Tail light out
 

So recently one of my tail lights went out. I tried replacing the bulb but that didn't seem to fix it.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Corrosion
 

Check the bulb carrier for corrosion. I've seen it get so bad that it ruins the taillight itself and requires replacement or solder.

As stated above^. This is a tediously common problem for the E53. There is a nice kit from Mercedes that you can DIY in about an hour (and costs less than $40).

Check these threads (the first one is mine [sorry, no pictures] and the second one is by another member who included pictures of the parts):
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...t-fix-diy.html
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...light-fix.html

Here are some tips.
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ation-fix.html

Wow! I just checked some of the threads and the corrosion looks horrible. I will have to check tonight when the wife gets home. Hopefully it's a simple fix. Thanks for responding guys.

Thanks to this forum and it's members I have finally fixed this problem. The contact area for the bulbs was black like it had been burnt. All I had to do was move the bulbs over a few centimeters and Voila! They came to life. I just did a temporary fix for now. When I have more time I will definitely have to do the permanent fix.

Thanks again to all that contributed:thumbup: