W126 Euro headlight switch in US car

[LandYaghtLover]

Just wondering if it will work or not. Mine is broke and I found a Euro one I can get cheap locally. NIB, old stock. Or must I use a US switch? Thanks!

[compu_85]

If it's for a GenII car it will work. Note that late W124s have the "euro" switch. I have one installed in my car for the rear fog lamp



Difference between G1 and G2 switches? G1 switches have ring terminals, not the big round pin plug like your car.

-J

[LandYaghtLover]

Yup. Gen II. Why do you have only one rear fog? And on that note, its my understanding that the wiring is missing for the rear fog on my 91 SEL. If thats not true, rear fog would be a great bonus!

And your plates are great! lol

[smharr4]

Originally Posted by LandYaghtLover

Why do you have only one rear fog?

I thought they were all like that, rear fog lights are driver side only - they are on my two cars.

[LandYaghtLover]

Originally Posted by smharr4

I thought they were all like that, rear fog lights are driver side only - they are on my two cars.

Weird, I've always seen two.

[lkchris]

Originally Posted by LandYaghtLover

Weird, I've always seen two.

You've always seen modified cars. NO German car leaves factory with two rear foglights.

[compu_85]

There is no wiring in the US spec W126 for the rear fog lights, it must be added:

It started out as a rear fog lamp install...

Basically you add the ground wire to the switch for the indicator, and run the extra wire to the back for the fog lamp.

On Euro cars the wiring used for the rear side marker lights is what drives the fog lamps.

-J

[Jim B.]

The U.S. DOT prohibited the fog light on ALL U.S. spec w126s imported new into this country.

Along with the european tail lights and headlights, the adjustable euro headlight switch, also (for which you can thank the sealed beam headlight maker's lobbyists). And the ugly w126 hedlight wipers too.

Also the European trunk warning triangles and dark amber front blinkers.

And lts of other good things, too.

What you get when lawyers, and lobbyists and their puppet politicians start messing around with new cars.

[compu_85]

Jim, that may have been the case in the early 80s, but by the mid 80s lots of other makes had rear fog lights here. Even MB had them by 1990 on all the other models. They just didn't want to re-design the electrical system on the W126 to accommodate it.

Of course the rear light fixtures were prohibited too, they don't have side retro-reflectors or parking lights... IMO the one area where US lighting standards are superior. I can also understand why they banned manual adjustment headlights... nobody would ever have it set properly.

The blinkers are different again... no retro-reflectors. I'll agree that the euro orange color is more pleasant, but that's simply a standards thing. At the time the US and EU simply defined amber slightly differently.

At the beginning of replaceable lamp fixtures the DOT required mechanical aiming... that's what the bumps on the front of the lens are for. You would attach a fixture with bubble levels and aim it until the bubbles were centered... just like yee olde sealed beam. That's why the US lights have the separate fog and headlight assembly, the front lens of the headlight assembly needs to move. By the 90s the standards had been changed to allow just the optics inside to move, but the fixture had to include a built-in bubble level. Look on a W140 and you'll see it. The goofy lill wipers simply do the best they can on the smaller cleanable area of the DOT fixture.

I will agree completely that the DOT standard for headlights was very bad, and it seemed as if Bosh and Hella wanted to punish us by giving us the worst possible fixtures. It is possible to make a good headlight system that conforms to DOT specs, even one using wimpy 9004 lamps.

-J