97 328i vert tail lights (which ones) for car with OBC

[fab4272]

According to RealOEM, my 97 328i vert should be using tail light part numbers 82199403097 and 82199403098 (the clear, not amber). My car has the OBC for light checks.

Have seen tail lights with part number 82199405443 and 82199405442. They look the same. I'm guessing they might work, but from what I'm reading, some are OBC specific and some others arn't.

Am I right in thinking these with the suffix 44x might give me an OBC error?


Thanks in advance.

[Eric93se]

Never heard about this as an issue, typically even the generic bulbs at the part store will work fine. Typically the obc just wants to see enough power draw from the bulb and it will be happy, low power draw and it thinks the bulb is blown out. The e36 is not like a modern bmw. I use led bulbs and the obc does not like that so triggers the blown bulb error. Setting the obc to europe which ignores the other box (forgot name) and no longer sets the error.

[bluptgm3]

There is a set of ‘tails’ for the E36 Sedan and a set of ’tails’ for the E36 Coupe/Convertible.

OM or OEM (OE like) with standard bulbs are OBC compatible, LED are not OBC compliant/compatible.

[MParallel]

You probably mean Check Control compatible. OBC is more than just the Check Control function.

Yes they are different. The connector has an additional pin for this function.

[fab4272]

Yes, that's what I mean. Check control compatible. The extra pin is part of the key. I've read somewhere you can mod a non check compatible tail light to make it compatible.

Thanks. Looks like I need the right light else I'll get false error reports on the OBC

[MParallel]

I have seen the conversion. IIRC you need to bridge 2 conductive strips.

If you Google for it, no doubt you'll find a How To.

[JDStrickland]

My Bentley manual, ELE-204, 2 of 3 for '94 - '96 (USA), and '97 except the 318ti shows that the tail lights are not dependent upon having the Check Control, but they do depend upon coupe/sedan platforms. Without regard to the physical fitment, there are wiring differences.

The presence of CC or not will have different wire colors, but the wires connect to the same pins on the lamp housings. The pinouts for the coupe and sedan are different, but they are not different for having the CC module.

[MParallel]

Burn that manual.

Once more since now confusion is possible. The CC/non-CC lights for respective models are different (extra pin in place), Except Compact model, that never got CC.