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Thread: Rear Taillight Connector Issue

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Long Beach, CA
    Posts
    12
    My Cars
    2012 BMW 283i F30

    Rear Taillight Connector Issue

    My wife mentioned the car complained the left rear turn signal and brake light malfunctioned. Last night I removed the left taillight and found the ground wire on the connector had over heated and broke. While researching the problem I found numerous posts about the same problem with the e90 generation and a recall for the 5 series for the same problem. I ordered a replacement bulb holder and new pin connectors from FCPEuro. The fix should be fairly simple, but I will post pictures and a tutorial encase others experience the same issue.

    My concern is what caused the connection to overheat. It could simply have been corrosion increased resistance and over heated the connection. I plan to put dialectic grease on the back of the connector to protect it from the environment. However, I'm concerned there might be a more significant issue causing over current on the ground wire. Does anyone know of similar issues with the F30 generation or any suggestions of what I could check. I'm hoping this is simply a corrosion issue since any other cause would be a significant electrical problem with the car.

    2012 BMW 328i F30

    Thanks
    John

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    .
    Posts
    7,708
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    .
    It's a BMW trademark. LOL

    The real cause is BMW pulses the bulbs constantly to monitor resistance. This is how it knows when a bulb burns out. The constant pulsing overheats the ground wires. Welcome to modern day electronics.
    ASE and BMW Master Certified Technician

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Long Beach, CA
    Posts
    12
    My Cars
    2012 BMW 283i F30
    Parts arrived from FCPEuro and I fixed the issue, the pin connectors I ordered where not the correct ones. In hindsight I would have ordered a new connector from Arrow Electronics, the connector is part# 1-2141397-1, the pins are Molex 5016471000 and just made a completely new OEM replacement connector for the wire harness for a large sum of a $1.

    The reason for ordering a new connector is when the connector overheats the plastic melts so getting the old connector pins out is very difficult. Whether you replace the connector or not the steps are the same.

    I have pictures to upload but am having trouble transferring them from my phone. Once I get them transfered I will upload them.

    Steps
    1. Remove the rear tail light assembly
    2. Unplug the connector from the assembly
    3. Slide the purple lock and remove from connector
    4. Using a pick press in the lock on the connector pins and removed all pins. Removing the ground might be difficult depending on how much it melted.
    5. Cut the ground connector off, enough to remove any damaged wire. If you have to cut anything more then just the connector I suggestion adding a small piece of wire to restore the ground to the correct length.
    6. Add a new replacement connector pin.
    7. Reinstall the pin connectors into the connector and reassemble the tail light.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    Portugal
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    BMW 318dA (F31)
    Hello

    Same issue her. I've scavangered some auto-parks-junk-yards, but it's been rather difficult to find a connector with the wires already on (cut and solder).

    Are you aware if this connector is also used on other versions of BMW cars? From RealOEM site it seems that the bulb holder is only for the F30/31 versions, hence, more difficult to get the connector!

    Thank you
    Regards

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Conway, Arkansas
    Posts
    2
    My Cars
    2012 BMW 328i
    I'm having this issue, but Arrow states a 500 qty minimum order. Might you have insight?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    44
    My Cars
    1997 328i
    Thanks for the info velorider. This info helped a lot. I also couldn't buy any individual parts from Arrow for the connector or pins, so I bought the repair kit for like 10x more $.
    I was able to find the correct BMW part number for the repair kit from some google images search, because the only 6-pin connector I could find on RealOEM looked wrong. 61132359993 is the correct one. The one on RealOEM was 61132359992...so close.

    I only needed 1 of the 6 pins that came with the kit, so maybe I can use it for when the left tail light goes out.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    719
    My Cars
    1995 BMW M3 Coupe
    Our F30 is at the dealer now, for this issue. Original warranty expires at the end of the month so it’s being repaired for free.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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