I'm surprised no one has done any testing yet. When I get my car I will but I was hoping someone would pull out a multimeter before then
Word is that the wiring for the rear fog light is already present in US-spec cars. There is some debate about this but it should be easy enough to figure out: remove the harness plug from the taillight cluster and count the wires. You would need:
1) Power for taillight
2) Power for brake light
3) Power for turn signal light
4) Power for rear fog light
5) Ground wire for cluster
So if the harness plug has 5 wires going into it, then it sounds like we've got the wiring for the rear fog.
Of course you would also need the bulb, but other reports here have indicated that on US cars, the bulb is already installed in the bulb holder.
Next step is to check out the fusebox. Is there a fuse specifically labeled for rear fog light? Is it missing? Worth a look. Check the fuse box inside the car and also the one under the hood.
Next part is where a service manual comes in handy or some help from our UK friends. Word is that the wire for the rear fog at the taillight cluster is yellow/brown. If we're lucky, that wire goes all the way to the toggle switch panel but I kind of doubt that based on the construction of the toggle switch panel.
So what would be really nice is if we could get some digital pics of the harness plug and wiring at the toggle switch panel for US cars and UK cars. This would help determine if the toggle switch panels are directly interchangeable -- would help if the pics are from cars with identical spec, such as
DSC vs. ASC+T, etc.
If the wiring coming out of the toggle switch panel is the same, i.e. same number of wires, same colors in UK vs. US, then it would seem the Euro toggle panel would be plug and play to activate the rear fog light.
As some have conjectured, there may be a lighting control module. But I would suspect if MINI's implementation of the on-board computer is any indication, the module is the same regardless of whether the car is US or UK spec, and you just need the switch and possibly a fuse to activate the rear fog light. If there is a lighting control module then perhaps also a computer programming change, and that's the big "if." Anybody a dealer service tech or have access to a dealer service tech for this kind of information? Seems a MINI service insider would know the answer to this part of the equation.
If it can be identified which wire from the toggle panel is responsible for switching the rear fog light, it should be simple enough to apply +12v to the wire to determine if this makes the rear fog light come on. Of course, before doing this, might be a good idea to measure voltages coming IN to the toggle panel to make sure 12v is the right level
- easy enough with a voltmeter. If that does the trick, then the Euro switch panel would be the way to go to get the rear fog light working.
I think with the multinational resource that is MINI2, this is a problem that can be fairly easily solved.