Location of ground for rear lights? Picture?

[ELVA164]

Check latest post for my current observations/questions please.

1. The "rear light" light on my check panel will come on at random when I turn on either my running lights or my headlights. The lights always work and don't flicker or anything. I've taken the covers off the rear light assemblies, brass brushed the bulb contacts, and checked the plugs for corrosion. None of that seemed to make much of a difference. I really think it's a crappy ground, but I don't know what exactly the ground is for those assemblies. I figured it would be part of that harness that plugs into it.

2. Fixed!

3. Figured out.

Thanks in advance!

Any help at all would be appreciated.

[jlevie]

The ground for the tail/brake/license lights is on the left behind the upper part of the rear seat. I'm not sure what you mean by "brass brushed the bulb contacts". If you mean the sockets, fine. But if you mean the bulbs, wrong.

If you don't know, that warning is normally triggered by less current flow through the circuit than normal. A high resistance anywhere in the circuit, a bad check relay, or a bad check panel are all possibilities. The wrong bulbs (only use Osram, like from a dealer), aged bulbs that have any darkening of the envelope, corroded sockets, or a high resistance in the affected circuit are possibilities. The grounds are common to all of the rear lights. So a problem there usually will affect all circuits.

Some work with a DMM will usually tell if the fault is in the light circuits. If not there, the check module and/or the check panel is the next place to go.

[ELVA164]

The ground for the tail/brake/license lights is on the left behind the upper part of the rear seat. I'm not sure what you mean by "brass brushed the bulb contacts". If you mean the sockets, fine. But if you mean the bulbs, wrong.

Sorry, I meant the sockets. I'll check that ground on the seat and see which bulbs are in the car. I haven't had to replace any so it didn't occur to me to check. Thanks!

[Rose E30]

I had this problem, and it turned out that my bulbs had different bases (brass vs. nickle). In my case, this caused the left turn signal to not function with running lights or headlights as well as set off the check panel.

[ButtJuice]

Those plastic things you're referring to simplely twist, get some pliers and gently turn.

[ELVA164]

Those plastic things you're referring to simplely twist, get some pliers and gently turn.

I gave that a shot with some needle nose pliers, but they're not looking promising. I have a feeling they might break, and I only really have one chance at it.

[jlevie]

The circled things in the picture (I could not see that at work) are the adjusters and pivot. You don't mess with those to replace the head lamp. From memory, there are three screws that hold the chrome ring around the front of the light in place. Remove those and the ring and you can remove the head light housing. I don't know if a US ellipsoids will fit in Euro buckets. But I would be skeptical of the idea that US lights are better than Euro lights. The US has some really screwy regulations about head lights and in every example I know of European headlights are superionr.

[ELVA164]

The circled things in the picture (I could not see that at work) are the adjusters and pivot. You don't mess with those to replace the head lamp. From memory, there are three screws that hold the chrome ring around the front of the light in place. Remove those and the ring and you can remove the head light housing. I don't know if a US ellipsoids will fit in Euro buckets. But I would be skeptical of the idea that US lights are better than Euro lights. The US has some really screwy regulations about head lights and in every example I know of European headlights are superionr.

That was my initial thought as well, but I was reading another thread (https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/sho....php?p=3574559) and it said the Euro high beams have more of a pencil beam whereas the US highs have more of a flare for American road signs. How true that is, I don't know. People were also talking about swapping the cutoffs but I don't want to bake the thing to remove the lens; too much effort/risk for not much payoff. The biggest reason I was thinking about a swap was I just discovered HIR bulbs that produce 75-110% more light than a 9005 bulb--which is significantly more than an H1--without using extra wattage or producing extra heat(http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=954736). I thought that would be a really cool mod. I'd really like to test-fit one of the US buckets into a Euro assembly or visa versa, but I only have the one pair of Euro lights. Hence my hesitation.

[603Racing]

That was my initial thought as well, but I was reading another thread (www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?p=3574559) and it said the Euro high beams have more of a pencil beam whereas the US highs have more of a flare for American road signs. How true that is, I don't know. People were also talking about swapping the cutoffs but I don't want to bake the thing to remove the lens; too much effort/risk for not much payoff. The biggest reason I was thinking about a swap was I just discovered HIR bulbs that produce 75-110% more light than a 9005 bulb--which is significantly more than an H1--without using extra wattage or producing extra heat(http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=954736). I thought that would be a really cool mod. I'd really like to test-fit one of the US buckets into a Euro assembly or visa versa, but I only have the one pair of Euro lights. Hence my hesitation.

I literally just did what I think you're trying to do. I have Euro smiley headlights and swapped in the US ellipsoid high beams in place of the Euro high beams. The US high beams have an extra vent piece that the Euro's do not have, you will have to cut out a small piece of the Euro housing to get the US lights to fit, no big deal.

As for those small plastic holders, i used pliers to turn mine, they were fine. They're usually not a brittle as they appear to be. I think you can get those pieces from a dealer.

From Real OEM - includes the plastic pieces on the adjuster:
09Adjusting screw809/198763121385397$10.92

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...48&hg=63&fg=05

I really like my Euro smiley/US high beam setup. My next project is to get all four lights to stay on when the high beams are on.

[ELVA164]

Update: The sound coming from the door check is definitely the piece that enters the body. It appears to be pretty loose. My dad said the way he used to fix that was by spot-welding that piece to the surrounding body and that holds it fine. Guess that will be my eventual fix.

[jlevie]

You can find some good information about headlights at http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...uperwhite.html. Read through that and then consider whether you still want to do this,

[ELVA164]

You can find some good information about headlights at http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...uperwhite.html. Read through that and then consider whether you still want to do this,

Thanks Jim, I read that when it was linked in the link I posted earlier (http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=954736). In that link, they also debunk the "colored" bulb myth but mention the HIR bulbs having a rating of 2500 lumens versus ~1700 for H1 and 9005 bulbs. That is more of a scientific improvement, right? The HIR concept is new to me, but from what I've read they appear to be an actual improvement in output, not just "perceived" output. Have you heard of anyone using them before?

[jlevie]

HIR bulbs appear to be an improvement over convention halogen bulbs (more output). I don't know anyone that has first hand experience.

Did you see the parts on Stern's site about the differences in beam shapes and how retarded the US regulations are as compared to Europe (and the rest of the world). That is why I said switching to US lights would be a down grade over the Euros.

[ELVA164]

Did you see the parts on Stern's site about the differences in beam shapes and how retarded the US regulations are as compared to Europe (and the rest of the world). That is why I said switching to US lights would be a down grade over the Euros.

Yeah, I guess the only real way to know would be to compare the beams in person so I can see the real difference. I think my plan will be to leave them as-is so I can actually use them soon (go figure, right?) then maybe try the swap sometime in the future for curiosity's sake.

[ELVA164]

So I have an update about my first question in the OP and need some additional clarification. The issue with the check light continues, although I haven't looked into it since my last post. I did so this evening and discovered this: The lights all work, but with either turn signal on, the rear running lights both dim with the turn signal lights up. Sounds like a bad ground. I checked for the ground jlevie mentioned located behind the left side of the rear seat; this isn't it, is it?

I don't think it is because I unscrewed it and the rear lights still functioned and behaved exactly the same. Nothing else in the area looks like a ground. Is there another one somewhere else? Left side means driver's side, right?

I had also heard that a splice near the left-hand taillight could be a potential source of an issue. I don't see anything that obviously resembles what I'm expecting, but is this it? Nothing looks spliced around here.


Thanks in advance for any additional info/statements of the obvious that I'm missing.