Left rear tail light not working

[TheGrillMan]

On my way home from work tonight somone flagged me down to let me know my driver side brake light wasn't working..

So I stopped by Walmart and got a new bulb for it. Swaped it out and still nothing.. Switched bulbs from the left to right side and the left still wasn't working while the right would.. So I know it's not the bulbs..

I pulled the entire tail light assembly off to see if a ground or connecting wire possibly came loose and everything looks intact. I had no room mate sit in the car and hit the brakes so I could jiggle the bulb/ wires to see if that did anything.. Nothing.. I told him to turn on the lights to see if that made a change and now the running lights nor the reverse lights or blinker of the driver side tail are working..

Any ideas as to what it could be?

[RuskiE39]

Is there any corrosion? Did you also check the fuses?

[TheGrillMan]

Fuzes are fine.. Little to no corrosion on the connections.. It's has the 01+ tails so a few sockets that ground into a metal plate and a plug connection for the (running lights)

Before this issue the driver side running light was always a bit dim.. After pulling the tail light out a little bit none of it works..

[auaq]

What model?

I remember when my right rear taillight assembly was doing the same thing. Turned out that because the battery sits in that corner, all that venting/gassing from the battery, caused some corrosion on the wiring harness. I eventually replaced the entire taillight assembly, cut and replace the wiring harness too. Unfortunately, when you ask BMW to give you a new harness they will assemble a unit with same colored wires (brown) in the new plug. So, after cutting the old harness, carefully solder/splice in the new brown wires to its correct colored wires (don't mix them up), and then plug it back in. Problem solved.

[TheGrillMan]

What model? I remember when my right rear taillight assembly was doing the same thing. Turned out that because the battery sits in that corner, all that venting/gassing from the battery, caused some corrosion on the wiring harness. I eventually replaced the entire taillight assembly, cut and replace the wiring harness too. Unfortunately, when you ask BMW to give you a new harness they will assemble a unit with same colored wires (brown) in the new plug. So, after cutting the old harness, carefully solder/splice in the new brown wires to its correct colored wires (don't mix them up), and then plug it back in. Problem solved.

97 540i 6speed

Driver side tail light..

I just find it odd that the brake light was the issue all of a sudden then when I literally moved it 6 inches without unplugging anything now nothing on that side works at all..

I would do something like that but this 540i needs a lot of work and I really don't see a point in dropping the money into it when I'll be buying something new in the next few months.

[TheGrillMan]

I also checked the wires going into the trunk lid and everything looked fine..

[auaq]

Yep, I had the same problem by moving/wiggling the wires a little bit here and there would then intermittently work, or not. Otherwise, no power going to the entire assembly. Inspected the inside of the wiring connector and there were signs of pins rusted/corroded a little bit. Hence, improper power/ground contact. Even the taillight side was corroded too. Hence, replaced both the assembly and then cut and resoldered the main wiring harness.

[TheGrillMan]

Well I guess all signs point to corrosion on the inside of the plug as far as the running lights not working..

Still doesn't explain the brake light which is totally separate and not connected to the plug..

As sad as it is I guess I will be driving with no driver side tail lights at all for a few months..

Guess I'll see if I can dodge tickets for that long..

[auaq]

But don't disregard any fuses like Ruskie said. You'll have to refer to the fuse diagram / label info in the glove box.

[edjack]

"little or no corrosion" Consider cleaning the connectors with contact cleaner and a toothbrush.

"running light was always a bit dim" Bad connection.

[auaq]

^ Been there, done that. Yet, it didn't work for me. It depends on how bad the corrosion is and it's possible you might get lucky; otherwise, I would try to replace it and not waste much time on trying to clean it up a little bit.

[TheGrillMan]

But don't disregard any fuses like Ruskie said. You'll have to refer to the fuse diagram / label info in the glove box. Yeah I checked the fuzes and all looked fine.. Unless there are separate fuzes that are not listed on the diagram for each side of the tail lights.. Figured one fuze would cover both sides..

[RuskiE39]

Yeah I checked the fuzes and all looked fine.. Unless there are separate fuzes that are not listed on the diagram for each side of the tail lights.. Figured one fuze would cover both sides..
Not always, I would just try and replace the fuse, there should be some spares in there. Give that a shot to rule it out.

[TheGrillMan]

I'll give a shot at cleaning the connection once I can get it free.. Seems to be stuck like hell..

Again I don't see why that plug would have anything to do with the original brake light issue but we shall see..

[auaq]

Have you tried to confirm if it's getting any power at all from the harness?

[TheGrillMan]

Have you tried to confirm if it's getting any power at all from the harness? Unfortunately I have no multi meter with me at the moment so I can't check that.. Only know it was just the brake light not working in that side.. Removed the nuts and pulled the light out some and bam now there's nothing..

[TheGrillMan]

Well I just spent the time to pull the plug from the tail light.. Incredibly rusted with one prong totally broken off inside the female end of the plug...

[auaq]

There you go ... :)

[TheGrillMan]

Quick question....


Previous owner had upgraded to face lift tails..

Do the 97-98 tails use the same connections?

I could possibly get a set of those for cheap to get me by..

[TheGrillMan]

There you go ... :)

Do you know anywhere I could find a new/used female plug(end that is connected to the car that plugs into the tail) for the Celsius tail?

I found a used tail for 55$ so I would just need a new female plug to wire in for it to work..

[TheGrillMan]

Well I ended up picking up a used tail for cheap...

Now sadly I can't seem to find the plug anywhere.. I need someone with a parts car heh..

[Tomslick1954]

New to this posting, so hope this works. Came up with what I think is a clever solution for a BMW problem. My 2002 X5 and my 2000 528i both have had connector issues. I used these dental pick/brushes with a few drops of PB Buster on the brush. Cleaned the tiny female connectors out, completely. Watch for drips. Blew out the connections with canned air (computer supplies). Thin coat of silver-bearing contact grease (Radio Shack, etc ) and NO MORE Problems!558905