a couple of weeks ago,,,my check control panel told me A side light was out.but NONE were...after a few days the light disappeared...
now my check control panel says BOTH side lights ARE out.
all other lights work..
i cant find any fuse's for the side lights or even a fuse that says "lights" i have also replaced both side lights with new bulbs...still dont work..
are there any fuses??? or any other reason for the failures??
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storme
It's a fair bet that the rear lights on your car actually have two bulbs in each side - a 5W single filament bulb ('normal' rear lamp) plus a twin filament bulb 21/5W which gives a second 'normal' rear plus a rear fog. That's what my 3 series has. If just one of these 5W lamps has gone you'll get a bulb fail warning, but unless you look carefully you may think the rear lamp is OK.
JS
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The fuse box on a three is a nightmare especially in the dark (as I found out one night). What is the model of the car ?
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hi
the fuse box is fine,,it is in the glove box,,,and ive found the card with the fuse numbers on it..but there is no mention of lights on this card...
and ive now noticed that when i turn on the side lights,,the indicators come on now ?????
weird....
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Could the second bulbs JohnS is referring, be the small parking bulbs which are activated by the indicator stalk after the engine is switched off.????
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I was thinking more of stalk problem rather than bulb?.I could understand wrong bulb fitting causing a prob with sidelights/brake.But not indicators.And doubtfull a fuse.Unless backfeeding.Though have known it On a montego.But three fuses had blown
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Steve
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Dude
Just checked on my car. The parking lights operated by the indicator stalk illuminate both 'normal' rear 5W bulbs on the relevant side, just as switching the lights on does. There are no separate bulbs for parking, not on an E36 3 series anyway.
JS
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storme
That sounds more like an earthing problem in the light clusters. With faulty earths, the current can back feed through the other bulbs. The current will be wrong, which could activate the 'bulb fail' system.
JS
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hi again
well i just changed BOTH side lights..and now they work..
but the display still says the FRONT lights arent on....
when i put the side lights on the SIDE lights AND INDICATOR lights come on..but not rear,,they are all fine.
its front end only....
so to re iterate...
side lights now work but the indicators come on as well...when i put the main dipped headlights ON the sidelights stay ON but the indicators go OFF...
damn its like a chinese puzzle :)
ps i got xenons and they are fine both on fully and normal.
when lights are on normal headlights everything is ok
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storme
No question - there is an earthing problem with the front lights. The odd curent you get when the current flows through both side lights and indicators is triggering the bulbfail system.
JS
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I don,t think you have a problem now.The original fault was probably 2 side light bulbs faulty,but because this car has logic control for the lighting system it will "substitute" an adjacent bulb,thus if a side light fails the system will make the indicator bulb glow at low voltage.
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thx,,,,just one last question,,,,,could it be any type of control module????
these cars are pretty complex,,,,
i want it to be an earthing problem,,,a quick sqirt here and there should cure it i hope :) i will look for earth points and rub em down...
thx for the info,,,i will wait till next weekend b4 i look will post then :)
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ti the elekie and a/c doctor...
well done...
i read yr post and went to the shop and bought 2 new side lights and they worked a treat...all problems were solved..
the problem was this...i said i put in new bulbs....
what i did was
put in new LED bulbs...and these DO NOT work with NEWER BMWS.
i went to the beemer garage who confirmed that the voltage was tooo low..so the computer puts on the indicators as a back up...just as you said.....:)
so once again thx
and thx to all....regarding the EARTHING answers...i checked the earths and found a few others bits that needed doing,,,so thx for that as well
nice one honest john
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storme
This one's come up before. It's not a voltage problem. LED bulbs take a minute current compared to the conventional bulbs, Result? The 'bulb failure' electronics see them as failed bulbs.
JS
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