Quad brake lights

[BimmerFlyer]

So surfing the web found a couple of post on upgrading the brake lights on our beloved E38’s by putting a lightbulb in the unused fog lights hole.... seemed pretty easy.. need a pin , jumper wire and a splice, bulb holder and have a pretty cheap and cool upgrade...

well..all the post and links on E38.org are all facelift cars...not quite so easy on a pre facelift..

On the facelift cars , the tail lens assembly is universal and ”pre wired” for the fog light, all you have to do is get power to the pin and put in a bulb.... on the pre facelift cars it must be US specific and even tho the lens and metal channels are there, there is no physical pin In the plug and no connection to the channel..

the pin that powers the channel from the connector is punched and riveted in, so hard to replicate...

so the only way to do a quad brake light is to either power the bulb directly, or put in a jumper wire between brake light and fog light channel.... this last one is the route I am going... couple of small screws and some connectors and wire should do it..

and BTW, the bulb holders pre and post facelift ARE different, so you will have to order the correct one..it is the gray pre facelift one, about $10...

will post some pictures when i get all the parts in..
Pete

[franco90]

So surfing the web found a couple of post on upgrading the brake lights on our beloved E38’s by putting a lightbulb in the unused fog lights hole.... seemed pretty easy.. need a pin , jumper wire and a splice, bulb holder and have a pretty cheap and cool upgrade...

well..all the post and links on E38.org are all facelift cars...not quite so easy on a pre facelift..

On the facelift cars , the tail lens assembly is universal and ”pre wired” for the fog light, all you have to do is get power to the pin and put in a bulb.... on the pre facelift cars it must be US specific and even tho the lens and metal channels are there, there is no physical pin In the plug and no connection to the channel..

the pin that powers the channel from the connector is punched and riveted in, so hard to replicate...

so the only way to do a quad brake light is to either power the bulb directly, or put in a jumper wire between brake light and fog light channel.... this last one is the route I am going... couple of small screws and some connectors and wire should do it..

and BTW, the bulb holders pre and post facelift ARE different, so you will have to order the correct one..it is the gray pre facelift one, about $10...

will post some pictures when i get all the parts in..
Pete

Here you go hope this HELPS a DIY
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/387567

- - - Updated - - -

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/547660

[BimmerFlyer]

Here you go hope this HELPS a DIY
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/387567

- - - Updated - - -

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/547660

both of those are Facelift cars, and the above procedures do NOT work on a pre facelift .... you can put the extra pin in the harness side, but there is no corresponding pin on the light/ lens side... and no way to put one in easily.....I will take some pictures and post them... As the saying goes, “a picture is a 1000 words”
Pete

[franco90]

LOL its all the same

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/547660

[franco90]

HAHA can you please take pics of you rear tail lights or why don't get a newer set of tail lights and get the mod done

[BimmerFlyer]

LOL its all the same

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/547660

yeah, I am going to have to disagree with you.. first picture is my ‘97 tail light assembly ,as installed in the car.. as you can see there are 6pins in the connector.....
2nd picture is a facelift tail light, with the connector removed/cut off, as you can see there are 7 pins and the way thet are fastened riveted to the electric channel... the one highlighted is the one that feeds the foglight and is missing from the 6 pin on a pre facelift.
So on a facelift, indeed if you add an extra pin to the car side electrical harness and power that unused pin on the tail light assembly (fog light) you have indeed a dual (quad) brake light..

adding that same pin on a pre facelift does not do a damn thing, because it has no were to connect too, there is no unused or seventh pin on the tail light assembly, and no good way to add one... cutting the plug off like I did is permanent , there is no good way to fastened it back on..
Pete

[franco90]

yeah, I am going to have to disagree with you.. first picture is my ‘97 tail light assembly ,as installed in the car.. as you can see there are 6pins in the connector.....
2nd picture is a facelift tail light, with the connector removed/cut off, as you can see there are 7 pins and the way thet are fastened riveted to the electric channel... the one highlighted is the one that feeds the foglight and is missing from the 6 pin on a pre facelift.
So on a facelift, indeed if you add an extra pin to the car side electrical harness and power that unused pin on the tail light assembly (fog light) you have indeed a dual (quad) brake light..

adding that same pin on a pre facelift does not do a damn thing, because it has no were to connect too, there is no unused or seventh pin on the tail light assembly, and no good way to add one... cutting the plug off like I did is permanent , there is no good way to fastened it back on..
Pete

MY buddy has a set of his E38 2001 they can be swap out

[Qsilver7]

Installing the pins is a nice and tidy DIY...but using a jumper wire is E A S Y.

My quad brake light mod was made easy for my 1997 740iL. In 2003...I ordered a set of rear tail lights (that were offered in the parts database back then) from the Euro side of the BMW part database that came with 2 rear tail lights with the all the bulbs and bulb holders that included the rear fog light & white turn indicators. They were the crystallized facelift design. So there are 7 pins in the connector...but again, all I did was solder a jumper wire between the rear brake light and the rear fog light and BAM! ... I had quad brake lights.

This set-up never gave me an issue and when I sold the e38 in July 2018...it was still working. Take note of the BROWN jumper wire:

[BimmerFlyer]

Hi Q, that is exactly what I did, I ended up making a jumper wire with small ring terminals and riveting those to the channels, just like you soldered yours....

I am kind of partial to my pre facelift tail lights, I think it fit the classic lines of the car better then the lcrystalized version on the later models..

Thanks
Pete

[Qsilver7]

Great! Thanks for the follow up...glad you got just what you wanted.

[SoCalJuan]

Apologies for the dumb question, but what are the middle level lights for? I have a 2001 e38 sport and that section of the lights never work.

I plan to perform the quad light mod now, but wanted to see if those lights work as well or if I can ignore. Thanks.

[rslifkin]

The middle lights are your tail / running lights. Lower inner is normally the rear fog, lower outer is brake. Single side parking lights will only light the outer of the 2 running lights.

[Qsilver7]

Apologies for the dumb question, but what are the middle level lights for? I have a 2001 e38 sport and that section of the lights never work.

I plan to perform the quad light mod now, but wanted to see if those lights work as well or if I can ignore. Thanks.

See the image below from the owners manual. The unmarked section in the pic (along the bottom next to #4 & #5) is the location for the rear fog light (which wasn't used in the US market):