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Car Forum / BMW Cars / October 2008E46 intermittent rear bulb failure
The warning light indicating a failure of the rear bulb keepings coming on every now and then. This has been going on for a couple of months. The bulbs are all fine and all the lights seem to be working OK. The contacts looks good, too. The dealer said there's a known issue with the wiring and it requires that the car be rewired. The estimate was about $500-$600 range with parts and labor. Has anyone else had this problem? Any other suggestions for what I can check? The car is a 2003 325i with 123K miles. Anoop > The warning light indicating a failure of the rear bulb keepings > coming on every now and then. This has been going on for a [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > it requires that the car be rewired. The estimate was about > $500-$600 range with parts and labor. Get another dealer. > Has anyone else had this problem? Any other suggestions > for what I can check? > > The car is a 2003 325i with 123K miles. Make sure you have OEM stainless bulbs; if you haven't already replaced them, do so anyway. Also, try some electrical contact cleaner (if you haven't already) on both socket and bulb. FloydR BRAKE LIGHT CIRCUIT ERROR is caused by the brake light switch mounted to the brake pedal. I repaired mine, but you can buy a new one for about ten dollars. I backed my car to a window so I could see the brake lights as I worked the pedal. The lights worked fine even when the error message was coming up. I could turn my car off then on again to clear the message, and it might or might not come up again. The randomness of the error is a sign of a dirty switch contact. > The warning light indicating a failure of the rear bulb keepings > coming on every now and then. This has been going on for a [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Anoop > The warning light indicating a failure of the rear bulb keepings > coming on every now and then. This has been going on for a [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Anoop I also had this problem. In fact, it has been discussed here lots of times. My treatment was first to clean the bulbs and sockets with electrical cleaner. Secondly, I applied a generous amount of conductive grease to the bulbs. I obtained this fix from my dealer. Both of these items are on sale at auto parts houses. Pep Boys didn't have them, but Auto Nation did. An indepemdent shop told me that they have fixed the problem by replacing the housing. If you don't understand how to replace the housing, you won't be able to do the other fix either. Jim > The warning light indicating a failure of the rear bulb keepings > coming on every now and then. This has been going on for a [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Anoop There is a known problem with E46 rear light grounding. There's a kit available from the dealer for about $30. If the connector hasn't melted yet you can just run a good ground to each rear light. For more info, see: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=533309&highlight=melted+tail+light  SignatureJRE > There is a known problem with E46 rear light grounding. There's a kit > available from the dealer for about $30. If the connector hasn't melted > yet you can just run a good ground to each rear light. > > For more info, see:http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=533309&highlight=melted... Thanks for all the replies. And yes, I did repost because of problems with google...when the post didn't show up for a while, I assumed I must've done something wrong and reposted...it's only when that didn't appear that I figured there was a problem. FWIW, the connectors on my car are fine. Also, the service person at the dealer told me the kit was $200-$300 plus a similar amount for labor. I'll check with them about the $30 kit. I'm a bit upset with BMW, though. If all of these are known issues, they should be addressing them during warranty. Anoop In article <7aadda57-4a59-4c31-8adb-a3acffa347c9@x16g2000prn.googlegroups.com>, > FWIW, the connectors on my car are fine. Also, the service person > at the dealer told me the kit was $200-$300 plus a similar amount > for labor. I'll check with them about the $30 kit. Wiring itself very rarely gives problems - except where it is flexed like to a boot lid etc. So it is likely to be a connector problem. Could be connector to connector or wire to connector if the crimping has been badly done. > I'm a bit upset with BMW, though. If all of these are known issues, > they should be addressing them during warranty. I'd not place any faith on what a dealer says. They often just say the first thing that comes into their head to justify spending *your* money. Signature*Why are they called apartments, when they're all stuck together? * Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. >> There is a known problem with E46 rear light grounding. There's a kit >> available from the dealer for about $30. If the connector hasn't melted [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Anoop They might be assuming worst-case, with both connectors and both taillight bulb holders fried, but even then it sounds a bit more than I'd expect. Maybe they planned to replace the entire rear harness or something. The problems on our two E46s did not surface under warranty, and it's even possible that BMW did not identify the problem as a common one until after the vast majority of regular (non-CPO) E46 warranties had expired. Anyway, good luck. SignatureJRE >The warning light indicating a failure of the rear bulb keepings >coming on every now and then. This has been going on for a >couple of months. The bulbs are all fine and all the lights seem >to be working OK. The contacts looks good, too. I have the same issue with my 89 325i, except that I get intermittent check/warning lights for the rear brake lights, rear lights AND license plate lights, and the right turn signal runs very rapidly. But all the lights appear to be operational, and I've cleaned the turn signal bulbs and connectors. Could this be an instrument cluster issue? Thanks, > In article > <bfc51b03-7f5d-4ef5-bc63-a9c71c753d27@p10g2000prf.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Thanks, I thought that the problem might be an instrument cluster issue. However, after I put lots of conductive grease around the bulbs, the problem went away. Jim >>The warning light indicating a failure of the rear bulb keepings >>coming on every now and then. This has been going on for a [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > >Could this be an instrument cluster issue? No, it's more likely either a wiring problem (grounding issues are popular) with the rear bulb assembly or with the current relay box in back that detects lamps being out. The relay box often gets cold solder joints in it, and the system is sensitive enough that very small current differences can cause false alarms even when it's working fine. If the right turn signal runs very rapidly, though, you DEFINITELY have a problem there that you need to fix. Check all the lamps, front and back, as well as the connectors. --scott Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." >>I have the same issue with my 89 325i, except that I get intermittent >>check/warning lights for the rear brake lights, rear lights AND license [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >problem there that you need to fix. Check all the lamps, front and back, >as well as the connectors. Thanks - I'll give this and the conductive grease suggestions a try. Does the fact that this happened initially more in cold/wet weather point more to a problem with the rear bulb assembly? >"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." All I could afford was a 15ips Akai ... >>>I have the same issue with my 89 325i, except that I get intermittent >>>check/warning lights for the rear brake lights, rear lights AND license [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >>"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." >All I could afford was a 15ips Akai ... Have a look at where the bulb makes contact. On early E38 models they used a zinc galvanizing process on steel for the contacts when it should have been copper or similar material and this eventually burnt and arced if the bulb was loose or could move and create a spark. this usually failed within 2 years and it is a known problem. On the E38 it was swapped out under warranty but the new ones still failed due to burnt contacts. I repaired both my sets of lights by using some copper strip silver soldered to the steel used for tracks after carefully removing the affected strips from the plastic lamp unit. SignatureSir Hugh of Bognor The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys. Intelligence is not knowing the answer but knowing where and how to find it! Hugh Gundersen hsg@h-gee.co.uk Bognor Regis, W.Sussex, England, UK >>If the right turn signal runs very rapidly, though, you DEFINITELY have a >>problem there that you need to fix. Check all the lamps, front and back, >>as well as the connectors. > >Thanks - I'll give this and the conductive grease suggestions a try. I think the original poster meant nonconductive grease. Ask your FLAPS for "dielectric grease" and get the biggest tube you can find. >Does the fact that this happened initially more in cold/wet weather >point more to a problem with the rear bulb assembly? No, because the front bulb assembly is also exposed. Put the key in, turn the turn signal on, and go around pulling connectors and bulbs out and putting them back in until you find the thing that causes the flashing rate to change when you wiggle it. While you are at it, spray Cramolin or DeOxit or something similar on all the connections, and pack them with the grease so they don't become corroded in the future. >>"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." >All I could afford was a 15ips Akai ... I am sorry to say that I once bought out a Roberts factory service shop and I still have cabinets full of spare parts for those things in storage somewhere. --scott Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
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