I kept having an issue with bulbs burning out and the error message on the dash of my 2003 BMW X5 4.6is so I decided to buy some after market tail lights and ordered the Spyder BMW E53 X5 00-05 4 piece set (SPYDER BMW E53 X5 00-05 Tail lights (4pcs) - Red Clear :: Tail Lights :: Lights & Lighting :: carpart4u.com) hoping this would fix the issue. These are the non LED units. They told me that I would be able to use the OEM bulbs for the new housing units.

I installed the new units and have a few issues. After going down to the BMW dealership and getting nowhere fast I thought I would try my good pals on Xoutpost as you guys seem to know more than they do.

First issue is that the middle bulb on each outside (body panel) light assembly does not come on at all. When I turn the car on and turn the lights on the bottom bulb on each outside assembly comes on and when I hit the brake the same lights get more intense/brighter. The guys at BMW could not tell me what the middle bulb does or is for. There was also a debate among them where one guy was saying that the middle bulb is a double filament and the bottom is a single filament but the parts guy looked it up and said both bulbs are (middle & bottom) the same, single filament. Anyone have a clue as to the correct bulbs for these two spots?

Second issue is that while all bulbs seem to work fine (except middle bulb mentioned above) running, brake, reverse, turn signals, I am still getting the "Check rear lights" error message. This is driving me absolutely crazy and my OCD is in full mode now.

If anyone has installed a pair of these units or has other input I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance for your help!

John