BMW 3 Series Touring E91 - Rear Indicator Failure

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Fri 23 Jul 2010 15:33
BMW 3 Series Touring E91 - Rear Indicator Failure - Radar

My less than 1 year old 12,000 mile 318d Touring has now had 2 failures (one on each side) of the rear LED indicators.

Is this a known or common fault? Is there likely to be an underlying fault that is causing them to fail?

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Mon 30 Aug 2010 19:31
BMW 3 Series Touring E91 - Rear Indicator Failure - SUS PENSIONER

I’ve got the problem on a BMW 320d Touring almost exactly one year since August registration.

The offside rear LED array has burnt out this weekend. I use the car infrequently but when I do the journey is usually 50+ miles. I can only assume that the offside indicators burnt out first because it is the most used when overtaking. This really shouldn’t happen. Nowadays most LED lamps have an operational life of 5000h to 10000h continuous use.

I don’t think BMW have thought through the design of the LED array indicators. The array appears to be sealed into the unit without any access. The whole of the outer offside lamp glass has to be replaced at £120+. The unit takes only 10 minutes to remove; much the same time as replacing a bulb. A replaceable array may have cost £20; more than a bulb but a lot less than a total replacement.

I have a warranty (I hope) but pity the poor owner who has a similar problem at MOT time.

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Thu 24 Mar 2011 15:26
BMW 3 Series Touring E91 - Rear Indicator Failure - rayleck

Had my tourer in today for its oil service,was told the service would include an inspection of the rear lights as per BMW request.Upon picking the car up was told two new lamps were required.Both units appear to be working fine at the moment.Car goes back in next week for the work.

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