''Check Taillights'' warning

[Ottoman]

I bought a set of smoked LED taillights from ebay and made the installation last night. The brake lights, turn signals work fine but the running lights do not work and there is a ''Check Taillights'' warning on the dashboard.

I tried to seach the forum but couldn't find any solution. I would very much appreciate if anybody can help me.

Thanks.

[X5Flyboy]

this is a problem with 2000-early2003 X5 - from what I've heard from Umnitza - they have been trying to develope their own LED taillights for the E53 and have been getting the same error messages - I talked with them 11/07-3/08 - since then, they may have solved the problem, as I have not followed up on it since then - I've been having a similar problem trying to upgrade my audio in my 2001 - seems BMW redid the electrical system late 2003, so earlier models aren't compatible with modern electronics - I am in the planning stages of removing the nav unit and replacing everything with an Alpine system so I can get dvd nav, HD radio, Sirius, iPod, and Bluetooth - none of which any of my dealers are willing to do

[zacman]

Flyboy.. I did a Full alpine/ bsw/ kicker Audio swap out in the X... defintately go with the double din head unit,I have a Kenwood DDX touch screen dvd, mp3, navigation, ipod control, HDradio...ect ect...... but be sure that where ever you have this done is familiar with BMW's and also be advised that once you remove your factory radio, you will not be able to change your computer settings... ie DRL's, Auto door lock once in drive ect ect, so how ever you want it to be set up.. you cant change it once you pull the stock radio, unless you pull the aftermarket one and temp. hook up the factory unit to program. Dont let that stop you, just FYI

[X5Flyboy]

Originally Posted by zacman

Flyboy.. I did a Full alpine/ bsw/ kicker Audio swap out in the X... defintately go with the double din head unit,I have a Kenwood DDX touch screen dvd, mp3, navigation, ipod control, HDradio...ect ect...... but be sure that where ever you have this done is familiar with BMW's and also be advised that once you remove your factory radio, you will not be able to change your computer settings... ie DRL's, Auto door lock once in drive ect ect, so how ever you want it to be set up.. you cant change it once you pull the stock radio, unless you pull the aftermarket one and temp. hook up the factory unit to program. Dont let that stop you, just FYI

Thanks! am headed down to my dealer today(Fri) to find out if bypassing the OEM radio will give an error message and to find out where the GPS antenna is located - also going to ask the BMW mechanic if he's willing to work with the installer (yeah, I have THAT good of a relationship the Idaho Falls dealership) - Though I may chicken out and leave the nav in and just work everything off the aux input (Alpine has another alternative hookup)

I figured that I would lose all the onboard computer access by ripping out the nav screen - scary! - but I rarely use them

Will I still get error messages from the sensors thru the screen above the steering wheel????

[Ottoman]

Is there anybody that can really help me? Except those two ^^ that post irrelevant info about their radio.

[X5Flyboy]

As I stated earlier, if you have an early model 2003, you are going to get error messages trying to add "new" electronics - I, too, am trying to find solutions to this - BMW has been no help - alot of aftermarket suppliers don't want anything to do with our early model cars - so far there is no solution - you may not like the answer I've posted, but our discussion about the radio is directly related to your(our) problem - if you discover someone with a solution, then there are alot of us here that would also like to hear about it - by widening the scope of the subject, I was trying to bring in others who may have had better results than I have - if that pissed you off, well..., life's not fair.

[Bimmer4125]

Hey Ottoman -

I posted this problem a while ago too - I have the LED tail lamps in my 2004 4.4 - I get no warning messages and the brake lights work fine but the running lights flicker. I was told by a friend knowledgable in auto electronics and LED emergency lighting that the system needs a capacitor installed to regulate the power supplied to the LED assembly. This means nothing to me since I am semi-retarded when it comes to anything more than installing KC's on a Jeep - I am awaiting more advice and will post it when I get it.

[ZsX5o3]

any recommendations on where to buy stealthbulbs? I also have a tail light bulb out and want to get rid of the yellow while I'm at it.

[Weasel]

Ottoman, the problem is that the oem running lights are single filiment bulbs that are actuated from dim running lights to brighter brake light by the lights module adjusting the voltage output to the bulb. Simply put the running light voltage supplied to that circuit of the tail light is just a hair too low to run the LED's that are supposed to run at 12 volts.

I knew about this problem, so to clean/mean up my truck's tail lights, I just ended up using the VHT spray smoke tint. Its available in blake smoke tint, and red tint if you just want to get rid of the yellow. Just be careful when spraying it, its prone to runs if you're not overly careful when spraying.

[primetime]

MrBMWx5 has had his LED tails on his 2001 X for 2 years and has had no problems. So I'm not sure but perhaps the different aftermarket LED manufacturers have something to do with it as well.