Problem with front turn signal...what's going on?

[killcrap]

Originally Posted by X5SND

I pulled out 2 of these ....





I got my X a year old so its possible they were changed before me....but they were never touched under warranty and the only time I pulled the bulbs was when I switched over to LED's.

What year is your vehicle, depending on options it may be dual type.

[X5SND]

Originally Posted by killcrap

What year is your vehicle.

2004 (mfd. date of March 12th if I recall)

[NardoW12]

Originally Posted by killcrap

Everything you say leads me to believe you are not being completely truthful. You must partially remove the front bumper, and remove the headlamp partially to check the bulb and socket.

With your right turn signal on, it blinks fast, does the right front light come on, or does the right rear light come on?

If the right front light does NOT come on, and you state that the "auto shop" said the bulb and sockets are good, without taking the headlamp or bumper off, then I would consider finding someone who is honest, and knows what they are doing.

I have yet to see a Lamp Module or wiring issue cause the front turn signal to become inoperative. Most times the bulb contacts become burnt and cause a poor connection, most of the times, you can leave the turn signal on, and go to the affected lamp, and tap it with you palm, and the lamp will come back on.

Thank you for the reply, first I must admit I don't know much about all the lighting and wiring, the auto shop did 'loosen'(not sure if it should be considered as partially remove) the front bumper and headlight unit when they check.

I am not sure what exactly they did but when they used some electric checker thing to manually connect the turn indicator it does light up. With the right turn signal on, the front turn indicator is off, and the rear turn indicator is blinking fast.

I need to try tapping it and see what's going on.

[TerminatorX5]

Originally Posted by NardoW12

Thank you for the reply, first I must admit I don't know much about all the lighting and wiring, the auto shop did 'loosen'(not sure if it should be considered as partially remove) the front bumper and headlight unit when they check.

I am not sure what exactly they did but when they used some electric checker thing to manually connect the turn indicator it does light up. With the right turn signal on, the front turn indicator is off, and the rear turn indicator is blinking fast.

I need to try tapping it and see what's going on.

There are couple things you can do:

engine running, turn right turn signal, observe (fast blinking indicates that one of three bulbs is not functioning)
engine running (or not, doesn't matter), turn emergency blinkers on, observe - the lights should blink NORMAL. walk around, observe the lights, see which ones are out... say, the front right is out.

Even if the light itself tests good (only way to do so, is pull the bulb out, by pulling the headlight), there is a chance that the contacts are corroded, burnt or otherwise are not making a good contact with light bulb.

At this point, once so much of the labor has been expended to pull the headlight out, it only makes sense to install a new light bulb (preferrably one of european manufactured ones, not the chinese. ask me how i know the operational difference!!)

If a new light bulb is not available for some reason, place a multimeter tester on the contacts to see if there is any juice coming. Please bear in mind, that the "parking light" function is achieved by PWM, in other words, the voltage is reduced for a dim glow by appplying full 12 V potential in "square waves", so an O-scope might be more appropriate... but now, we are venturing into some serious troubleshooting, really not worth a $2 light bulb...

just replace the bulb, make sure contacts are good, and call it a day.. use a better quality light bulb

[TerminatorX5]

any news?

[srmmmm]

Need to resurrect this as I've encountered the same problem with the passenger side front turn signal.

I replaced both the bulb and pigtailed socket with the appropriate (based on VIN) BMW dealership provided parts last evening. Parking lamp, emergency flasher and right turn signal all worked properly when tested. Turn signal worked fine on this morning's commute. Then at lunch, the turn signal failed again on the second use, yet the parking lamp level still functions.

Any ideas or others that have had this happen?

2002 X5 3.0 276,300 miles
2004 325i 119,700 miles

[jdstrickland]

The front can blink fast if there is trouble with the rear.

The E46 cars have trouble with a ground on the rear lamp housings. I don't know if the E53 has the same problems, but I see no reason why it cannot have them.

Unplug the tail lamp and look inside the connector for signs of burnt pins. You can pull the cover off of the wires a little bit and expose the wire colors, find the BRN wire then specifically look at the pin that it goes to.

[srmmmm]

This may sound crazy, but I went through the entire set of sockets/lamps on the passenger side, front & rear, testing each one for continuity and power and everything checked out. Then I realized even though my vehicle has the amber lenses, it also has amber signal bulbs and the new one I had installed in the front was a clear bulb. I swapped it out for a new amber bulb and everything works fine. Either I had a bad clear bulb (even though it worked outside the vehicle), or the amber bulb draws more amperage. I lean towards the first reason - but who knows? At least I can signal my intentions again!

2002 X5 3.0 276,400 miles
2004 325i 119,700 miles

[stackz]

I'm starting to have an issue with my front left turn signal.

it wasnt working for a couple days and the dash blinker was clicking fast.

then one morning, its working again for about a week.

then yesterday, its out again.

I havent had a chance to pop out the headlight yet to see if its bad contact or not.

I'm beginning to wonder with all the other people starting to have an issue if it isnt something age related kinda like the tail-light printed strip issue...

mine is an 01 with 151k on it.

[stackz]

so odd. I think mine is definitely a connectivity issue. whether its in the bulb socket, wiring, or the turn signal stalk I dont know yet.

got back in the car to go get lunch and the front left turn signal is working again. lol.