City lights but no tails / headlights (and other issues)

[K20RI211]

Hey guys,

I have a gray market E21 which retains full Euro lighting. It has the H4 lenses with city lights that work on the first pull of the headlight switch.

Pull it once more and the left-side headlight comes on but the right side remains at city light wattage. The tail lights do not work at all, but brake lights and turn signals do. I also do not have reverse lighting.

Should the orange sidemarkers come on at the first pull as well or do those only act as turn signals on cars with city lighting? And any tips of figuring out where the wires are crossed up that could be causing the symptoms I've described here?

Thanks,

Jeff

[Yonkers320is]

Check the fuses, you have for each light on the fuse box. Sometimes they get corroded, and just spinning them will make them work

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[epmedia]

If I knew the year of your car, I could post a link to the electric manual for you. For the 320i...

[320iAman]

Should the orange sidemarkers come on at the first pull as well or do those only act as turn signals on cars with city lighting?

Yes, The back red plastic side marker lights come on with first pull- they are part of the parking light system- Side marker lights, tail lights, and front turn signal lights plus dash lights on 2nd notch the low beam head lights go on(with engine running) with the parking light system. I only have 5 extra Parking,Dash,Headlight light switches.

Whats the year and model of your e21 car. ?


Randy

[K20RI211]

If I knew the year of your car, I could post a link to the electric manual for you. For the 320i...

Thanks guy. Spinning fuses didn't work. Car is a 1980 320 / 6, with full Euro lighting from the factory.

[epmedia]

Thanks guy. Spinning fuses didn't work. Car is a 1980 320 / 6, with full Euro lighting from the factory.

Here's for the electrical diagram for the 1980 E21 (I saved it from awhile back), it's about 4MB pdf file, so take your time while downloading it. This may not be exact for the euro electrical, I have no idea. It should certainly help though...

1980
http://www.findmymerchant.com/images...l/ETM_1980.pdf

Robert or
ep, eppy, does not matter..

[GDAus]

Hey guys,

I have a gray market E21 which retains full Euro lighting. It has the H4 lenses with city lights that work on the first pull of the headlight switch.

Pull it once more and the left-side headlight comes on but the right side remains at city light wattage. The tail lights do not work at all, but brake lights and turn signals do. I also do not have reverse lighting.

Should the orange sidemarkers come on at the first pull as well or do those only act as turn signals on cars with city lighting? And any tips of figuring out where the wires are crossed up that could be causing the symptoms I've described here?

Thanks,

Jeff

Hi ...

Why are you assuming you have wiring issues ? The most common reason a light doesn't work ... is that the globe is burnt out!

The turn indicators are just that .. they only work with the indicators and hazard switch. The parking lights in the headlights stay on with the headlights. Another indication it might be the globe, is if you have high beam but no low beam ... check the globe.

Same with the taillights ... working indicators and brake lights show you have a good ground connection ... and it is possible for both tail light globes to burn out close together. Also, the tail ights do tend to leak a bit with age .. might simply be a bit of corrosion on the contacts. The 2 plastic thumbwheels on the inside of the tail light housings make it so simple to pop the lenses off and check. If the globes and connection are ok .. then check fuses and other wiring connections with a test light or multimeter.

The reversing lights .... again, globes first and the socket connections. if they are ok .. then it might be a wiring problem. The wiring to the reverse switch on the gearbox goes under the centre console and down through the hole where the gear shift comes through. The wiring can chaff there or simply come off the switch on the gear box. Again ... check fuses and the voltage.

Good faultfinding starts with the simple and the obvious ... and then works towards the more complex.

Cheers

[rabobian]

HI Jeff,

On Euro spec e21's the front turn signals only function as the turn signal and not parking lights. There are only two wires going to each turn signal. On the US version there are three wires for each front turn signal, the third wire is for the parking lights which come on with the first pull of the switch. I imagine that the wire to your city lights would be similar to the parking lights on the US cars.

Check and clean all of your connections and grounds really well. Check continuity on the bulbs also. Pull the fuse and check for power to hot side of the fuse connection. This will help you to isolate where your problems are.

[320iAman]

Thats interesting Euro Models have different wiring and thus would use different bulbs, US Ver uses a two filament bulb for front turn signals, one dedicated for turn signal and the other for parking-running lights. On the back lens units 4-bulbs, turn signal,running-parking,brake and back up light. No back up lights on US-Ver is usually the switch in the transmission has gone bad. Euro Versions wiring diagram would be all in German language and more difficult to find.

Make sure you have the correct bulbs installed,the contact(s) on the bulb are clean and not oxidized and the socket contacts the bulbs go in are clean,,I use dielectric grease and have not had oxidation problems since.

Randy