possessed dome light - BMW Forum

myold318 · 10-05-2005, 09:30 PM

My 94 318is has a strange problem with the interior lights. Sometimes when braking the interior lights will come on. When I bought the car one of the map lights didn't work. I removed the dome light assembly and found faulty solder points on it so I replaced the whole light assembly with another one. I had the same problem before I replaced it. It doesn't do it all the time but I've noticed it several times. The light will then fade out after a few seconds. Any idea what could be causing this?? Everything else seems normal.

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WarNox · 10-06-2005, 12:50 AM

lol thats weird, maybe its something to do with one of your doors or something disconnecting momentarily, does it do it only when braking or when driving in general too?

94325is · 10-06-2005, 02:27 PM

Had the same thing happen in my 94 325is last Monday evening... It is the only time it's happened but I thought at the time it was weird...

myold318 · 10-06-2005, 10:23 PM

I thought it was kinda funny too :lol: I've only seen it happen maybe three or four times in the month or so that I've had the car. I've only noticed it when coming to a stop. Door switches seem ok, windows are up all the way. I had to adjust the door catch on the passenger side when i got the car cause the window would drop down like when the door is opened every time I went over a bumpy road. Now that was really annoying. Haven't had any problems with that since then. I'm glad (in a way) that I'm not the only one that's seen this happen. I was trying to show the wife what I was talking about but of course it wouldn't do it while she was in the car. Now she REALLY thinks I'm losing my mind :lol: Oh well, guess I'll just live with it. From now on I'll just call it part of the car's character. Thanks guys.

Redbullrr · 12-13-2005, 09:42 PM

Hey guys, this is happening to me. I will be driving and then my window will go down as if I opened the door, and the lights will go on. Any ideas on what this is and a quick fix?

Hamfisted · 12-14-2005, 12:14 PM

The dome lights are triggered on by grounding through the small button switches in each door jam. After many years a car may developed a chaffed ground wire somewhere in the system as wire bundles rub on metal edges and such. During braking the g-forces on the car press the wire bundle up against the metal that caused the chaffing and it's probably the ground wire that got shorted to the metal and turns on your dome lights. I assume its all the dome lights and courtesy lights? Or is it JUST the dome lights? If it's JUST the dome lights then the short is possibly up higher, like in the roof or A-pillar area and not down in the dash or door jam area. Has the car ever been wrecked in the sides or anything? You find these weird electrical problems very common in cars that have accident damage in the sides. Any aftermarket electronics installed anywhere?

Mike

Redbullrr · 12-16-2005, 10:21 AM

Hey What's up. Actually I figured it out. The Door Jam has this button that goes in and out making the lights go on and off and the window to go down and up. This part looks to be worn out. I put a little electric tape just to give it that extra space it needed and no more a problem. This was freaking me out cause I would be driving and the window would open slightly as if the door was open. But that was my small fix for the issue. I'm sure buying a whole new one is the best option. Thanks for the reply.