License plate light

[net2net69]

Have one of the two lights working, the other is not and it is not the bulb. Any ideas on why this may not be working? Had to relpace a tail light assembly recently because of a bad ckt board for a bad tail light so Im thinking I may have to replace the back door for this license plate light. LOL ANy help here is appreciated.

[MSUSaul]

i had the same problem. water corrosion cause the wire assembly to not function. i simply cut the bad part of wires and connection and the bulb worked. i did it for 2 dollars. the dealer wanted to replace the whole wire harness back there.

[UCrewX5]

You don't reference what year your X5 is, but the pre-2002 models had a design that just invited water to attack, thus the corrosion referenced by MSUSaul. There are 4 screws holding the license plate light bar in place, simply remove those 4 screws and inspect the wiring and the bar itself. The problem should be pretty self-evident.

Myself, I replaced my bar on my 2001 with one from a newer X5. It's a much better design and I now never have any issues with the license plate lights.

[Bimmer4125]

My 2004 4.4 had (has) the same issue. Light assembly was rusted out and the dealer replaced the whole light assembly and painted to match the vehicle color. It worked for about 4 months and is now doing it again. I removed the clear plate light lens and water dripped right out of the assembly so I imagine that I will be getting it replaced again. My question is - where the hell is the water getting in and how is it getting in so far that it is f#$king up the wiring harness?

[net2net69]

thanks i will try that and see how that works. Makes sense.

[net2net69]

I hAVE A 2004 x5 4.8 that is having this problem. I will try it but it may be the light bar. Where can I find a used light bar?

[mrmcreynolds]

I have a 2003 4.6 X5 that has the same problem. The wiring harness did not appear to be rusted. After many hours of messing I elected to drill two small holes in the light/trunk button bar. I had to go with two because I had already ran a wire to one side of the metal contacts into the light. There are 4 wires that contact to the bar.

Black/Gray for the left license light
Brown - Power
Yellow/Grey for the Trunk Lid Button
Brown/Gray for the right license light

I tapped into the Brown Power Wire and tied another wire back to the Brown/Gray wire so I wouldn’t have the error display.

[X5Dawg]

Originally Posted by UCrewX5

You don't reference what year your X5 is, but the pre-2002 models had a design that just invited water to attack, thus the corrosion referenced by MSUSaul. There are 4 screws holding the license plate light bar in place, simply remove those 4 screws and inspect the wiring and the bar itself. The problem should be pretty self-evident.

Myself, I replaced my bar on my 2001 with one from a newer X5. It's a much better design and I now never have any issues with the license plate lights.

My 2001 (pre-2002) has two separate bulbs (no "bar") that uliminates the license plate. It also has no screws - plastic tab holds each cover in place.

But sorry, I have no experience with this issue.