Aaargh - Hit A Massive Pot Hole!

[e30320i]

Hi there guys,

Last night i almost killed myself in my 88' 320i coupe. I was doing silly things in a carpark and i hit a massive pot hole. I don't know how deep it was but at least a foot deep if not more. It was full of mud. Anways, my brake lights won't turn off now. As soon as i switch the car to the 'on' position or turn it on, they come on and won't turn off. If i tap the brake pedal a few times, they turn off and work as normal, but then it just happens again after a few seconds. Is there a sensor for the brake lights that could be broken? Like where you press the pedal down is there a button or swith the pedal hits to tell the lights to turn on or what? Any help would be greatly appreciated, i can't drive my car because the brake lights are permanently on and i don't feel like getting rear ended. Thanks heaps!

[witeshark]

Seems like the brake light switch is stuck, I think it's on the pedal lever. Weird problem

[detour54]

That's bizarre.

Any update?

[trs998]

My E30 had braklights stuck on for a bit - theres a small switch that touches the brake pedal when it's fully up. the easy way to fix it is to remove the little rubber bumper which allows the pedal to rise another 3mm, and hits the switch more reliably. my pedal does not rattle or anything after removing it either.

before you do anything though - if the brakelights go off when you pull the pedal up with your toes it's the switch - if nothing happens (they stay on) then it's possibly not the switch.

it might be the switch has simply moved slightly of course.

[e30320i]

Hey guys
Yeah, it was the switch. It works differently to a normal switch as in it's off when contact is made. So what was happening was the switch was not touching the brake pedal when it was just sitting there, so it thought the pedal was being pushed. I just bent the little metal thingio that holds the switch forward and now it's fine. Thanks for all the input!