MarcusF

Are there two rear fog lights? One for each side? The owners manual refers to it as the "rear fog lamp" (singular). Thanks

JDM

singular is correct, there is only one.

BklynBenz

and try not to drive with it on, **** is real annoying when your stuck behind someone who has it on

nmsno27

I use mine if someone is tailgating me or if I have friends following me and I dont want them to lose me. The most frequent and annoying comment i get is "one of you brake lights is out." They do not understand its not a brake light

CurYousGee

this might be a dumb question, but how do you turn on the rear fog lamp? is it a standard option or extra?

blackbenzz

To turn on the rear fog lamp pull the headlight switch out two clicks (first click is for front fog lamps and second click is for rear fog lamp)

CurYousGee

oh cool ....thanks for the response blackbenzz

nmsno27

I had my C-class for an entire year without knowing it had a rear fog light!

myNAMESterry

damn, you totalled a couple nice cars

blackbenzz

no prob.

hfount

That's because only only German Engineers would put one light on one side of the car and think it's good engineering.... Really?

I also have a moon roof than when it needs resetting it doesn't close all the way! What dumb-*** German engineer would design a fing moon roof that doesn't close all the way until I reset it??? Idiots. I can go on with their over-engineering BS.

MagmaRed55

How would you design it? A light on each side? I personally think it's a good idea. If you had a rear fog on both left and right side of the car, people would constantly mistake it for brake lights.

It seems to me that you have some sort of issue with German engineers. Most people think that German cars are among the finest engineered automobiles on the planet... I also think that most of those people are here on this forum.

Josh K

Must just be your moonroof. Mine works great.

As for the fog light(s), we don't get much fog in SoCal but we do get tailgaters so I wired up the other side and use them as fake brake lights when my *** is ridden.

hfount

I own a '08 3 series, a '05 X series, and a BMW '08 K bike. I also just bought the 1999 CLK430 Mercedes. The dashboard every few thousand miles on all the German cars lights up.

I also own a 2003 GMC ENVOY. Dashboard hasn't light up once (believe it or not)
and a '03 Honda CVR... same thing.

1. To give you another example of stupid engineering on the Mercedes, one night one of the front fog lights went out, the small dashboard light up when I started the car and turned on the lights. I don't mean a little icon, I mean the whole FING thing, making it useless to use the rest of the night. WHAT STUPID ENGINEER DOES THAT? WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?????

2. Why would they engineer a rear fog light only on one side of the trunk? They added a fake lens on the other side. You know why? B/C when they looked at the car from the rear, it dawned on them that it looks stupid with only one light on one side of the trunk! But somehow on a $50K+ car, these idiots thought it looks good with only one side of the trunk lit up at night????? I'd put a smaller round light lower on the back bumper - similar to the front. Believe me, if you are driving with the rear fog lights on, that means you are in some real serious fog and you don't want to be rear ended or you want to see backing up. Either way, it's not going to matter if the other driver thinks it's a brake light. If so, good...let him be cautious under the circumstances, right? You shouldn't drive with them on in normal conditions.

Lets say you are driving in some serious fog and have to turn the rear fog lights on, wouldn't you want the guy behind to know your not a motorcycle (as he might with one light on)????

Tell me what possibly reason exists for one light? Other than saving money? It's not a kia.

3. On the moonroof. When it's reset, it's fine. However, this was purposely engineered to not close all the way. In this state when I press the close button, it moves 3 inches and stops, then I press again, another 3"..at the end, i press it and it almost closes (open about 1/3 inch). Press again, nothing. Keep pressing, it starts opening up! Now mind you, I'm FING driving. I try this process over and over, I'm getting FiNG wet from the rain, but nothing. It goes to 1/2 inch and stops. Meantime, I'm driving and trying to figure out how a simple thing like closing the Fing moonroof has become so complicated.

I get home and read the manual. I put the key in 2nd position and do the BS crap to reset the roof. Question: WHO THE F DESIGNS A MOONROOF THAT NEEDS TO BE RESET IN THE FIRST PLACE? WHY WOULD YOU EVER NEED TO RESET A MOONROOF? NONE OF MY OTHER CARS HAVE THIS ISSUE. SOME FING ENGINEER GOT PAID TO DESIGN AND THEN SOME STUPID COMPANY GOT THOSE PLANS AND BUILT A MOTOR TO PU TIN THIS CAR!!!! Don't believe me, look in your manual...why is it even in there? WHAT Possible purpose is there to reset the Fing moonroof other than to force people to go to the dealer???

So, in order to give us another excuse for visiting the dealer, they put us in a potential dangerous situation in the rain...

Sorry if I come across as tough, I'm very frustrated that these supposed "engineered" cars have these issues! These are not small issues...the moonroof not closing issue is very dangerous (rain, other issues), the unusable dashboard although ridiculous is not as dangerous, the single fog light is pathetic since they already put a light on the other side!

Other than bad engineering, what could possibly be the answer? I'm 56 years old and I've own many cars in my lifetime, I've never seen anything like this.

MagmaRed55

In the time it took you to write that comment, you could have read your entire owners manual and answered your own questions.

I think selling your horribly engineered Mercedes to someone that would enjoy it for what it is, could be the only answer.

hfount

Really? That's your helpful reply? You make it seem like all I have to do is read a manual? Did you even read what I wrote? Because if you did, you'd know that the manual couldn't have helped me in those situations.

When someone charges me a **** load of money for a product, I actually expect the product to be far superior. When they claim this cost is due to their "ENGINEERING," I actually expect it to be far superior engineered in EVERY aspect.

But, FYI, I read the manual. I guess you must have photographic memory. But, I'd like to see how well you'll recall the moon roof reset procedure you read in the manual months ago when it's raining and the moon roof would not close fully. I'm sure, you'll be able to recite the page it's on too, right?

But, since you seem to be smarter than me. Tell us:

1. Why is there a moon roof resetting procedure in the manual? What possible reason is there for it? No other car I've ever owned had one.

2. Better yet, tell me how by creating a potential problem like this that other cars do not have is superior engineering?

3. While you're at it, tell me why they would make the entire dash board unusable b/c a fog light is out? How is that superior engineering?

4. Oh, and since you brought it up, tell me how reading the manual would have made the dashboard usable again in that situation?

I don't know you and don't know why you took my comments personally to respond with a smart *** response like, sell the car? But, I don't want to fight with you. You are not the problem.

I'm not saying the car is crap. I just expected a lot better from "THEIR OWN CLAIMS." I didn't make those claims, they do.

But, for me, BMW and Mercedes lost their luster and certainly, it's pretty clear their engineering has a lot to be desired.

MagmaRed55

I didn't know you were asking anything. Seemed to me, like a rant. Maybe you would get a better response if you started your own thread instead of resurrecting a 10 year old one.

Josh K

Er - the entire dash doesn't light up when the foglight goes out - you just get a notification message which you can acknowledge and it goes away until you replace it or until you start the car again. Read your manual.

The reason a hole for the foglight exists on the other side is because in other countries people drive on the other side of the road and the fog light would be on the right side in those countries and it doesn't make financial sense to produce rear tails with and without a foglight option. As for why they don't make it two - the thought is that having two foglights would mimic the look of brake lights and make your actual brake lights less conspicuous/effective. The same reason the third center-mount brake light is not always illuminated. If you really want the other foglight, you can buy a 3 dollar socket and run a wire to it in 5 minutes and have two fogs. That actually sounds like pretty smart engineering to me.

The moonroof doesn't normally operate that way. Not an engineering problem, sounds like a broken moonroof problem. The reason the reset exists is so that you can have pinch protection/one-touch close. Those features are impossible without defining opened and closed parameters which is what the reset does. There's a reset procedure for the windows as well.

Everything you've complained about sounds more like you don't understand it than it being bad engineering. I've had my CLK for 15+ years and haven't been bothered by a single thing you've mentioned as a problem. Maybe the dash warning lights in your Envoy just don't work

cindyclk

Well first of all, every car that is driven in Europe is required to have this "good engineering" It's been around since the 1960's/70's. Since we are driving German cars, it has the fog lamp.
There is obviously something wrong with your moonroof. It should not need resetting unless it's binding, needs grease or broken in some way. Explore what's wrong with the roof and it will not need resetting. It's not "over engineered".

burgca

Hfount unsure why you resurrected an old thread to start a rant. There are other threads to search for moonroof issues. As an owner of any car issues may arise and the reset/manual processes are included in the manual to help you to address the issue if you aren't near a service shop. With that said a 16 year old car regardless of engineering will have issues even if you are the original owner (wear and tear) no different than any product (home water heater, transmission, airplanes, etc.). Proper maintenance can forestall failures and increase the life of a product, but the engineering design of a product by itself cannot prevent failures. Enjoy the car but at 16 years you should not expect zero issues, and I hate to be the bearer of additional bad news but with the age of the car you may experience more "engineering" issues.

hfount

Thanks for your replies. Your are right, it's me...