What is it with German Tailights in the US

On Wed, 4 Jan 2006, Ed White wrote:

> Is there something special about German vehicle tailights that make them
> susceptible to variations in brightness? Now that winter is here I spent
> a lot more time driving in traffic in the dark. It seems to me that a
> relatively large percentage of German cars (particualrly VWs and BMWs)
> have miss-matched taillights. By this I mean the running lights on one
> side of the vehicle are significantly brighter than the other.

If what you're seeing is brake lamp intensity on the left side and
taillamp intensity on the right side, even when the driver isn't applying
the brakes, it's mostly because idiot US drivers don't know when to use
(and when NOT to use) their rear fog lamp. So, seeing a switch with an
indicator light, they turn it on, reasoning "I don't know what this is,
but I must've paid for it, so I'm gonna use it! Ahyuck!" Same reasoning
gets applied to front fog lamps, which get left in the "on" position all
the time. Since the rear fog switch is usually daisychained to the front
fog switch, you see lots of German vehicles (plus Jaguars, plus Range
Reauvahs, plus last-generation Olds Auroras, plus Volvos and some Saabs)
running around with front and rear fogs ablaze full time. Some of these
(e.g. Jag, Olds, Reauvah) have *dual* rear fogs, left and right. Looks
like the driver's riding the brake.

If what you're seeing is random (sometimes brighter on the left, sometimes
on the right), then it's probably just bulb misapplication. There are
still European-vehicle dealers (not to mention the aftermarket) selling
brass-base American-type bulbs such as 1157, 67, 97, etc. where
European-type nickelplate-base bulbs such as P21/5W, R5W, R10W etc. are
called for. The US-type bulbs cause eventual problems in sockets intended
for the European-type bulbs. Also, some European vehicles specify an R10W
taillamp bulb, but an R5W (which is considerably dimmer) fits the same
socket and looks identical, so misapplication is easy. The reverse of this
situation (R5W called for, R10W installed) is equally possible.

> And I am not talking about old clunkers, I have seen several virtually
> brand new BMWs with very significant differences in apparent brightness
> from side to side.

The most likely explanation is the rear-fog one.

DS

"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
> On Wed, 4 Jan 2006, Ed White wrote:
>
>> Is there something special about German vehicle tailights that make them
>> susceptible to variations in brightness? Now that winter is here I spent
>> a lot more time driving in traffic in the dark. It seems to me that a
>> relatively large percentage of German cars (particualrly VWs and BMWs)
>> have miss-matched taillights. By this I mean the running lights on one
>> side of the vehicle are significantly brighter than the other.
>
> If what you're seeing is brake lamp intensity on the left side and
> taillamp intensity on the right side, even when the driver isn't applying
> the brakes, it's mostly because idiot US drivers don't know when to use
> (and when NOT to use) their rear fog lamp. So, seeing a switch with an
> indicator light, they turn it on, reasoning "I don't know what this is,
> but I must've paid for it, so I'm gonna use it! Ahyuck!" Same reasoning
> gets applied to front fog lamps, which get left in the "on" position all
> the time. Since the rear fog switch is usually daisychained to the front
> fog switch, you see lots of German vehicles (plus Jaguars, plus Range
> Reauvahs, plus last-generation Olds Auroras, plus Volvos and some Saabs)
> running around with front and rear fogs ablaze full time. Some of these
> (e.g. Jag, Olds, Reauvah) have *dual* rear fogs, left and right. Looks
> like the driver's riding the brake.

You have to slam U.S. every where you can? Where do you live? Canada? You
are posting through university of michigan, so the U.S. education is ok? but
everything else is stupid and idiotic? Walking hypocrisy.

And to answer the OP question, the rear taillights on newer imports (and
some domestics) are LED. Depending on how you look at the LED (your viewing
angle to the LED), it can look brighter or dimmer.

On Wed, 4 Jan 2006, Dan J.S. wrote:

>> If what you're seeing is brake lamp intensity on the left side and
>> taillamp intensity on the right side, even when the driver isn't
>> applying the brakes, it's mostly because idiot US drivers don't know
>> when to use (and when NOT to use) their rear fog lamp. So, seeing a
>> switch with an indicator light, they turn it on, reasoning "I don't
>> know what this is, but I must've paid for it, so I'm gonna use it!
>> Ahyuck!" Same reasoning gets applied to front fog lamps, which get left
>> in the "on" position all the time. Since the rear fog switch is usually
>> daisychained to the front fog switch, you see lots of German vehicles
>> (plus Jaguars, plus Range Reauvahs, plus last-generation Olds Auroras,
>> plus Volvos and some Saabs) running around with front and rear fogs
>> ablaze full time. Some of these (e.g. Jag, Olds, Reauvah) have *dual*
>> rear fogs, left and right. Looks like the driver's riding the brake.
>
> You have to slam U.S. every where you can?

It's the same situation in Canada, so my comments apply equally to
bubbleheaded Canadian drivers. There, happy?

> And to answer the OP question, the rear taillights on newer imports (and
> some domestics) are LED. Depending on how you look at the LED (your
> viewing angle to the LED), it can look brighter or dimmer.

Yes, LEDs' angular intensity gradient is higher than that of most filament
lamp-equipped bulbs, but no, that is not the effect the OP is noticing.
From any angle at which both left and right taillamps are visible, even
LED taillamps' intensity will not appear significantly different.

> You have to slam U.S. every where you can?

I'd be right there with you if 95% of the cars I encounter on the road
didn't have their damn fog lights on.

"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
> On Wed, 4 Jan 2006, Ed White wrote:
>
>> Is there something special about German vehicle tailights that make them
>> susceptible to variations in brightness? Now that winter is here I spent
>> a lot more time driving in traffic in the dark. It seems to me that a
>> relatively large percentage of German cars (particualrly VWs and BMWs)
>> have miss-matched taillights. By this I mean the running lights on one
>> side of the vehicle are significantly brighter than the other.

With a poorly tuned diesel, soot will coat one of the tail lights (on the
exhaust side) changing the relative brightness.

"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
> On Wed, 4 Jan 2006, Ed White wrote:

> The most likely explanation is the rear-fog one.

Ahhhh. I bet you are right, especially if the rear fog lights come on with
the front ones. It seems to me that most BMW owners (and SUV owners
and....owners) fell the need to announce their presence by turning on as
many lights as possible.

Thanks.

Ed

In article >, Dan J.S. wrote:

> You have to slam U.S. every where you can?

Are you going to try to deny the **** poor US lighting regs and the fact
there are tons of morons driving around with fog lamps on?

> And to answer the OP question, the rear taillights on newer imports (and
> some domestics) are LED. Depending on how you look at the LED (your viewing
> angle to the LED), it can look brighter or dimmer.

I have noticed the same thing as the OP. However, I've learned enough to
tell what is what on these cars and daniel is correct, it's rear fogs
and obvious bulb misapplication.

Of course my favorite was the SUV I saw with Amber _brake_ signals and
red _turn_ signals.

On Wed, 4 Jan 2006, Dan J.S. wrote:

>> If what you're seeing is brake lamp intensity on the left side and
>> taillamp intensity on the right side, even when the driver isn't
>> applying the brakes, it's mostly because idiot US drivers don't know
>> when to use (and when NOT to use) their rear fog lamp. So, seeing a
>> switch with an indicator light, they turn it on, reasoning "I don't
>> know what this is, but I must've paid for it, so I'm gonna use it!
>> Ahyuck!" Same reasoning gets applied to front fog lamps, which get left
>> in the "on" position all the time.

> You have to slam U.S. every where you can?

So sorry to offend your delicate little sensibilities. Here, let me make
it allllll better for you:

AMERICA! AMERICA! RAH-RAH-RAH! YEAH, WOOOOOO! YEAH! YOO-ESS-AYY!
YOO-ESS-AYY! WE'RE NUMBER ONE! WOOOOO! YEAH! WE'RE RIGHT AND THE STUPID
REST OF THE WORLD IS WRONG! PAX AMERICANA! YOO-ESS-AYY! FOUR MORE YEARS!
WOOOOOOOOOO!


DS

"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...

>
> If what you're seeing is random (sometimes brighter on the left, sometimes
> on the right), then it's probably just bulb misapplication. There are
> still European-vehicle dealers (not to mention the aftermarket) selling
> brass-base American-type bulbs such as 1157, 67, 97, etc. where
> European-type nickelplate-base bulbs such as P21/5W, R5W, R10W etc. are
> called for. The US-type bulbs cause eventual problems in sockets intended
> for the European-type bulbs. Also, some European vehicles specify an R10W
> taillamp bulb, but an R5W (which is considerably dimmer) fits the same
> socket and looks identical, so misapplication is easy. The reverse of this
> situation (R5W called for, R10W installed) is equally possible.
>
>> And I am not talking about old clunkers, I have seen several virtually
>> brand new BMWs with very significant differences in apparent brightness
>> from side to side.
>
> The most likely explanation is the rear-fog one.

I think the most likely issue is the use of the improper bulb, the correct
european style (7506, 7528) part numbers are a couple of bucks more
than the incorrect (1156, 1157) part numbers, and it never
ceases to amaze me how stupidly cheap people get when
confronted with a choice.

Bernard

Daniel J. Stern wrote:

> On Wed, 4 Jan 2006, Dan J.S. wrote:

>> You have to slam U.S. every where you can?

> So sorry to offend your delicate little sensibilities. Here, let me make
> it allllll better for you:
>
> AMERICA! AMERICA! RAH-RAH-RAH! YEAH, WOOOOOO! YEAH! YOO-ESS-AYY!
> YOO-ESS-AYY! WE'RE NUMBER ONE! WOOOOO! YEAH! WE'RE RIGHT AND THE STUPID
> REST OF THE WORLD IS WRONG! PAX AMERICANA! YOO-ESS-AYY! FOUR MORE YEARS!
> WOOOOOOOOOO!

Mais au moins ils ne sont pas français