Blinking 'rear lites' notification (but rear lites okay)

[somecarguy]

Naturally, just before a 6 hour road trip tomorrow. All the rear lites are okay. Any common grounds etc that cause the check panel lites to false-positive?

[ELVA164]

You may want to check the bulbs themselves and make sure they're silver bases and not brass. The different resistance can mess with the check system. You can also check the ground under the driver's side of the rear seat bottom.

[NomadHooker]

Check for corrosion in the bulb sockets too.

[richardodn]

Check your high brake light too. That often gets overlooked. If everything still checks out, just replace all the lamps with the correct lamps. https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...1#post26757741

[richardodn]

Also, I don't think it's really a brass vs nickel base issue. I think it's more an issue of the lamp having the proper electrical characteristics. The brass base is a good indicator that you have the wrong lamps installed. Also as the bulbs age, they can reach a point where the resistance goes up enough prevent the check control relay from tripping. Hence the recommendation to simply replace the lamps.

[somecarguy]

Thanks all. Lite went out but new bulbs will be added all around.

Car kept nice and cool during full hour of idling at hot border crossing into the usa... AND GOT COMPLIMENTS FROM CBP AGENT. id call that a good road trip.


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[earthwormjim]

The check light works by measuring the current flow through the bulbs. Low or no current flow trips the light. High resistance (corrosion) at the connectors can cause low current, so check the connectors and the bulb bases.