[Thewrench86]

Good morning all,

so yesterday i noticed the outer tail light (triple red strip) was not on when accessing my boot. to double check had the wife come out and look as i tried all the other functions, brake light indicator light and the reverse light are coming on tho.

some research is indicating to a fault to the led strip that illuminates the three strips. even though its pre lci apparently it uses leds. the inner tail light is illuminating just fine.

one strange thing however is i got no error message on the idrive about the outer strips. but when i engage reverse it did say the driver side reverse light failure although its still working??? its just the triple red lines that arent coming on.

do i really need to replace the whole unit or is there another option???

thanks

[un1eash]

Pretty sure its a bulb on my pre Lci E92 as I had to change the outer side light one, have you taken the bulb holder out to check?

[Wavey 335i]

I have the same issue on one of my inner tail light, for me just an excuse to upgrade to LCI tails lol

[Thewrench86]

i haven't had time as i noticed it pretty late last night, was coming back from a kansas fried chicken run!
i will take a look but according to some internet boffins its not a replaceable bulb. when i apply the brakes the brake light does come on on that side.

so if i cant fix it, as parves said i was thinking to do that and just upgrade to lci!!!

[RajB]

Best thing is to remove the bulb holder to check for sure, but I have to admit I thought the only replaceable bulbs were the brake/reverse/indicators on the rears.

[un1eash]

Starting to think it was the outer brake light bulb I changed.

[RajB]

Originally Posted by un1eash

Starting to think it was the outer brake light bulb I changed.

Sounds more plausible as I think the led ones for the 3 tubes are fixed and non-replaceable.

[Phil325i]

Originally Posted by RajB

I think the led ones for the 3 tubes are fixed and non-replaceable.

Wow - so if one of these goes it's a whole new light unit..?

[RajB]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Wow - so if one of these goes it's a whole new light unit..?

Yup believe so unless you can split em and re-solder a new one in place. Same as the fronts on the E60 headlights that had the small led lights above the indicator. Couple of people swapped em out for white ones from the standard yellow but had to split the headlights.

[RajB]

Tbh it's a very rare thing for them to go. OP you might want to check all the connections are ok first as could be a rusted connection between the contacts from the holder to the unit itself.

[Phil325i]

Originally Posted by RajB

Yup believe so unless you can split em and re-solder a new one in place. Same as the fronts on the E60 headlights that had the small led lights above the indicator Coupe of people swapped em out for white ones from the standard yellow but had to split the headlights.

Cheers Raj. Welcome to the world of £££BMW£££ maintenance!

[RajB]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Cheers Raj. Welcome to the world of £££BMW£££ maintenance!

True lol. But like I said I don't think it's a common issue tbf. Think a lot of the manufacturers do that with their lights these days.

[Thewrench86]

i tried to check all the bulbs and they are intact, i gave the connectors a little clean wasnt much to clean. pulled out and reconnected the wire connector to the rear light unit all to no avail. its still not coming on. idrive still showing reverse light right failure. but theres no problem with the reverse light. ive ordered a replacement unit so just going to change it out! super annoying thing is knowing i could have potentially just changed the led if i had easy access to it.

[Wolf 335]

Would this happen to be on the left side of the car (UK passenger side/US Driver side)?

On the E90s (pre-lci) the three strip are illuminated by a bulb that sits behind the strips, and is replaceable.

On the E92s (pre-lci) the strip is illuminated by three LEDs that sit at the ends of the strips closest to the quarter panel, and is not repairable (in terms of plug and play swap).

Currently I have an issue on my driver side where only the top strip is not illuminating.

My online research on this issue shows that, in order to fix this issue one must gain access to the LEDs and just touch the soldered contact points of the faulty LED with a soldering iron.
This is where the connection is being terminated. Re-soldering the faulty led should get it back to life.

In order to gain access to the LED you need to cut open a hole on the inside of the light (grey plastic). This is doable with a nice dremel tool for a clean cut and then simply glue the cut piece back in place.

Unfortunately at this time the weather is too cold in Canada for me to tackle this project. Once the spring is here I will attempt to fix this. Until then it's not bothering me that much, as it's not throwing up any faults.

Definitely try this before throwing money on a new light.

Cheers

[Thewrench86]

My problem is with the driver side (UK).

[Thewrench86]

The error showing up for the reverse light seems to be my car obviously getting confused! Is there even an error specifically for the led tail light fault?

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by Thewrench86

Good morning all,

so yesterday i noticed the outer tail light (triple red strip) was not on when accessing my boot. to double check had the wife come out and look as i tried all the other functions, brake light indicator light and the reverse light are coming on tho.

some research is indicating to a fault to the led strip that illuminates the three strips. even though its pre lci apparently it uses leds. the inner tail light is illuminating just fine.

one strange thing however is i got no error message on the idrive about the outer strips. but when i engage reverse it did say the driver side reverse light failure although its still working??? its just the triple red lines that arent coming on.

do i really need to replace the whole unit or is there another option???

thanks

Any updates on this issue?

Have you cut open the housing to access LEDs?

[RajB]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Any updates on this issue?

Have you cut open the housing to access LEDs?

Think he's bought a new unit complete.

[Thewrench86]

Hi guys sorry not had chance to update but I've literally just fitted the replacement unit and its working now thank the lord! But the error is still coming on the idrive reverse light right failure even though I've tested all the lights and they are working . maybe I just need the error code cleared, hopefully don't need to take it to BMW. But moral of the story so far is u can't fix it easily anyway and it must be replaced!

[Thewrench86]

been a while but any ideas on how to clear the error 'reverse light right failure' its annoying the heck out of me but its all working fine?
thanks

[abeardo83]

Where in the UK are you based? If local to me (Crewe) , I have a set of e92 pre LCI rears that you can borrow, to see if there's an issue with your unit? Normally if there is a bulb error, it disappears once the bulb is replaced.

[Thewrench86]

Originally Posted by abeardo83

Where in the UK are you based? If local to me (Crewe) , I have a set of e92 pre LCI rears that you can borrow, to see if there's an issue with your unit? Normally if there is a bulb error, it disappears once the bulb is replaced.

appreciate the offer very kind your about an hour away, i had a feeling the replacement unit may have something to do with it. because i tried my original bulb holder and it still throws the reverse light error even tho its working so it leaves just the replacement light unit, or its just storing the error code... i may invest in the bmwhat app and obd reader.