Before you decide to add fog lights to your ti, take heed:

1. This is not easy. It is significantly more difficult than installing a car stereo. 2. This will take you 10 hours or more. If you snicker at that, go ahead and install your fog lights. I ll buy you a beer when you are done. Hell, I ll buy you 2 beers. You might be able to do it in less, but for those of us who are paranoid about scratches, it pays to take your time. 3. If you want to discuss this over the phone, I would be happy to help as much as you need. 4. If you live in Southern California and are willing to pay for beer, I could be persuaded to help you with this in person.

You will need these tools and parts:

63 17 1 469 706 - E36/5 foglight kit, $199.00 retail 51 16 8 191 949 Screw covers, $0.63 retail (x4) 8 360 431- Headlight switch cover plate, $8.75 retail (x1) Regular screwdriver Phillips screwdriver 10 mm socket Small 1/4 ratchet Socket extensions, knuckles, and whatever other trick ratchet tools you can find. Snap-on really is best for this job. T10 torx socket bit Needlenose pliers Tie-wraps Wire coat hanger Black electrical tape Cigarettes

Disclaimer:

It has been a year since I did this upgrade, so I may overlook some simple details. I promise I will get all of the difficult tasks and all of the things that I did wrong. My tips are based on the illustration numbers of the BMW installation instructions. Just because I do not mention a step in the instructions does not mean you don t have to do it... this is only a SUPPLEMENT to keep you out of trouble and save time. You should still read and follow the BMW directions as much as possible. My instruction manual was version VII/95 (this data is printed at the bottom of the front cover). Your instructions may be different. My kit also came with an addendum for non-daytime running lights cars. I have incorporated the addendum instructions here. If you have DRLs, your instructions WILL be different.

The BMW instructions aren t bad - but for those of us who do not routinely DISASSEMBLE THE ENTIRE FUSE BOX OR REMOVE THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER - they are a bit vague. I can fax you a copy of my instructions if you need it.

So here we go:

Make sure you disconnect the battery before you start. Before you do anything, read the instructions several times. Also, you should lay out the wire harnesses, compare them to the schematics in the instructions, and study the connectors. Lay out your tools. I probably spent close to an hour just planning the job the night before.

Step 1. F 36 63 014 - No deviation from BMW instructions. I recommend you tighten the 2 fan shroud screws and dab a small drop of superglue on them while you are here. One of my fan shroud screws vibrated loose, and I think it is a common problem on the ti. A bit of superglue will go unnoticed and will stop this problem.

Step 2. F 36 63 029 - Skip this step. You do not have to unhook the radiator unless you have a second auxiliary fan (Ha! Take that you 323ti owners!) and you want to follow the illustrated routing.

Step 3. F 36 63 214 - I routed the passenger side foglight wire below the radiator along the forwardmost crossmember instead of how it is shown. I did not want to tie-wrap to the A/C condenser. There are more spots for you to tie-wrap along the crossmember; it was a cleaner route.

Step 4. F 36 63 068 - This is a difficult step. If it takes you an hour just to get these 4 screws out, do not lose hope. The torx screws closest to the firewall are EXTREMELY difficult to reach. You will have to jockey around with your socket set to get good torque. The screws are about 1 long. Small hands would help. I think the fuse box is built up by a supplier and installed pre-fabbed at the factory, so BMW does not have this difficulty. Be patient. If you strip a screw, replace it or tell your dealer you found one missing and they will replace it under warranty. The dealer undoubtedly has better, specialized tools for this kind of work than we do.

Step 5. F 36 63 069 - In order to open up the fuse box, you have to remove the 3 diagnostic plugs between the fuse box and the engine block (1 is about 1 dia, the other 2 are about 2 dia). This is no problem, they are straightforward and easy to move. Move them forward and push them down so they are out of the way. Fold the top half of the fuse box over towards the engine. This will reveal a huge mass of wire and the underside of the fuse frames. Find a spot for the relay frame and snap it into the fuse box from below.

Step 6. F 36 63 215 - Skip this step. This is for cars that are at least partially prewired.

Step 7. F 36 63 216 - It is difficult to find the positive binding post in the fuse box. It is buried deep in the middle. You have to be fairly forceful. If you are slow and careful, you won t break anything.

Step 8. F 36 63 217 - This is straightforward.

Step 9. F 36 63 014 - Be careful with these delicate plastic parts. I did not break anything here, you probably won t either.

Step 10. F 36 63 218 - No deviation from BMW instructions.

Step 11. F 36 65 404 P - I always end up destroying the colored screw covers. I just replace them with new ones rather than worry about saving them. I keep a supply on hand, so you might want to order extras.

Step 12. 36 51 128 - You DO NOT need to do this. Skip this step.

Step 13. F 36 63 219 - Remove the guide at the firewall side of the fuse box. Bend coat hangar so it is a single, long U-shape. There is a hole in the firewall with many wires going through which has a foam grommet. Feed the hangar through the hole from the passenger compartment to the engine bay. Feed it through so about 6 sticks into the engine bay. Loop the wire harness through the U-shape, add tape if you want, and then pull the hangar back into the passenger compartment. Pull slow and steady and you will have no problems. Do not force anything. Adjust slack as needed.

Step 14. F 36 63 220 - No deviation from BMW instructions.

Step 15. F 36 63 221 and F 36 63 222 - Now we get down to the brass tax. You may want to consult Ron Stygar if you are interested in wiring your car so you can have foglights on with high beams. This is a perfect time to make that happen.

Cut off the connector supplied with 1 mm^2 red/white (terminal T) of the harness and cut the 2.5 mm^2 diameter red/white wire that comes out of position 2 of the K46 relay. You should cut 3-5 away from the relay to have slack for later. The K46 relay is the largest brown relay. My kit did not come with a comb-type connector. I assume you get one with Electrical System Repair Kit IV that is mentioned in the addendum - I did not look into buying the kit, realized I would probably like to have the kit once I got to this step, but then got by without it. If I did this again, I would buy the kit for correctness. Anyway, I took the 3 wires: 1 mm red/white and the 2 ends of the 2.5 mm, stripped the ends, attached good quality wire nut, and carefully taped the whole mass with electrical tape. This works fine so far - no fires or blown fuses after 1 year!!

Step 16. F 36 63 223, F 36 63 224, F 36 63 225 - Skip all these. They do not apply to the E36/5.

Step 17. No illustration - You need to plug the brown U cable into the fan connector that you built up earlier in step F 36 63 220.

Step 18. F 36 63 076 - This is straightforward: plug in the K47 relay and the fuse. Both of these came with my kit. Again, it is a bitch to get the rearmost Torx screws installed. I have no tips; just be patient and get someone with small hands and a really good socket set.

You are half done at this point.

Step 19. F 36 72 041 - Skip this step unless you really want to put your face near your airbag while you are removing the steering wheel. You don t need to do this. Removing the wheel would make life easier, but I got by without it and you may open a huge can of worms by removing it (SRS inflation, no SRS when you need it later, setting spline gears wrong, etc.)

Step 20. F 36 63 015 - If you do not care about the green foglight light on the dash, you can skip this entire step and F 36 63 083, F 36 63 226. I was tempted to do this, the green light is distracting. But it is cool and I am a perfectionist so I went ahead. Remove the two visible screws in the top of the instrument cluster. You will need a short phillips screwdriver. Before you move the cluster, tear apart an old t-shirt and cover the black plastic ledge below the cluster. You are going to be moving the cluster around a lot and you will scratch that area. TIP: If you do scratch that spot, rub it with a dab of Crest toothpaste. Get the paste kind, with fluoride, and not the gel kind. I learned this from my dad, he is one of those Corvette guys. Anyway, pull the cluster forward and tip it out on the driver s (left) side of the car. VERY carefully reach around to the back of the cluster and remove the connector (there is only 1 for the whole cluster). You need to understand how the connector works before you do this. I think these parts are really expensive and it would be REALLY bad to wreck anything. The connector has a tiny lever that you have to throw in order to unlock it. You can see the lever in F 36 63 083. The 2 is pointing right near it. The teeth in the center of the connector pull it towards the cluster and insure correct fit. It is one of the coolest connectors I have ever seen, and I work on military aircraft wiring for a living. I am sure this is one of the reasons BMWs cost so much. Once you get the connector unhooked from the cluster you are in good shape. Insert the yellow/brown wire into station 8 of the connector. When you reinstall the connector, make sure the lever is in the unlock position, push the connector onto the cluster, and throw the lever. I think it is impossible to get wrong, but you might want to test your cluster s functionality as described at http://cbsgi1.bu.edu/bmw/e36gauge.html before you button everything up.

Step 21. F 36 63 078, F 36 63 079, F 36 63 227, F 36 63 228 - Skip. Regular E36 (non-ti) only.

Step 22. F 36 63 229 - It is almost impossible to remove this cover plate (and its sister headlight trim plate) without scratching/marring something. I concentrated on marring the cover plates and keeping the black plastic surround virgin. It is cheap and easy to replace cover plates - if you scratch the black cluster surround, you WILL have to remove the steering wheel or live with the damage. My kit (obviously) came with a new fog light switch trim plate, and I replaced the headlight trim because I scratched it. I used the tip of a really sharp knife to remove these. Make sure you push up in positive Z direction and then pry outwards slowly.

Step 23. F 36 63 234 - Not easy to get at the switches. You will have to try reaching up from below the dash (all of the knee bolsters are still removed from before) and behind the cluster etc. Needlenose pliers may help.

Step 24. F 36 63 230 - You can skip this if you don t care if the fog light switch lights up. I went ahead and did it though. Again, needlenose pliers and cigarettes help.

Step 25. F 36 63 231 - Same story here. I scratched the plate when I removed it (although most people wouldn t even notice), so I replaced it with a new virgin plate a few days later. Looks perfect now.

Step 26. F 36 63 232 - Same story here as well. You have to replace the head light switch because the K46 relay needs to know if the parking lights or headlights are on in order to decide what to do with the foglights. If you wanted, you could probably figure out how to wire the fog lights to be able to come on with nothing else at this step. Wire V just needs voltage all the time. Patch into something else that is hot. My addendum stated there was an error here, so I followed the addendum and not the instructions. You need to connect V into station 11 of the switch (not 9).

Important: When you reinstall the screws behind the headlight and fog light plates, pull the black plastic cluster surround right when installing the right screw and left when installing the left screw. (i.e.: sqeeze the cluster surround and the dash together) Use firm, steady pressure. If you don t do this, white light will shine through between the surround and your dash at night. You will have to tear everything apart again, and you will scratch both cover plates again. Then you will go out and buy another set of cover plates because you can t stand imperfections like this.

It is all downhill from here.

F 36 63 002 - No deviation. You do not need to jack up the car at all here. It would make life easy, but I was too anxious to do any extra steps by this point.

F 36 63 003 - This is a poor illustration. There is 1 black plastic air duct in each wheel well. They allow cool air from the air dam to the brakes. There are no fasteners to hold them in, you just jockey them loose. If you have OBC, you will need to remove the outside temp sensor. I think it is on the driver s side duct; It is a simple connection.

F 36 63 004 - No deviation.

F 36 63 005 - No deviation.

F 36 63 006 - No deviation.

F 36 63 007 and F 36 63 008 - These brackets are tricky to get in. You do not have to remove the long screw in the brackets. Leave it in. The best way to understand how these brackets fit is to study the air dam -- there is a hole in each side of the air dam that will line up with the screw on the fog light brackets. This is for adjustment later (and a really cool design).

F 36 63 009 - This is the easiest step of the whole installation. Adjust the lamps with the adjustment screw if you have to, mine came perfectly aligned from the factory.

Reinstall everything else in reverse sequence. If you do this installation, please e-mail me. I would like to know if anyone actually reads this!

Jonathan Maddux