i ordered the parts from the BMW of Fairfax over the weekend, about $30 worth of parts including the bulb holders and the bulbs themselves... Once the parts are on hands, I will complete the wiring and install the lights, then we'll see what's up...

couple days ago I saw an X3 on I-95 northbound and something caught my eye: when the dude was braking, his right brake light and the high brake light were illuminating as expected but instead of the left brake light, he had his left rear fog light come on as a brake light... which makes me think, that his left brake bulb was burnt and the LCM had a failsafe program which illuminated the rear fog light on the defective side...

to test this theory and to see if the X5 operates same or similar, once the fogs are installed, I will try to take a brake bulb out to simulate burnt light, and see if the fog will come on or not...