"Fast" blinker on occassion???
 

Ok, here's a starnge recent occurence:

Every once in a while (although sveral times/day), when I flick on my right turn signal, it starts off by blinking/clicking at a very fast rate for a second or two, then goes back to normal speed. :confused:

It seems to only happen while the car is moving, and only on the right side. I have checked and all bulbs are functioning fine. It's obviously not a major prob;em, just bizarre. I've noticed it the last few days.

If anyone knows what this is all about, I would appreciate enlightenment ;)

My old Audi used to do that. It meant that the turn signal bulb was out.

If you have checked all of the bulbs and they are all good my recommendation is as follows:
1. Remove each bulb in the right rear housing assembly (turn signal bulbs) and check to see if any of the mating surfaces where the bulb goes into for corrosion. If so just use some fine sandpaper to remove the corrosion (before you do this make sure that all lights and ignition is off!!!!! Also make sure that you have the proper (as called for by BMW) light bulb for the application. Repeat this procedure for the front signals as well if the rear doesn't fix it (I would start with the rear first).
2. Secondly, if you have multi-meter, check to see if the right rear housing is properly grounded (should see zero resisitance or "0" on the meter from side of the bulb housing to the frame of the truck).

The types of problems that you are describing are normally associated with one of the above (read: faulty grounds) in my past experience. Good Luck!

Yes, turn signal intermittently going bad. Replace bad bulb and should be back to normal.

It's the "calm before the storm" syndrome. While you would think that a bulb would either work or not work, I had a similar case where the bulb would go out for a short while and then come back to life. Eventually it will completely fail, so if you can identify which one it is that is causing this then you might as well replace it now.

it is something else Peter
 

i had the same problem before . all bulbs are fine at first ,,then front one went out so i put a new one that won`t work . problem was the cable connecting the bulb socket to the rest of the circuit.

That EXACT thing happened to my X 2 weeks after I got her. The dealer performed the EXACT same fix, and it's been good since then.

I love the X, but I do wish you could change every bulb EASILY on your own with just a Phillips screwdriver (like in the E46).

It was font left signal bulb. All good now. Thanks!

Cool.

i have the same problem! and its not the bulbs.. changed them... its not the light housing because i changed those to euro whites... so its gotta be the wires... how hard is it to replace the wiring?

Wow this looks helpful. I have 05 X5 and my right turn signal started being crazy fast like 3 days ago. This is the first chance I had to look it up. I will check all my bulbs. Hopefully it is Xoutpost to the rescue again!

On this subject, the X is exactly like any other car... If a blinker goes fast, this means that there is a bad connection, generally a bad earth (ground). Changing the bulb just temporarily solves the problem by cleaning the connection (between the bulb body and the light housing) a bit. On these Xs, using a dielectric grease is a good idea and sometimes (it was my case) only replacing the front and rear lights housing really solved the problem.

Just an FYI, I did 3 bulb changes in my left front turn signal...each change
would work for "awhile". Finally had a new relay put in by my Indie when I
was getting near tires installed last fall. I watched: it isn't hard, but then
they have done dozens of relay wire r&rs.
GL,mD

So some how my rear passenger side light bulb had just gotten loose. I tightened it in and super fast turn signal blinking gone. If only everything was that easy with the X. Went to BMW to get 60k oil change and tire rotation and it was 225$....yikes. Best part was it took 2 hours haha. Good ol dealerships

Its not the bulbs or wiring. Xcelllent 5 is 100% correct. There is a connection problem in the taillights.
To Fix:
1.) Unscrew the housing, bring it inside and take out the bulbs
2.) Check for corrosion on any of the surfaces that the bulb touches. Most likely the ends or tips of the springy things for lack of a better term. Mine looked black/burnt, almost like it was arcing.
4.) Get some sandpaper and sand down the corrosion so the surface will have a good clean connection. Be sure its free of all residue before performing the next step.
5.) Solder the surfaces that the bulb contacts making sure to add just a bit more so the connection is tighter than before.

Same goes for the brake light problem. I've done both and haven't had a problem since.

Hi,
I have BMW X5 2001 and had same problem of front left trun signal blinking fast for sometime and then back to normal. But now for last cpl of days front left turn flasher isn't working at all. I guess the bulb's gone bad.
Wondering if anyone of guys can help me how to replace the left turn flasher bulb. Do I have to take out the whole head light assembly, if yes, then how is it done.
Your help highly appreciated.

Same problem here with the fast blinking. Front turn signal bulb went out. Bought amber ones from Autozone. Followed instructions here: http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/l...placement.html. Only change for my 05 3.0i is that I didn't have to pull the whole housing completely out; therefore, no wire disconnects needed. Pulled it out enough to get my hand in to twist out the bulb housing. Used clean rag to installed the bulb so that I don't contaminate it. Took about 15 minutes from start to finish. Very happy now. Thanks for the link.

I had same problem of blinking signal light in my X. Checked all bulbs front and rear in my indie shop and cleaned contacts. This was only a temporary solution . My indie shop recommended that i replace turn signal sockets of both left n right front portion because there were signs already of corrossion. I hope this will help solve the problem. So far turn signals work fine with just cleaning contacts. However, I decided to order the bulbs sockets for peace of mind...

I am in the same situation now with my '02. I pulled both front turn signal bulbs out, which as you all know is a chore, and cleaned the contacts on the bulbs and the socket. I actually roughed up the socket contacts a bit hoping the contact would improve. They worked fine for a short time but now they're both out again. I have done this twice on one side and once on the other. Time for new sockets! :tsk:

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same problem. right turn signal blinks fast sometimes and right front turn signal bulb does not flash. then sometimes it works. replaced bulb then all was fine. now its doing it again. bulb is good, prongs in socket were cleaned with sandpaper to make sure they get a good connection. now what?

Replace sockets

Did you not read the post right above yours? ;)

Replacing the sockets will solve your problem. Cleaning or scuffing up the contacts will not, as you discovered. I tried that too. You won't notice anything obvious being defective with your old sockets.