BMW Announces E46 tail light recall -- finally

*Pending sticky

Originally Posted by ac_2007

Prefacelift ftw

+1!

I updated your posts with details from the NHTSA.

Tim

What if DIYed:/

I'm guessing this doesn't apply to cars with original LED tails, correct? Or does it?

hmmm i wonder lol
i still have my oem lights in my possesion
but i replaced them with LEDs on the car
wonder how this affects me, if i could just turn them in and get a new set
lol that would be nice

I'm not sure this is actually new news. When I bought my sedan I found out about this later. There was a paper BMW put out and they offered a kit and or install. I don't think there was anything about free labor, just that it is well known problem and a fix has been in the works for some time. The brown return wire on the sedans is too small of a gauge to support the load. It melts the insulation and the connector at the light. Then you get bulb out indications because the bulb intermittently goes out. I changed 3 of those little buggers before I found the DIY on the forum and what caused it. It's a fire hazard if unchecked.

I wish I had the link.

Originally Posted by wat3rbug

I'm not sure this is actually new news. When I bought my sedan I found out about this later. There was a paper BMW put out and they offered a kit and or install. I don't think there was anything about free labor, just that it is well known problem and a fix has been in the works for some time. The brown return wire on the sedans is too small of a gauge to support the load. It melts the insulation and the connector at the light. Then you get bulb out indications because the bulb intermittently goes out. I changed 3 of those little buggers before I found the DIY on the forum and what caused it. It's a fire hazard if unchecked.

I wish I had the link.

You are right it is not new. What has changed is that BMW has issued a recall.

Prior to this BMW had issued a service bulletin (in 2006?). A lot of us did the DIY and as you know it works fine. In fact (as the recall states) that is all the dealer is going to do to repair the defect.

Mine has been acting up about a year now....almost dont even see the tail light indicator anymore....it will be nice to have THEM pay to make it go away...even though I wish they would just give me the stuff and let me do it myself...but whatever.... maybe in another 6 years they will recall the crappy power steering pumps... LOL!

I've already done the cheap DIY fix but I figure I'll still let them do the recall work so that if anyone ever asks (e.g. when I'm selling the car) I say all recalls have been done.

i was wondering why my light out indicator came on all the time for the rear lights even after replacing bulbs

Originally Posted by ac_2007

Prefacelift ftw

Yeah right. Cuz prefacelift haven't had this issue, right? The reality is you've been left out.

I just bought there kit to fix this problem at the dealership a cpl days ago. Will they refund my money?

Sent from my PC36100 using Bimmer

Subscribed. Although Im aware of this problem, never had any issues.

I guess I should expect a card to arrive in the mail for an appointment.

I need a new ground wire on my EE LED Tail lights.

I did the diy, the warning is gone, but now my turn signal (amber portion of the taillight) doesn't flash? Any ideas???

I did most of the DIY, buying the parts instead of the whole kit because it was cheaper to buy the parts. But I only put in the new ground wires, didn't replace the harness plugs, which are still damaged so one wire (the original ground wire) is a bit loose. Even bought the new plugs but was too lazy to pry all the wires out of the old plugs and put them into the new plugs. I hope I can take this to a dealer and get the plugs replaced, maybe get a refund for what I spent on the parts.

Would they fix the ground wire if I have EE tails?

I never had any problem but i am still gonna go there. Do i need to put on the stock tail lights or I can go there with my EE LED tail lights? Thanks

My car isn't incldued in the recall but it damn sure had the defect. Honestly, BMW NA sucks, my local dealership sucks, the e30 seems to be the last reliable 3-series model and the e46 seems to be the last 3-series that you can work on yourself, parts prices... don't get me started. I may have an M3 "toy" once my daughters are school age and I'm no longer paying for daycare to the tune of nearly $2k/mo but when I get rid of my current car I'm going Japanese for my daily driver.