Issue with Spyder tail light replacements

[johanas007]

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

[Zulu95]

Check the wiring connector on your old lamp units and see if the new units are the same. I have seen reports here and elsewhere of the wiring pins in the connectors being in different holes to those on the OEM units. Simple "pop out and push into" fix if the plugs are wired differently.

[powers1]

Originally Posted by Zulu95

Check the wiring connector on your old lamp units and see if the new units are the same. I have seen reports here ans elsewhere of the wiring pins in the connectors being in different holes to those on the OEM units. Simple "pop out and push into" fix if the plugs are wired differently.

Good call Zulu95
From what the OP is saying,this is also what happens when you fit facelift tail lights on pre-facelift cars.The OP seems to have facelift tail lights!
The pin swaps are RIGHT SIDE 6 to 4. LEFT SIDE(Drivers) 1 to 3.

The dual filament bulb is the middle bulb and also works as a braking light but only on "emergency" braking.
The single filament bottom bulb is your normal braking light.As you seen,it just increases in intensity when you apply the brakes.Both bulbs should come on as sidelights when you tail lights are properly connected.

[johanas007]

Hi Zulu & Powers:

Thank you for the responses. I did some investigating and it appears that the plugs are pretty much the same, there is an additional metal pin on the OEM units (See Photos). For the male plug the OEM has metal pins in slots 2-6 and the Spyder units have metal pins in slots 2-5. Not sure what the extra plug on the OEM is for since there are only four wires going into the back of the OEM female plug.

Is there a way to make this work by modifying the new plug? I was thinking I could just pull the plug off the OEM unit and swap it out. However, when I popped the plug off of the OEM unit the metal pins that are part of the metal circuit piece that attaches to the back of the unit pulled through leaving the plug w/o any pins.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. I hate to start trying to modify these new units and end up with the same error message when I am done. Maybe I should just return them? Thoughts?

Thanks again!

[Zulu95]

Try doing a search of previous posts. I know that this issue was discussed in one or two previous posts over the last two or three years.

[powers1]

Johanas,read my post #3 again..the answer is there!
Your Spider tail lights are facelift and you need to swap the pins on the cars oem plug...NOT the tail lights.
You do this by releasing the white tabs in the pic and swapping the pins as per my post #3.Easy mate ....good luck

Bmw even do an oem connector kit to fit facelift tail lights on pre-facelift but all it does is what I shown you here.

[johanas007]

Hey Powers1:

You rock man! Your information helped me figure it out. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to release the pins but I got it. Also, my new spyder lights were positioned in 2,3,4,5 on both sides so I simply moved my OEM pin from 6 to 4 (original was 2,3,5,6). Now both middle and bottom lights come on when I turn on the lights and lower bulbs illuminate brighter when the brake is applied. Best of all, NO ERROR CODE! Thank you so much for the help man, I truly appreciate it!

Only issue now is that my lower bulb (red section below the white reverse light) in the tailgate portion does not light. My owners manual says this is a brake lamp but it doesn't light for running or brake. When I checked the plugs the Spyder male plug has three wires running into the back and three male metal pins but the OEM female plug only has two wires.

Any ideas?

[cfmistry]

Originally Posted by johanas007

Only issue now is that my lower bulb (red section below the white reverse light) in the tailgate portion does not light.
Any ideas?

That area should not light up. It is for the reverse foglights, which were not found on U.S. models. Seems like your lights are wired perfectly.

-Cyrus

[powers1]

Hi Johanas,
Glad to help when I can and pleased that you sorted it...
Your other question has already been correctly answered