Tail Lights Automatically On
 

I have noticed some weird electrical behavior with my X5 which could potentially get me into a serious accident some day. Sometimes, not always the brake lights will come on when I put the key in the ignition and turn to position 1.

All three brake lights shine on and stay on, pressing the brake pedal will do nothing, if I turn the car on the brake lights stay on :( The only way to correct this is take the key out and put it back in. I checked all my connections/contacts and everything is perfect.

It sucks having to get out every time I want to drive my X5 and check to see if the brake lights are on. Look like a tool with my brake lights on and people think I'm riding the brakes :p:

Help me Obi Wan Kenobi your my only hope!

No one seems to have this problem, I spoke to one of the SA's at my dealership and all I got was this:

Me: *describes the problem*
SA: Weird, looks like your X5 needs to be reprogrammed.
Me: Are you sure? What exactly needs to be reprogrammed?
SA: Oh the main computer in the car. Should run you about $300+tax. Wednesday sound good?
Me: *facepalm*

you should replace *facepalm* with *middle Finger*, or *Fliping bird*, or *taking gun out slowly and saying... .45 Magnum the most powerful pistol in the world...*

The first part of this sentence throws me off, but have you checked the brake/stoplight switch under the brake pedal?

A faulty ignition switch can cause this complaint. Also the hall effect brake light switch can also cause this concern.

I agree with killcrap's suggestions. If those don't resolve it, I would check the taillight sockets (which are known to have contact problems) for a short. The reason to look to the brake light switch or ignition switch, though, is that all are on, not just one.

Yeah the connections are all fine, the tail light contacts are good too. I double checked the harness as well so no problems in the wiring.

If the problem lies with the a bad ignition switch its going to burn a hole in my pocket :(

Damn... I keep checked all the BMW forums and no one has ever come across this fml

Actually, that isn't true. I believe that a BMW tech responded to you a few posts up, saying that he has seen this before, and giving you two good avenues to investigate.

No what I'm saying is that I went through a lot of other BMW forums and could not find someone with the same problem. I checked E46fanatics, E90Post, 1Addicts, BimmerBoards and a whole bunch of other and seems to be an isolated incident. You did'nt read the first part of my post, I'm taking it to the dealer to have them check out the ignition sytem and probably the brake light switch which I found to be working.

Had the same problem with my 540i...faulty ignition switch.

Turning ignition on and off a few times until normal was my "work around".

How much was the new ignition switch coffeesnob? Can I DIY this or is it better to take it the dealer, its a very weird problem I never had this problem on any other car, the best part is that it has a mind of its own. Sometimes it works just fine like nothing happened, don't know if I can duplicate it on the spot for the SA.

My indy fixed mine for about $250 if I remember correctly.

I think you can get them on Ebay for around $150.

Alright sounds good, any idea what causes this to happen? I'm very carefull about my everything in my car. I always let the car start and let the OBC 'warmup' before starting the engine. Also I have just the key fob in a leather case and nothing else attached to it. I wish the problem was consistant too.

No idea. Just another one of those BMW gremlins I guess. ;)

sethro..the ignition switch is a known culprit for many Bmw owners and their electrical issues...it can cause a plethera of issues not just limited to your brake lights. At least now you can resolve the issue for relatively cheap!

mine acted this way and the switch was fine it just fell off its mounting location. i believe all i did was gently pry the plastic tab out a bit and reinstall to its mounting location.

Thanks for the insight guys I'm going to get this looked at asap.