2003 540i: right tail light bad

[Jason C SBB]

.. and it's not either of the 2 changeable bulbs. The manual says "go to dealer".

No warning from the dash computer.

It's the light that comes on when you turn the headlights on, not the turn, brake, nor reverse lamps. It looks like some kind of LED with fiber optic pipes?

I did a search and found nothing... ?

Any DIY repairs?

Is it a $200 dealer part?

[edjack]

All the outside lights are controlled by the LKM. You'll need to have it checked out by someone who has the correct factory computer.

[dgkirkman]

thats the running lights.. that happened to me also what it turned out to be was 1 of the tabs broke off the light socket.pull the wire plug off n check if all the tabs r in place. i repaired mine by bridging the conection it saved me 200$ cuz the light was in xcellent condition otherwise

[Jason C SBB]

Thanks for that. I investigated mine and the connector was very corroded and rusty due to a water leak. It was hard to pull it off, and it cracked in a few spots. I removed the whole taillight assembly and used a 12V source, all the lamps checked out.

So I soldered some wires into the assembly and added my own crimp-on new .062 Molex connector from a kit with pins and shells. I cut the old connector off the car's harness and crimped a new mating connector on. Voila.

Self explanatory pics follow. I used a 5-pin connector and an extra 1 pin connector. There are only 5 wires but I doubled up the ground because it carries a lot of current.