Anitan1's front foglights under his bumper do not look stock. It is possible the previous owner just wanted to put something there instead of the black plastic cover. If the car came with foglights from the factory or dealer retrofitted, you will have the toggles on the toggle panel. If not, the two locations would be blanked out. The front toggle (position 5) Has a green light that turns on when the front foglights are on.
In the US, a rear foglight, in fact was illegal in some states. That is why the early build 05's had the plastic cover and no provisional pre-wire for the rear foglight. It wasn't until later that they became legal. Not sure about the 2002 cars though. My own car came with the toggle for the rear foglights programmed but no wiring so they don't work. The toggle lights turn on and off like they should though.
It is possible that on that car, there is another switch somewhere that turns them on and off. The MINI front foglights are programmed to work only if the marker lights and/or headlights are turned on. If you turn on your highbeams, the foglights will turn off. The green bulb on the toggle will turn off also. If you turn off all your lights, the foglights will also turn off. Then when you turn your lights back on, the foglights will default to the off position and you have to turn them on again.
Foglights are actually hard to see if they are on or off, if you are sitting in the driver's seat. They are pointed low directly in front of your car and the beam is wider than your headlights. What happens is they light up the area directly in front of your car. I find when it rains, I can see the road lines much better with them on. Otherwise, those that turn them on during perfectly clear evenings (or even daytime
) are doing it strictly for looks. They really are a safety asset when it gets really foggy at night.
The rear foglight is actually VERY BRIGHT. If you turn it on on a clear night (or even during the day) you can actually blind the person behind you. So if you have it, use it only if you absolutely need to. I have followed a car which had a rear foglight mounted too high. After a traffic light turned green and he drove away, I was temperarily blinded to while pulling away from the intersection. If the car in front of me had slammed on the brakes, I would not have seen it.
