Nerd'n out details on driving lights

[conkitchen]

When one can get their hands on a car that is first, a one owner car and two mostly untouched for 3 decades, the fun begins in seeing how it looked back in the day. 

 

Whilst I have seen other cars with a 4th relay in the location of the 3 factory ones. I have not seen one which appears to be an adjunct with cloth tape, same relay type with same plastic socket, plus having color coded wires that match the wiring diagram.  

 

I tend to believe this was "ordered" and likely was installed by a BMW dealer.  The driving lights are Cibie (clearly aftermarket) and have the metal frame protection bar bolted to the underside of the bumper.  

 

Maybe it was a "kit" from a dealer? The harness runs to the dash pull switch and is wired into the accessory plug that powers up when the lights are on.  

 

Anyways, Nerd out! 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 08:03 PM by conkitchen

[Mike Self]

On roundies, if you look carefully just aft of the big round horn relay (between it and the brake fluid reservoir) you'll notice a small, unused hole.  That's to accommodate an identical big round relay for the factory kit driving/fog lights.  The two relays share a common screw hole between 'em. 

 

I installed a driving light not too long after buying my '69, and when I bought a 110 watt -rated relay to match the horn relay (overdrive relay for a Volvo P-1800) discovered the relay's bracket fit that hole perfectly.  It wasn't until much later that I found out that it was that hole's function.  Unfortunately those big round relays have been NLA for a long time--even from Volvo.  Both mine are still functioning, though.  And if you're patient, you can remove the cover and clean the points inside--the usually reason for relay failure.

 

mike

[Conserv]

The relay socket was available at my local BMW dealership in the 1970’s. I don’t think it was exclusively an ‘02 part. And it wasn’t quite identical to the three original sockets. The socket’s one notable difference from the factory-installed relay sockets: the inner-fender-facing side of the socket lacked a slot that would allow it’s engine-facing side to sit flush with the relay bracket. So, the new fourth relay stood slightly proud of the rack, but not dramatically so.

 

If you added auxiliary lights, you considered this approach. My ‘76 and your ‘74 were not, by any means, the only ‘02’s to acquire this discrete period upgrade.

 

Below, my ‘76, still sporting its factory-appearing auxiliary light installation.

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

[John76]

On 9/22/2024 at 10:36 AM, conkitchen said:

the metal frame protection bar bolted to the underside of the bumper.  

Driving lights mounted underneath the bumper??

Fog lights belong down there. to see the road under the fog.  Drivers should be mounted  above the bumper for distance vision.

[Conserv]

5 hours ago, John76 said:

Driving lights mounted underneath the bumper??

Fog lights belong down there. to see the road under the fog.  Drivers should be mounted  above the bumper for distance vision.

And in 1975-76, at minimum, BMW sold the under-bumper fog light guards. They were intended for rectangular fog lights — the more common shape for under-bumper fog lights — and BMW was simultaneously offering Hella fog lamps (or were they Bosch?) that fit the light guards perfectly.

 

When you add in the square taillight “Front Fog Lights” pull switch, which replaced the factory dummy knob, you had a de facto do-it-yourself fog light kit. So, yes, there was a sort of kit, albeit served a la carte!

 

Best regards,

 

Steve