e46 lighting problem, BFC no help

[trashcop 80s 80s]

I thought maybe one of you guys might know what to do. I asked on BFC without any answers as to what else to check.

"""
I installed LEDs throughout the interior. Footwells, front center, and two rears. They are all working fine, but now my car is doing something wierd. The indicator says that my taillights are out, but they are not out, they are constantly on. The radio controls on the steering wheel do not work now also, and they controls do not light up. I checked the obvious fuses and they are fine. Anyone have an idea as to what is up with my car? Thanks"""
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"""I went back and replaced every LED throughout the car with stock halogens. I disconnected the battery about 5 times. It is still doing the same thing. I went through all the fuses also. The brakelights stay on all the time, and the radio/cruise steering controls are not working and not lighting up. Anyone else have any ideas?"""

[emi325i]

undo the modifications, and see if the problem still occurs. if it does not, then leave it alone. If it still happens, you messed something up.

[Farbin Kaiber]

You have an e46, call the dealer, scream about flatbed service, get call of completion, take free shuttle to dealer, pull out black credit card, drop pants, grab socks, hold on.

[trashcop 80s 80s]

I have already taken out all the leds and put back the stock halogens.

Is there anything that relates the circuit between the brakelight switch and the radio/cruise controls on the steering wheel?

[george graves]

You may have fried something - good luck with that.

[emi325i]

What type of LEDs did you use? Some of them have a built-in resistor, but, generally speaking, LED's have no internal resistance. This will cause a short, in which case, either the LED burns up or something else does. Assuming this isn't what happened, the internal resistance of the LED's built-in resistor is probably not equal to that of the original bulb.. It is conceivable that a higher current draw damaged something on that circuit...

So.. get a multi-meter out and measure the resistance of the LED and the bulb. If the LED resistance is significantly lower.. well.. that's bad.

[devonjordan]

are the fanatics any help?

[Farbin Kaiber]

Oops, forgot :sarcasm:

[trashcop 80s 80s]

They were generic "superbrightleds.com" leds, so I doubt they had any internal resistors built in. This sucks, I should have never installed those gay leds. I did not research the topic enough to know that it might short out the circuit.

So, what could be in the circuit besides the fuse? That is causing those controls to go out, as well as the brakelight switch system not to work?

[bmw325csi]

about the tail lights my e36 does the same thing, the dealer said that the tail light housing has a loose solder on it, im not sure if e46 tails are the same way bit a little bit of aluminum foil took care of the problem. As far as the steering wheel goes, i doubt that changing interior lights will cause your problem but im not 100%

[dsobering47]

e46 tail light housings are common to crap out. check where the bulbs meet the metal "grid" and if there are any burn marks or melting of plastic. .....if so, then you need a ned tail light housing.

as far as circuits being related like the brake switch and anything on your steering column, trace down to where the steering column goes past the brake pedal and examine all the wires down there. something is def off if all fuses checked out ok, so look for burned wires or anything at all that looks out of place.

btw, a voltmeter is your friend....as long as you know what youre doing....

good luck

[N2MYE30]

+1 on crappy tail light housing. I can't wait to get rid of my e46...POS.

[Farbin Kaiber]

I didn't know the e46 units are that bad, I've replaced tons in Volvo's, Jetta's and e36's, I'm surprised they still haven't licked that type of issue.

[WillisE30]

I didn't know the e46 units are that bad, I've replaced tons in Volvo's, Jetta's and e36's, I'm surprised they still haven't licked that type of issue.

They're bad, just like Mercs and Audis.

[mikeedler]

yep, there is a service bulletin about adding a second ground also when you replace the housing/ connector, and some of the wires.
also check your harness where it is in the flex tube between the body and lid, the wires love to break in there too.---
wouldnt have anything to do with your steeringwheel though.

might need to get it reprogrammed- i remember we had to reprogram a e46 vert that the guy swapped over to facelift LED tails- dont know why, but the crap wouldnt work without a reprogramming.