Pre/Post facelift rear light confusion

[O3X5]

ohhhhh yea the 04's & up have adaptive braking, that along is a huge difference in electrical.

[Joshdub]

Originally Posted by O3X5

ohhhhh yea the 04's & up have adaptive braking, that along is a huge difference in electrical.

It's actually 03 and up that have the adaptive braking. Many of us have LED taillights with no issues, including me.

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by Joshdub

It's actually 03 and up that have the adaptive braking. Many of us have LED taillights with no issues, including me.

Change occurred at 10/03 so early 03's don't have it - late 03's do....

I didn't mean to infer that LED tails designed for pre-facelift cars won't work on facelift cars - just that unless you are handy with wires and a soldering iron (and are bloody careful!) it might be more than a mission for you. It's certainly not plug and play.

We've seen a few fried LCM (LKM) modules on this forum - although not due to the fitment of LEDS - and it's probably best to avoid cooking up your LCM (LKM).

[Lowblock]

Originally Posted by wpoll

Change occurred at 10/03 so early 03's don't have it - late 03's do....

Build date on mine is 06/03 and I have it. I know because when I went to put an aftermarket tow package I had to tap into the LCM HMBL to get the brake signal for the brake control and the Wiring harness had to be compatible with PWM so the tail/running lights on the trailer would work correctly.

[O3X5]

Originally Posted by Lowblock

Build date on mine is 06/03 and I have it. I know because when I went to put an aftermarket tow package I had to tap into the LCM HMBL to get the brake signal for the brake control and the Wiring harness had to be compatible with PWM so the tail/running lights on the trailer would work correctly.

Interesting since mine was built 3 months later yet I don't have it.

or maybe I do?

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by Lowblock

Build date on mine is 06/03 and I have it. I know because when I went to put an aftermarket tow package I had to tap into the LCM HMBL to get the brake signal for the brake control and the Wiring harness had to be compatible with PWM so the tail/running lights on the trailer would work correctly.

Turns out this is more complicated than I (or maybe anyone!) thought...

The tail light difference is dependent on the inclusion of Xenon lighting, the build date and intended market.

According to the wiring diagrams, all cars up to build date 09/01 didn't have the PWM tails. From 09/01 until 09/02 all USA cars got the "force-dependent brake light function" feature, not using the PWM feature but using an extra lamp. The rest of the world never got this configuration. From 09/02 in the USA and 10/03 in the ROW all cars got PWM tails, including the "force-dependent brake light function".

But it also looks like the "force-dependent brake light function" may have been included in the ROW Xenon package when it was selected as an option, so even though the wiring diagrams indicated that no ROW car had PWM tails until 10/03 and all USA cars had it from 09/02, I'm pretty sure there are exceptions.

At any rate, there are at least twelve different tail light wiring configurations!

USA Halogen - 09/99 - 09/01
USA Xenon - 09/99 - 09/01
USA Halogen - 09/01 - 09/02
USA Xenon - 09/01 - 09/02
USA Halogen - 09/02 - 10/03
USA Xenon - 09/02 - 10/03
USA Halogen - 10/03 - ??/06
USA Xenon - 10/03 - ??/06
ROW Halogen - 09/99 - 10/03
ROW Xenon - 09/99 - 10/03
ROW Halogen - 10/03 - ??/06
ROW Xenon - 10/03 - ??/06

All bets are off!!!