E39 528i Brake Light

[amitpatel]

I have a 2000 528i and on the instrument cluster it shows that a bulb is gone out in the right taillight, which when I tested them all out they all work fine and turn on & off. I have tried swapping the bulbs from the left side into the right, and still the cluster shows one is gone bad. Is my circut board in the rear taillights gone bad (checked for any corrosion but none) or is that bulb module thing that connects to the circut board. I have no idea, and frankly that error light on the console has been pissin me off! ghead

any help would be appreciated???

[Slvr e39]

If I remember correctly the cluster won't tell you which light specifically is out. Are your tail lights aftermarket? The only advice I can give you is check the 3rd brake light, the one above the trunk in the window.

If that isn't it go to a dealership.

[njtech]

make sure you are using the correct wattage bulbs...21W. Also check the contacts in the third brake light socket.

Steve

[superdeadman]

slvr it shows you on which side the light is out. I had a bad contact and then later on a burned bulb on my right side, so only the right side would light up, and then i had to find which bulb it was. YEah, i guess the big question is do you have oem lights or aftermarket ones? and if the answer is stock, i bet it's your sensor gone bad

[amitpatel]

I have OEM stock tail lights, the 3rd brake-light lights on/off as well as the others. I checked for corrosion in all the sockets, but their pretty clean. I'm afraid of going to the dealer and having to pay them for inspection which would run in the 155.00 range. Those basterds on top of that will tell you other shit that doesnt need any repair/service or better yet if its the sensor module thing, they might add to also change out the the whole tailight. Havn't had any good expierences with dealerships. ghead


I need a nice cold brew right now.

[Slvr e39]

Find a local european shop. Looks like you live in LA so I can't exactly give you any names of places I know of, because i'm in norcal. But should be easy in LA

[climber boy]

I had the same problem, right rear. I ohm tested all the bulbs and they were fine except 1. But when a friend and I tested all the lights, backup, brake, and turn signal, me in the drivers seat and him behind the car, all worked. I swapped bulbs between left and right, then both showed bad on the cluster. I even found that slamming the trunk lid could make a difference between it working or not. Eventually I figured out which bulb was finicky, said to heck w/ it and replaced it. Problem solved for $2.50. I think it was a "fit" issue between the base of the bulb and the taillight assy. Things may look fine, but if you don't have good contact you'll get problems.

[CosmosBlack]

Had that problem once, I checked both tail lights but they were good.
So I cleaned all contacts real good and applied some WD40,
the light warning on the dash went away.

[Beerguy5810]

Amipatel

Can you share how you resolved? I have the exact same condition (E39 right rear). I haven't tried deep cleaning the contacts yet but wondered if you found some other reason.

Thanksused:

[cnn]

Originally Posted by Beerguy5810

Amipatel

Can you share how you resolved? I have the exact same condition (E39 right rear). I haven't tried deep cleaning the contacts yet but wondered if you found some other reason.

Thanksused:

The bulb failure module is very finicky. It detects very small differences in resistance (Ohm) between bulbs in the same circuit.

Let say bulb on the RIGHT is Osram
And bulb on the LEFT is GE

This is enough to set off the circuit because there may be resistance difference between 2 brands of the same type.

Always use same BRAND for bulbs inthe same circuit.

This is assuming all else is fine (no corrosion or wiring problems).

cn