number plate light unit broke, replacement unit different?

[JonbmwX5]

hi guys, my 2oo1 x5 e53 3.0l petrol mot is on tues of next week, it should pass except one little problem..... well turning into a bigger problem. the number plate light unit on the tailgate has broke. all the wires have worn threw and its passed repairable ( i tried and took it to a few auto electric places but no luck) o well i would just get a new unit so phoned up main stealer and £109.99 and extra £60 to paint it so emailed lots of people on ebay and only one reply £70 including delivery and its black so i bought it (same colour)

anyway i have just tried to fit it and its looks the same but the connection is different (pins) i think the new unit has come off the facelift 2003? x5 so it doesnt just plug in like i thought

so the mrs took the car to bmw stealer and they ordered a numberplate repair kit, and seems to think it will sort out the problem (arrives monday) cutting it fine

so my question is, can you fit a facelift number plate light unit to a pre face lift x5 ???

i currently has 4 wires hanging out the back as the connect unit had worn away, can i put a facelift connecter on the end and juts plug the new unit it?

cheers Jon

[civdiv99]

Mine flaked out on the passenger side bulb wouldn't light and was good bulb, and all cleaned up bulb sockets, etc. Tested the unit that holds the bulb and had no continuity through it to the passenger side bulb. I didn't care but the dash message was annoying. The problem was internal - corrosion maybe? What I did was take the unit off, drill a very small hole directly behind the passenger side of the license plate assembly (in other words, is not visible, like the original hole on the driver's side is not visible). I put in a rubber grommet, and fed wire through the hole and internal in the liftgate over to the other hole - so maybe 8 inches or so. Tight working, but I soldered the new power wires to the original ones and soldered them directly to the applicable metal bulb-mounting points (from the back side) of that passenger side. Re-assemble and has been all good.

You said your wires wore through? I'm not picturing that and I'd think you'd toss a fuse straight away in that case. However, if you have the option of tying into the feed wires inside the tailgate, join additional to them and feed out through original hole plus a new access hole behind the passenger-side light, you can solder directly to the metal bulb socket points and be all good for about $3. (grommet and some heat shrink.)

[nrigroom]

civdiv99, you just gave me an idea on how to fix the same exact problem I am experiencing on my X3. I was actually trying to take out the handle grip (also known as light bar) out of the finisher trim to dissect things further, but drilling the hole and hard wiring will work. I couldn't get the handle grip out (I posted a message about this on the X3 forum). X5 design may be different but it seems the solution is the same, short of replacing the $70 grip. I did not get a light on the dash however...looks like the X5 is more heavily instrumented.

Question - where did you get the rubber grommets?

[civdiv99]

The license plate light thingy on the E53 is just a painted trim piece held on with a couple of screws - like, well, a light fixture ('cause that's all it is). It has 2 bulbs over the license plate - one on the left, and one on the right, relatively speaking. Because of the design, you really can't thread wires through from the driver's side of it where the connections are internally to the passenger side light bulb socket. (well, I couldn't, but I wasn't about to make a career out of the thing). I don't know what it's problem was - cleaning the bulb contacts with a pencil eraser usually works well if there's some surface crap, but in this case, multimeter showed it didn't have 12v on the passenger side at all. Dunno what connections may have been buried in there but was easier and quicker to drill a small hole, grommet it, and tie both sides together.

Grommets? We got this local hardware store - locally owned place - is one of those that has aisles upon aisle of interesting stuff, and a whole section of those little multi-compartment boxes you pull out, open up, and make yer selection.

However, unless I'm mistaken, even places like maybe an Ace and perhaps similar have a selection of less-than-mainstream fasteners and stuff, where you pull out the box/tray, open the lid, and fill your baggie. This place, and I'm sure other stores, all kinds of stuff like o-rings, grommets, bushings, nylon odds and ends, etc.

Note to SkidmarkX5 => I'm talkin' 'bout C&H here.

[nrigroom]

Well just finished the project and it seems to work so far. Not sure how long its gonna last. Drilled two small holes, one in each bulb socket and hard-wired the bulb holders using soldering. Could not take the handle grip out of the finisher trim, but it seems that wouldn't have made much difference anyway. I used thin speaker wires - I am not sure if they are rated appropriately for the current. I guess I'll find out. But chose to use them since they are so thin and had some lying around.