03 X5 “Check Rear Lights” message
 

Dear connoisseurs of the E53,

When I bought my 03 pre-facelift X5 last October, it came prepackaged with two error messages upon startup. They were 2 “CHECK BRAKE LININGS” codes and two “CHECK REAR LIGHTS” codes. The brake linings is a simple fix, as I can just run a wire across the connector for the brake pad sensor, but the rear lights code has me baffled! As the code states, it tells me that rear lights on the tailgate aren’t working, which they aren’t. I tested the bulbs and they’re still good, but I can’t find the glovebox fuse/trunk area fuse to replace. All of my other running lights work, but the two in the back have no power at all. What is truly baffling is the reverse lights work, but not the rears. Any suggestions?

Ben T.

Usually bad connector on the bulb holder to bulb assembly interface. It's a design detect. Very common.


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Maybe I am misunderstanding your post but there are not tail lights in the tail gate, just the reverse lights. There are socket blanks in there but that was intended for rear fog lights. Check the bulbs in the tail lights themselves. If the PO put LED bulbs without resistors, that could throw the error.

Good stuff

See I’m not sure, as I have both sets of tail lights working with no LEDs. The rear sockets also have wires running out of them too. Once I get home from college on Friday I might be able t remove the cover for you all to see what’s going down in there.

And re-check the brake pads while you're at it - jumpering out the pad sensor will remove the warning but won't do anything for worn out brad pads!

If you DID replace the pads, then replace the sensor also - cheap to do.

The PO replaced them a few weeks before and even gave me the old pads for whatever reason. It’s a matter of self diagnosis on the pads. If they squeal like a dying rabbit, I think I can draw my conclusions :bustingup

BMW pads don't have squeakers

After replacing sensors you need to reset. You do this by turning the key to on position and waiting about a minute.

When you trigger the brake pad light, it will not cancel itself by just installing the new sensors. You need to reset the light. Turn the ignition key to position 2 but do not start the car. Wait about 30 seconds and it should clear assuming you do not have an issue with the 2 sensors or wiring.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words....

Sounds like he has the aftermarket tail light housings from post #5.