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Thread: Help With Third Brake Light Install

  1. #1
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    Help With Third Brake Light Install

    Found out that the cause of the leaking in my trunk was from the third brake light lens not snapped into the base.
    In my quest to rehabilitate my Z3 M I ordered the lens and a new gasket. But am finding out that it's a SOB to snap the two together.
    Any advice?
    Thanks!

  2. #2
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    Shucks, 55 views and no comments?
    Did a bit more searching on other sites and came up with:
    1. Try pressing harder! LOL!
    2. Use a heat gun to soften the plastic up.
    3. As a final resort grinding the plastic surface to reduce clearance a tiny bit.

  3. #3
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    Never had issues with that, so can't comment.

  4. #4
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    I have a pre-facelift brake light which snapped together with some effort. Your 2000 would be post-facelift which has a different part number.
    http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...5#post29297215
    BMW MOA 696, BMW CCA 1405

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vintage42 View Post
    I have a pre-facelift brake light which snapped together with some effort. Your 2000 would be post-facelift which has a different part number.
    http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...5#post29297215
    M's were never facelifted

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by rennwerkes View Post
    Shucks, 55 views and no comments?
    Did a bit more searching on other sites and came up with:
    1. Try pressing harder! LOL!
    2. Use a heat gun to soften the plastic up.
    3. As a final resort grinding the plastic surface to reduce clearance a tiny bit.
    I think you're on the right track.
    How hard to press is a hard call. It's like a version of a joke: "press until it breaks, then back off a little".
    Heating it might help. Maybe just a blowdryer or laying it in the sun (I'm in AZ, so the sun makes things very hot.)
    I'd be very careful with a heat gun. Hard plastic can go from "no reaction" to "too soft" in a second.
    I have a dremel tool that I use in such cases to carefully remove just enough material.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by BimmerBreaker View Post
    M's were never facelifted
    I missed noticing that. So in 2000, Z3s had two different butts. And you would think the Ms would get the wider, more aggressive butt.
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  8. #8
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    The facelift Z's are no wider than the M's or prefacelift 6 cylinders. Just a different design

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  9. #9
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    Seems as though the way to go is using a Dremel tool.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vintage42 View Post
    I have a pre-facelift brake light which snapped together...
    http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...5#post29297215
    I think this DIY is for the pre-facelift like mine.
    https://zroadster.org/articles/bmw-z...eplacement.69/
    It says in Step 3 that "Next you need to remove the 2 x T-8 screws which hold the black plastic back plate to the front red plastic lens..." That is all they do. They don't hold the assembly to the car, and have no water-tightness function. So there is no need to tighten them much, which will only crack the tips of the plastic lens.
    The assembly is a sandwich of black plastic back plate, body metal, bulb holder, gasket and lens, which is all pressed together until the lens tabs clip onto the back plate. At least that is how I remember it from a few years ago. What makes the assembly water tight is not screws or tightening, but the manual pressing the assembly together, one hand in the trunk, the other outside on the lens, compressing the foam gasket until the tabs snap together one by one.
    Last edited by Vintage42; 07-27-2018 at 03:56 PM.
    BMW MOA 696, BMW CCA 1405

  11. #11
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    Vintage42, that's exactly right.
    I find that it's nearly impossible for one person to apply enough force to snap these together.
    I've been having my son help and still does not snap together.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by rennwerkes View Post
    Seems as though the way to go is using a Dremel tool.
    That would be a last resort that might smooth the snapping tabs too much.
    Lubing the gasket and lens groove might help in squeezing the gasket.
    Last edited by Vintage42; 07-27-2018 at 03:57 PM.
    BMW MOA 696, BMW CCA 1405

  13. #13
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    Thanks for the suggestion but I've already tried lubing the gasket and the surface area.

  14. #14
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    Today I disassembled and assembled 3rd brake light on prefacelift to clean the contacts on bulbs. If OP's issue is with putting electric plate between black plastic tabs, this is what I did:
    1. Put the plate on tips of bottom tabs.
    2. Start with one side, one tab by one.
    3. While pressing the lens from outside (ask someone to help), with screwdriver try to bend top tab tip to put electrical plate inside. Keep it on the tips of tabs, and move to next tab.
    4. After tips of all tabs are around the plate, try to push plate evenly in.

    If putting new lens inside trunk cover hole is an issue, then I remember it was quite tight fit with new gasket first time.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by deni2s View Post
    Today I disassembled and assembled 3rd brake light on prefacelift to clean the contacts on bulbs. If OP's issue is with putting electric plate between black plastic tabs, this is what I did:
    1. Put the plate on tips of bottom tabs.
    2. Start with one side, one tab by one.
    3. While pressing the lens from outside (ask someone to help), with screwdriver try to bend top tab tip to put electrical plate inside. Keep it on the tips of tabs, and move to next tab.
    4. After tips of all tabs are around the plate, try to push plate evenly in.

    If putting new lens inside trunk cover hole is an issue, then I remember it was quite tight fit with new gasket first time.
    Thanks, I'll try to give your method a try.

  16. #16
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    I went through the same issue with mine. I could not get the base to snap together with new lens and gasket. I had friends help, but nothing worked. I thought for awhile it might have been machine pressed. I had read where folks had tried siIcone to stop the leak and so on....I ended up getting a new base. It snapped together the first try.
    I was trying to put a new lens and gasket that was flexible on an old base. The old base was dried out and more rigid. No matter what I did it would not snap together. The new base came with a new circuit board that held the bulbs. It was made a lot lighter than the old one. I also changed all the bulbs on mine. I didn’t want to have to deal with opening it up to change the bulbs.
    It was about 3 years ago, no leaks since.
    Last edited by Bob M; 07-27-2018 at 10:53 PM.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob M View Post
    I went through the same issue with mine. I could not get the base to snap together with new lens and gasket. I had friends help, but nothing worked. I thought for awhile it might have been machine pressed. I had read where folks had tried siIcone to stop the leak and so on....I ended up getting a new base. It snapped together the first try.
    I was trying to put a new lens and gasket that was flexible on an old base. The old base was dried out and more rigid. No matter what I did it would not snap together. The new base came with a new circuit board that held the bulbs. It was made a lot lighter than the old one. I also changed all the bulbs on mine. I didn’t want to have to deal with opening it up to change the bulbs.
    It was about 3 years ago, no leaks since.
    Aargh! I wanted to avoid buying the base since it's terribly expensive.
    I'm going to try all the other suggestions first then resort to a new base as a last alternative.
    Thanks!

  18. #18
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    Here's a follow up and hopefully end on the third brake light.
    I noticed there were some "knubs" on the housing that snaps into the lens.
    Decided to file them down and see if it helps. It actually did but still not enough.
    The housing material is surprisingly tough so to move things along went to my bench grinder.
    Very carefully I ground the surface down just a small bit focusing on the area near the clips.
    FINALLY, all snapped in AND the seal held when I poured water into the indentation.
    Damn! All this effort for such a small part.
    One other tip, you have to watch the gasket to make sure it stays "in" with the plastic lens.

  19. #19
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    Reviving an sort of old thread....

    I'm about to do this myself. How did you separate the old lens from the old housing?

    I already have a new gasket and I have a new housing on the way. Am I going to need a new lens as well?
    George Roffe
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  20. #20
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    Let me elaborate....

    After reading how hard it is to snap together, is it just as hard to separate? I read the web page with the instructions and see the compression clips. Sounds easy (other than brittle Bavarian plastic). Just trying to find out if the separation is generally easy or a PITA?

    Trying to get the roadie back on the road after 4 years of sitting. I parked it due to some emissions issues I didn't have time for and then life kept rearranging some priorities. So far, no CELs, but not enough miles to make ready for inspection yet.
    George Roffe
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  21. #21
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    To follow up if anyone else searches this topic in the future....

    They separated easily. I'd have a magnet on hand when removing the screws though. I lost one. Had my fingers there and just about in my fingers and one squirted out. After 45 minutes of blind fishing with extendable magnet, I could not find it, nor could i get it to rattle around moving the trunk up and down quickly. Can't believe i have to order one of those stupid things.

    Mine seemed to click together pretty easily, although probably because of reading some of the problems some folks have had. I was careful to look at where the clips were and pressed there pretty well. The end clips audibly snapped into place quickly. The middle clips took a little more doing.

    Finally got enough miles on it to make it ready for inspection. Going to take a day off this week to get that accomplished and get it registered.

    Now just a bunch of little things to take care of and new coverings for the seats. Three years outside under a cover took a toll on the leather and it cracked. It's OK, it was kind of worn anyway.
    George Roffe
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  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Geo31 View Post
    ... I'd have a magnet on hand when removing the screws though. I lost one. Had my fingers there and just about in my fingers and one squirted out. After 45 minutes of blind fishing with extendable magnet, I could not find it, nor could i get it to rattle around moving the trunk up and down quickly. Can't believe i have to order one of those stupid things...
    I dropped a screw and could not get a magnet probe close enough to pick it up. It was a very unusual screw that would be hard to find or order.
    The screw was lodged where the outer body lid and the interior stamping come together. I was able to indirectly retrieve it with a magnet, I knew about where the screw was, and from outside the trunk, used a magnet to move the screw to where I could pick it up with my fingers.
    I don't recall if I need to use one of my coin sized neodymium super magnets, They would need a piece of paper to protect the paint. But the magnetism went through the trunk lid and I pushed and moved the screw to where I could pick it off.
    Last edited by Vintage42; 10-23-2018 at 07:56 PM.
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  23. #23
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    Snapping that piece back together takes real force! One person holding the red lens, me pushing using a piece of scrap wood. One set required snapping the lower then the upper. Bottom line: it can be done.

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by DRMc View Post
    Snapping that piece back together takes real force! One person holding the red lens, me pushing using a piece of scrap wood. One set required snapping the lower then the upper. Bottom line: it can be done.
    Hmmm.... Mine appears to be snapped in place. It sure does not pop apart when I tug at it. I washed it over the weekend (and did a paint correction*) and only got a little water through the gasket where I don't have the screw in on the side (should be here in 2 days). The water that came through was very little AND I could see that the connection was loose there (as opposed to the rest of the lens). Perhaps I will find out the hard way, but I followed some comments here and pressed hard (reasonably - it's plastic) and pressed in the bulb holder/PCB and it seemed to snap in OK. I think once I have the screw in at the end it will be completely buttoned up. I just didn't have that much trouble.
    George Roffe
    98 M Roadster
    01 325iT


  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vintage42 View Post
    I dropped a screw and could not get a magnet probe close enough to pick it up. It was a very unusual screw that would be hard to find or order.
    The screw was lodged where the outer body lid and the interior stamping come together. I was able to indirectly retrieve it with a magnet, I knew about where the screw was, and from outside the trunk, used a magnet to move the screw to where I could pick it up with my fingers.
    I don't recall if I need to use one of my coin sized neodymium super magnets, They would need a piece of paper to protect the paint. But the magnetism went through the trunk lid and I pushed and moved the screw to where I could pick it off.
    The screws are not are to find ..... at the dealer......don’t ask me how I know

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