My first post - of course it's a question.

[ibim2]

Hello all. I am new to Xoutpost, and new to BMW. I purchased a super low mileage Montreal Blue Z3 2.8 about 7 months ago. Fell so in love with it that when my Lexus got totaled last month, I decided to upgrade . Went with the E53 because I needed some space/towing capacity. Loving it so far. Normally I would try and do an introduction post, but I think I'll skip the theatrics this time around and just say I'm here and glad to be part of the BMW community. (I'll try and get some pics of my duo up tomorrow on this thread.)

Now, as I'm so new to these cars, I've definitely been running into a lot of questions. My E53 had a couple of common small issues when I bought it - a few bad pixels here and there, burnt out cabin lights, etc. - so I've been doing a lot of reading on the forum. Tonight was the first night I've really had it out driving, and I noticed that the tailgate lights aren't working. The reverse lights work fine, but I assume there should be brake lights there too.

After a bit of searching I've found that these corroded connectors/bad assemblies and over voltage issues are common problems, too. I've looked up several pictures of X5's here and elsewhere on the net, and I can't tell whether or not there are supposed to be brake lights in the tailgate or not - some posts have said the only bulbs in the tailgate itself are the reverse lights, while in others there are pictures clearly showing those lights illuminated.

So - assuming that there are in fact brake lights in the tailgate:

1) if the bulbs turn out to be fine, does that mean these lights are suffering from the same light assembly failure that the tail lights suffer from?

2) Does the remedy described here also apply to the tailgate assemblies, or do the tailgate assemblies require replacement in every circumstance?



Thanks in advance, and I look forward to spending a lot of time here!

Dan