Z4-forum.com

Has anyone ever attempted to refurb their fog lights??
Im attempting it as I hate paying for things that can hopefuly be repaired!
Heres the start, ive removed the plastic fronts from the corroded rear housing



Now i need to find a ways of removing all corrosion & paint from the housings. Anyone got any ideas???
I was thinking of getin them lightly shot blasted, but hopefuly ill find a cheaper way

very interested to see the results on this

have you got a photo to show all the parts, e.g. bulb housing and other parts? I am thinking of doing something similar (if is possible).

that is the main part of the fogs. There is a plastic surround which holds them in place which i havent pictured and thats really it.
This pic shows the back part (white/shiney bits) and the front plastic glass. The bulb housing in the back part if you get what i mean?
I think thats the problem, they corroded from the outside and start lifting the chrome paint then it makes its way onto the inside under the paint.

snap. my images look identical

Take a look at my fog light project refurb and mod write up here:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic ... er#p404046

You can get them re-silvered but it isnt worth the expense so i tried something different

fatmikey wrote: I think thats the problem, they corroded from the outside and start lifting the chrome paint then it makes its way onto the inside under the paint.

The fog light failure discussion comes up a lot on here most people blame the seals failing. but from my experience stripping them down that is wrong and it is corrosion as you too have said

Although i thought it might be condensation puddling inside that was the source of the corrosion

With the warm weather my foggy-ness has all but gone, and I was looking at them just an hour ago thinking a) now I can see the corrosion through the lense they look worse, and b) whether I could fix them. I shall do some reading of threads and may even join in !

One question, assuming this would take more than a day and i need to drive mine every day, can you drive the car without the fog lights, or would you need to block the holes in the bumper off ?

Bing wrote: One question, assuming this would take more than a day and i need to drive mine every day, can you drive the car without the fog lights, or would you need to block the holes in the bumper off ?

Fog lights are not a legal requirement so i cant see why you couldnt whip them off. would probably be worth covering and securing the wires.

From my experience, the more corroded they are the easier they are to split. the corroded part comes away easily. however the part where the seal is still well attached is a bit of a fight.

But yes, it will take a little time to split, strip, paint - or whatever you come up with!

thanks for posting that thread! can i ask how you cleaned up all the corrosion from the housings??

think im going to try painting the insides silver & refitting the original bulbs. I hardly use my fogs anyway so im not bothered about them really working, as long as they pass an MOT!

Splitting the fogs was a pain in the arse, but with a bit of patience and alot of heating the fogs with a heat gun they finaly split!

My fogs are currently out with the connectors for them covered in insulation tape to stop water getting in them and they are fine, as long as you dont turn the fogs on you wont get a bulb warning light on

rite so ive got a little further with the refurb. Ive removed most of the corrosion from one fog, its probably took 1 hour 20 mins in total using 3 different wire wheels on a drill.



heres the first fog from the front



and then from the rear



got the second one to do over the next few days too so will post pics up when its done

Looking good. I've got my old, corroded set sitting in the garage so could well follow your lead on a refurb. It looks like it could be a useful job for my Dremel.

Did you ever finish this mate? Thinking about refurbing mine at the weekend.

It would be interesting to know

andysat wrote:It would be interesting to know

I think trying to refurbish them could be regarded as a challenge.

Lillywhite wrote:

andysat wrote:It would be interesting to know

I think trying to refurbish them could be regarded as a challenge.

i didnt finish them in the end, i got the inside part in primer then a Z4 M bumper came up on ebay and i had to buy it.

They will get finished at some point, but its now very low on my priority list

Mike