Then it's time for new parts which I put on my previous post editing.

Why not just remove and spray paint them flat or sating black with plastic paint?

Well I guess that's another alternative.

Those covers are like $40 each.

Or 20€. :cool:

https://www.bmwautoparts.net/en/cata...covering-inner

Given that the tail light wiring is very different between pre-facelift and facelift cars, did you re-wire anything? Does it all work? :dunno:

No rewiring needed, just trim the plastic on the facelift tails for proper fitment. Other than that, plug and play...Attachment 78052

I'd check the operation carefully the facelift tail assembly uses different bulbs than the pre-facelift, esp. for the actual tail lamp - the facelift uses a modulated single filament where the pre-facelift uses a dual (5w/21w) filament lamp.

My guess is your tails now look like brake lights and the brake lights are no brighter than the tails... :dunno:

So would getting facelift bulbs be enough or would I need to re-wire the pins as well?

Depends on the exact build date - there seems to be at least four tail light configurations that I can see in newtis.info.

The sockets on facelift tails won't take to bulbs from the earliest cars - the bulb is different.

Pre-facelift tail bulb (P21/5) -
https://www.eurocarcare.net/user/pro...rge/CIT380.jpg

Facelift tail(brake) bulb (P21) -
https://agrodoctor.eu/12786-large_de...15s-hella-.jpg

BUT- there seems to be some variation - as I said, maybe up to four different setups!

What bulbs are in there now and do they work, i.e. are the tails less than half the brightness of the brakes and when you stand on the bakes, what lights up?

On my facelift, all rear bulbs are P21 - three each side. Top one is signal lamp, so we'll ignore that. The two red sections on each side are BOTH lit up as tails, using the 21w filaments but modulated by the LCM to be low output (~5w). When you hit the brakes, one on each side is modulated to full wattage (21w) by the LCM, the other on each side stays dim. Unless you hit the brakes hard/fast and/or the ABS is active, then all four lamps are modulated to full brightness (called force dependant brake lighting).

I'm NOT saying what you have doesn't work - I'm just saying that it MAY not be a straight swap between pre and post facelift tails and you MAY have to change bulbs and/or re-wire stuff to make it work. Or you may not - depends on build date.

:confused: :confused: :confused: