Tail light issue
 

All,

I just fitted the 01-03 Sport tail lights to replace the non-sport ones on my 01 X5. For some reason when i turn the lights on the right hand side brake light also comes on, so basically the right hand side (driver side, im in Australia) has 2 lights on and the left side just the one (as it should be). Anyone know why this would be?

Thanks all,

Tags

Well it should be light up like you driver side ( right) and when you step on the brake the bottom bulb will light up brighter,so the left side is some thing wrong...check your connection and bulb contact.( If you need new one let me know)

Really?that I didn't know. So both the bottom and middle globes should be on when the headlights are turned on. The bulbs in the lights were single filament, should they be double?

I just installed the facelifted taillights on my 2003, I too ran into lots of trouble with some parts not lighting up on one or both sides. I ended up reinstalling my old lights, verifying what was supposed to be lit and at what intensity, and then swapping all the bulbs and sockets from the old to the new.

But I still couldn't get both taillights to illuminate properly. I inspected everything, didn't look terrible, and then compared side by side the new to the old. That's when I found very minute corrosion on the new lights' circuit board right where the bulb socket comes into contact with it. So I sanded both the board and the metal contacts on the socket itself and reinstalled. Everything seems to be OK now.

The taillamps (the upper part below the signal) are double-fillament and come on when your lights are on. The brake lights (bottom part) are single fillament and come on not only when your lights are on, but grow in intensity if the brake is depressed.

At least in my situation, only one filament burns in the taillamp section whenever the lights are on, I can't get the second filament to ignite. When the lights are on, the brakelight section is on as well, but is brighter when the brakes are depressed. I'm not sure if this is right or not, but at least I'm not getting any "check brake lights, check tail lamps" messages.

You just have to find a combination of bulbs and sockets with minimal corrosion, and sand down the board on the assembly itself. I picked up my facelifted tail lights for $75 on ebay, and now I know why, but thankfully I was able to fix them and ended up saving some $.

Gotta say, at least so far, getting the clear lights has been the best purchase I've made for the X. Next comes the sidemarkers, and then I take the plunge into Xenon/AE....


Here are some pics, badly taken and of poor quality, but you get the idea.

Thanks for all the info, very helpful. One question, if the very bottom light section is meant to light up when lights are turned on and the become brighter upon depressing the brake would that section contain a double fillament globe?

Mine aren't facelift, just the sport model lights. Not sure if that makes a difference. Anyone changed non sport to sport on an 01 02 or 03 model and had the same issue?

Thanks

Not on a BMW, the LCM (lighting control module) sends low voltage/high voltage signals to the bulb, making the single filiment act as a dual.

Ok, thanks. So it looks like I need to clean the bulbs and contact points etc....

I added some pics above of what they're supposed to look like. The only thing I can think the second filament in the tail light is used for is adaptive brake lights, which didn't exist prior to MY 2003, and even then the lights in the tailgate are the ones supposed to light up.

Why is the top bulb so much brighter with the brakes off? I think that is a side affect of the difference between pre and post facelift lights. You may be able to swap over the bulb/socket from the old tail lights, worth a try.

I was wondering about that too... The ones in the top are the originals (pre-facelift). I tried different combinations to try to get it to calm down on the intensity but eventually just gave up. I'll probably scavenge eBay again for some pre-facelifted tails once it starts throwing check control messages at me again.