe?

drevil2k2

My previous Audi A4 had it, I probably used it a dozen or so times; mostly in powder snow conditions.
If I was in the middle lane with law enforcement slightly ahead of me, I would flash the rear fogs to warn any cars 'attempting to pass' in the passing lane.

RLE

Rear fog (driver's side) showed up on US models on the 124 in 1991. The headlight switch has had the rear fog position since the '70s but the wiring, bulb and socket were not installed. I cannot recall whether my W202 had one but the W203 did.

The W204 uses the inner half of the left taillight which has a 21W or so bulb running on reduced (half?) voltage to provide the same brightness as the left half of the light and when the switch is activated it is stepped up to 12V. On right-hand drive cars the car's software activates the right side light instead, the same way.

alpinweiss

You are correct, most European countries require the rear foglight on all cars, trucks, and buses. I remember cars having this feature beginning in the 1970's, but it was often added on to the rear bumper (resembling a front foglight).

European cars seem to be the only cars offered in the US with the rear foglight feature. However, some of them have the feature disabled for the US market. Cars that have the rear foglight here:
1. Mercedes (all models, I think)
2. Porsche
3. Audi (most models?)
4. Saab (most models)
5. Volvo (most models?)
6. BMW (some models)
7. Volkswagen (most models have feature, but disabled)
8. Mini (optional)

joshg1001

lol this is the first german car in my household since 1994. and i was like 10 at the time. haha