Help...brake Lite Works Fine, But Idiot Lite Is On

[mikeyboy_esq]

I'm test driving a 1999 M3 Conv tomorrow evening and the seller tells me it is in pretty good shape except for a few minor things. The biggest concern I have is that an idiot light for the "brake light" comes on about every other time the seller drives it, but he says its probably some kind of minor electrical glitch b/c his brake lights work fine. My question is whether this a symptom of a serious computor/electrical problem and approx. how much $$ to fix this?

[Furious]

you would have to get the proper diagnoses from a certified bmw mechanic, electrical glitches arent always an easy thing.

[zlac109]

Originally posted by Furious@Aug 3 2005, 01:07 AM
you would have to get the proper diagnoses from a certified bmw mechanic, electrical glitches arent always an easy thing.

[snapback]367019[/snapback]

Out of experince electrical gliches are NEVER an easy thing

[mikeyboy_esq]

Thanx very much for the info!

Do you guys happen to know of any website that shows a pic of the various warning lights (aka idiot lights) and what they mean?

[aheath]

What exactly does the message say? (when I say exactly, tell me word for word what the msg says)

I had a "Brake Light Circuit" failure come on, and it was simply a warning that the the relay was about to go out. Cruise control/Brake light are tied in together btw. It only took 20 minutes to replace.

[mikeyboy_esq]

Originally posted by aheath@Aug 3 2005, 11:31 AM
What exactly does the message say? (when I say exactly, tell me word for word what the msg says)

I had a "Brake Light Circuit" failure come on, and it was simply a warning that the the relay was about to go out. Cruise control/Brake light are tied in together btw. It only took 20 minutes to replace.

[snapback]367088[/snapback]

Thanx for the feedback. The seller just said the warning light comes on often for the "brake light", but did not offer any more description on this message. I will test drive it tonite and find out for sure what the warning light message sez.

[thekid]

If it is the parking brake light, then the sensor might be faulty or the cable too taunt ect.

If it is the brake warning light, then it is most likely a bad brake sensor, that some one did not replace when the pads were last replaced. Or it could be that it needs new pads ect. Shouldn't be anything major, unless it is an electrical glitch. In which case run... far away... quickly...

[nathan56989]

check all the bulbs in the rear and if the metal part is brass this will cause the light to come on. a bmw always monitors its bulbs and for some reason it sees the brass bulbs are not working when they actually are. all the bulbs are supposed to have silver not brass for the metal part.

['92 325i Alpine]

Originally posted by mikeyboy_esq@Aug 2 2005, 10:23 PM
I'm test driving a 1999 M3 Conv tomorrow evening and the seller tells me it is in pretty good shape except for a few minor things. The biggest concern I have is that an idiot light for the "brake light" comes on about every other time the seller drives it, but he says its probably some kind of minor electrical glitch b/c his brake lights work fine. My question is whether this a symptom of a serious computor/electrical problem and approx. how much $$ to fix this?

[snapback]366990[/snapback]

Dude, also check the wiring that leads from the car to the trunk lid itself. That can break over time and cause that kind of problem real easily. It should be pretty obvious if it's broken or not. I just cut the harness open, sauldered all the wires back tgether and electrical taped them to look kind of like the original. There are a couple of discussions about this I think, if your problem hasn't gone away by now and you're still looking for why it does that.

[wcre34]

i have a similar issue except my is fog light indication light in the dash showing my foglights are on but i dont have any.. found that kind of odd

[komodo]

If it's one of the brake sensor lights, it might just be the sensor came loose on one of the pads...