cabrio dome light Q

[CorvallisBMW]

My 'on' setting for the dome light has never worked. The 'door' setting works, but 'on' simply doesn't. I finally pulled the light and sure enough, no voltage to the constant 12V wire (The wire that supplies voltage for the 'door' setting gives me 12V when the door is open, and about 7V when it's closed). Does anyone know if this is a common issue, or if there is somewhere I should begin looking? I'm electrically retarded so I'm not sure where to begin. I need to wire up my new maplight mirror, but without a constant 12V source I'm stuck.

[lylefk]

Well, there's a couple things you can do...

Trace that wire back to the dash, see what is causing it to not get any power along the way...did you check your fuses?

Or just run a new wire from a 12v constant source (be sure it is fused).

[CorvallisBMW]

Well, there's a couple things you can do...

Trace that wire back to the dash, see what is causing it to not get any power along the way...did you check your fuses?

Or just run a new wire from a 12v constant source (be sure it is fused).

Yes I checked all the fuses.

Running and/or tracing the wire seems almost impossible because of being routed through the headliner and A-pillar. Is any of that stuff easily removable?

[bmw325csi]

do you check for power at the actual wire or did you check the plastic/metal connector, those sometimes rust. Worst case run one of the 12v+ from the check panel.

[CorvallisBMW]

do you check for power at the actual wire or did you check the plastic/metal connector, those sometimes rust. Worst case run one of the 12v+ from the check panel.

I checked the connector, but I'll probe the wire and see if I get something different. I cannot read a wiring diagram to save my life, which colors on the check panel are a constant 12V and ground?

[StereoInstaller1]

Darrin, if you are getting light from that bulb, you have constant 12V.

What you are looking for is ground, from the central lighting relay, triggered from the door switches.

Didn't I do an alarm in that car? If I did, the LEDs should come on when you open the door. If they don't, your switches are fuk'd.

Call me when you get a chance.

Luke