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Thread: Dashboard lights and right side parking and back-up lights stopped working on E31

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
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    Thousand Oaks, CA
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    1995 BMW 840ci

    Dashboard lights and right side parking and back-up lights stopped working on E31

    I've been searching on the forum to see if anyone else has had this similar issue but haven't had any luck.

    A couple of months ago, I changed the front and rear parking lights on my E31 with LED bulbs. When I turned the car on, I immediately got an error message on my dash noting that parking lights were not working. However, when I checked them, all of the lights were indeed working including the back-up lights. I just figured the error message was due to the different wattage of the LED bulbs so I didn't really worry about it. Now 2 months later, my dashboard lights and panel lights for the heater and A/C controls suddenly stopped working and I also noticed that my right front parking light and right rear parking and back-up lights are all not working. I checked all of the fuses and none are blown out.

    I tried to search for some answers on this forum as well as google but could not find anything with this specific problem.

    Any help would be appreciated!

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
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    Hampshire UK
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    99 840ci Sport Indv
    Obviously the first thing to do is stick tungsten bulbs back in - cheap LED bulbs are notorious for failing in all sorts of ways. But, I would guess the boot-hinge wiring has failed - more information here:

    http://www.meeknet.co.uk/e31/BMW_E31...ing_Repair.htm

    Fuse 5 is for the right-hand side parking lights:

    http://www.meeknet.co.uk/e31/Timms_B...use_Finder.htm

    If you want to fit LED's without error messages - this is how you do it:

    http://www.meeknet.co.uk/e31/BMW_E31...in_the_FTP.htm

    I would suspect the roller-dimmer for the instrument lighting - get one from Ebay and swap it over...
    Last edited by Timm; 02-10-2018 at 05:47 PM.
    Timm..2007 E64 650i Individual Sport..1999 E31 840ci Individual Sport..ex owner of 2000 E38 740..1999 E38 740i V8 M62..1998 E38 735i V8..1993 E32 730i V8..1988 E28 518i


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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
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    1995 BMW 840ci
    Thanks Timm, I will swap out the LED lights back to the manufacturer bulbs and I will check out the links you provided for the LED options.

    Thanks again.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Phoenix
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    2004 740i 1993 850Ci
    I had the same problem with my car. Turned out to be a frayed wire in the driver's seat. The seat wiring harness was not properly secured and caught on the frame when the seat moved fore and aft. Not shown anywhere on the wiring diagram I could find, but I think the wire powered the backlight for the memory button assembly.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
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    Essex, UK
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    '95 840Ci, '06 730d
    You've probably already sorted this issue, but for info, Fuse 5 covers the right-side parking lights AND the instrument illumination. They may look intact, but in my experience they can often blow and it is not immediately obvious. Try changing it anyway.

    The same thing happened to me very recently when I was fitting LED bulbs to my number plate lights. Suddenly lost my side lights on the right side. Fuse looked ok so I was stumped for a while until I changed it.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
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    1995 BMW 840ci
    Thanks for your reply. Yes, I was able to figure it out and you are exactly right. Initially I thought fuse #5 looked intact so I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it. I was about to give up and bring my car to the shop when I decided to check again. This time, I pulled the fuse out and realized that it was actually blown. I replaced the fuse and good news was that all of the right side lights worked again. However, as soon as I turned the headlights on, I immediately heard the fuse blow out again. I figured that the LED bulbs I had purchased were not really compatible for my 840ci even though the website from which I bought them from said it was. So I swapped out all of the LED bulbs I had put on with the original bulbs and haven’t had any issues with the fuse blowing out since.

    I am, however, having an issue with the right side back-up light and right side license plate bulb. I’ve replaced the bulbs with brand new OEM bulbs and no luck. I figure it’s a wiring issue but haven’t been able to narrow down exactly where yet. I’ve read some threads where this is a known issue with the E39 so I just have to take the time to figure it out.

    Thx again for your input.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Timm..2007 E64 650i Individual Sport..1999 E31 840ci Individual Sport..ex owner of 2000 E38 740..1999 E38 740i V8 M62..1998 E38 735i V8..1993 E32 730i V8..1988 E28 518i


    My BMW Repair YouTube Channel
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