MOT failure

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mickdev
Joined: Thu 18 Feb, 2016 17:38
Posts: 58

  Z3 roadster 1.8 TU

MOT failure

Post by mickdev »

Got the Z3 out this morning and it was a little grey in the skies, so I put the lights on and noticed that my green "lights on" indicator was not illuminated, is this an MOT failure? or an easy fix.
sebring
Joined: Thu 12 Dec, 2013 12:45
Posts: 53

  Z3 roadster 1.9

Re: MOT failure

Post by sebring »

that's not an mot failure
Mike Fishwick
Joined: Fri 19 Jun, 2009 10:27
Posts: 2093

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Daglan, France

Re: MOT failure

Post by Mike Fishwick »

If you to read the Owner's Manual (well reccommended) you will find that the green warning lamp is provided to show that the front fog lamps are on! It even has a little picture of a fog lamp . . .

You have therefore been driving around with the fog lamps on irrespective of visibility, which is an offence worthy of note to any police officer who is a bit short on his quota for the day.

Try switching the front fogs on and off, and see if the little green lamp also goes on and off. The litle red lamp shows that the rear fog lamps are on.
A Z3 is not just for Christmas - it's for life!
mickdev
Joined: Thu 18 Feb, 2016 17:38
Posts: 58

  Z3 roadster 1.8 TU

Re: MOT failure

Post by mickdev »

I have read the manual and I know where the fog lights illuminate on the dashboard, if you read the thread properly, my vehicle has always, when pulling the knob out for the lights, illuminated a green panel on the dash to say that my lights are on, likewise the blue light for main beam illuminates if you use that.
My issue is that the green light no longer lights up when I activated the light knob, I was asking if this was an mot failure or an easy fix !!.
I do not drive around with my fog lights on as I know it is an offence.
Mike Fishwick
Joined: Fri 19 Jun, 2009 10:27
Posts: 2093

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Daglan, France

Re: MOT failure

Post by Mike Fishwick »

OK - in that case you have a problem concerning the front foglamp indicator - just because it has always illuminated when the lights (headlights?) are on does not mean that it should, unless perhaps your car is a US market model, where they need to be spoon-fed! This is why the Z3 has a buzzer which sounds when the door is opened while the lights are switched on.

It is possible that there is a problem in the instrument cluster, and that the indicator is earthing somewhere, possibly through the foglamps - try unplugging the fog lamps at the connector under the bonnet with yellow/brown and brown wires.

You do not say if the 'Lights On' indicator has a picture of a fog lamp on it.
A Z3 is not just for Christmas - it's for life!
mickdev
Joined: Thu 18 Feb, 2016 17:38
Posts: 58

  Z3 roadster 1.8 TU

Re: MOT failure

Post by mickdev »

cheers will try it
John Wilson
Joined: Fri 12 Jun, 2009 12:11
Posts: 252

  Z3 roadster 2.0
Location: Diss

Re: MOT failure

Post by John Wilson »

First, Mike, it’s nice to see you back on the site after all this time. You are really a mine of information even with your ‘abrupt’ way of posting. I thought you must be wrong in this case, so I went out to check, and, indeed, the green light is for the front fog light. Could it not be the the front fog light has been in the ‘on’ position and when the headlights were switched on the fog light came on at the same time. It is an easy thing to happen as you cant tell by just looking at the button.
Mike Fishwick
Joined: Fri 19 Jun, 2009 10:27
Posts: 2093

  Z3 roadster 2.8
Location: Daglan, France

Re: MOT failure

Post by Mike Fishwick »

Yes John - my first reaction was that the OP had been drivng around with the fog lamps on, but he says that he does not do so. One presumes that he would notice if the fog lights were on, but they are pretty feeble things, and could become 'lost' in the dipped beams.

If he is not driving on the fogs, perhaps they do not work, in which case if they have been switched on, the warning lamp would still work when the headlamps were turned on. If the switch has inadvertantly been turned off, this would explain the 'failure' of what the OP referred to as the 'Lights On' indicator, and now tells us that it is where 'The fog lights illuminate on the dashboard.'

It would help if we were told whether the front fog light switch turns the indicator lamp on and off . . .

I had better bow out of this thread, or the PC brigade will be accuse me of something or other!
A Z3 is not just for Christmas - it's for life!
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Gazza
Joined: Tue 04 Oct, 2005 20:58
Posts: 9521

  M roadster S54
Location: Romford Essex

Re: MOT failure

Post by Gazza »

I agree with John, good to see you back Mike.
Gazza

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