BMW Announces E46 tail light recall -- finally

Originally Posted by 330ciandr6

You sir, are retarded. All recalls and similar work do pay the techs. Why do you think car companies lose money when they recalls? Because they have to pay the techs for the fix and pay for any parts needed. Might want to check your info before you post crap like that.

The world is full of ex-mechanics (ask around), you'll ruin a perfectly good hobby if you are a service tech. Once you go to school and buy a bunch of tools, it's hard to quit. if you're supporting a family, it's near impossible. I don't know many techs who like their jobs. The FLAT RATE system pretty much means that you're either doing totally routine things, and making money, or doing something interesting and not. People don't like to pay for diagnostic work, and it can be time - consuming. I think the only way I'd do that again, is a fleet- service job (pays by the hour), I did it for seven years, but went back to peeling logs (by hand, with a knife) pays about as well, few tools to buy, nobody wanting the cheap fix, then demanding the deluxe guarentee. I found it absolutely relaxing, after mechanic work. A job is about making money- study something profitable, and in demand. The only reason it's possible to find an auto mechanic, is because many young guys want to try it.

Recall work depends on the dealer, they demand the deluxe guarentee but WONT pay you if the car is returned, because they pressured the greenhorn tech to finish the job in 30 minutes. I guess it may just depends on where you work, I never worked at BMW but I can assume its the same as everyone else...FLAT RATE pay.

I went to check to see if my BMW had already been serviced by the recall and it looks like they just cut the brown ground apart, attached a 2 prong clip and ran dual grounds, one to the original plug and one to the bulb grounds. Nothing different than thats already been explained DIY on here except there is a union clip joining the two wires rather than wraping them together. Regardless, both are great fixes and I would recommend either. (7yr experience Electrical Engineering tech and Automotive repair)

I was a tech for about 8 years

And yes, I hated it cause you can get screwed too easily. That is why I work in parts now. But, I would like to know what car company makes a tech do a recall for free? Never seen that at all the numerous different car companies I have worked for.

90% of the dealers I have worked for , the techs didn't make much money (which is why I got out if it), but I'll say most of the BMW techs are making decent money at the dealer I work at now.


Oh and just so everyone knows the recall they put out is ONLY on sedans.

It depends on the dealer/manufacture agreements. Most companies pay their dealers fixed shop reimbursement rates for any recall type work. No real dealer on the planet would absorb that hit. Now, the fixed reimbursement may be even to or below actual time for the scope of work. In this case, quality of work may be questioned where the tech is rushed to not lose money. Been there - done that.

I know it doesnt say any E46 M3s are affected.......

Wonder if they are. Is this for NON LED Tails only?

Originally Posted by hummer

I've got news for them! My 01 330ci had the same issues! They were corrected by replacing the tail tight bulb holder assemblies. End of problem and $150 of of my pocket.

I had precisely the same problem. Mine is a 2001 330ci (Coupe). I paid to have mine fixed also.

Guess ill be putting my old red/yellow/red stock tail lights back on and going to the dealer for the fix. Never have seen a problem with my tails yet but better safe than sorry

Only on sedans as of right now

Originally Posted by 330ciandr6

I was a tech for about 8 years

And yes, I hated it cause you can get screwed too easily. That is why I work in parts now. But, I would like to know what car company makes a tech do a recall for free? Never seen that at all the numerous different car companies I have worked for.

90% of the dealers I have worked for , the techs didn't make much money (which is why I got out if it), but I'll say most of the BMW techs are making decent money at the dealer I work at now.


Oh and just so everyone knows the recall they put out is ONLY on sedans.

When I worked at lexus we had to deal with a valve train issue where the springs and shims needed to be replaced. I recall an incident where a customer brought a vehicle back and complained of a rattle on cold start up, ended up the greenhorn mechanic used the recalled part numbers that somehow where still in stock to repair the vehicle. This resulted in a free repair without pay, sadly this happened on other occasions where bandaids were performed and we had to put a guarentee on the repair in our name. It was terrible, and it almost ruined a perfectly good hobby. I fix and rebuild diesel generators and fix logging equipment out in the middle of nowhere, and to be honest...Ive never been happier to work outdoors, except in the winter time...it can be quiet cold and I hate busting my knuckles up when my hands are freezing.

I bought my 2003 exactly three years ago and it had the rear light out indicator glowing at the time.
A little bit o' searching on this website & bingo. Problem solved. Who needs the dealer ???

i'm calling BMW in Canada here to see if they are aware of the recall yet as my tail light situation has got worse.
it went from not recognizing the bulb i had replaced even though it still lit up to all them not lighting up except turn signal
when originally getting the light out bulb i checked for any melting and did not see or smell any like i did on the driver side when i added the additional ground wire.
will check that today to see if it's finally melted or not.

This is probably a stupid question but is this why you see a lot of e46s where some of the tail light bulbs are dimmer than others? Because of poor grounding?

Originally Posted by InTheBeams

Guess ill be putting my old red/yellow/red stock tail lights back on and going to the dealer for the fix. Never have seen a problem with my tails yet but better safe than sorry

Do you think they'll be that rough about it? I mean it should only be the assemblies they're concerned about right? Or will they be finding any excuse to not warranty it...

Originally Posted by 330ciandr6

Only on sedans as of right now

Can you find out what the mechs/dealers will do about already "repaired" vehicles to fix the grounding problem? I did the spade connector repair for the ground to the ground side bar on the lighting housing done on here and am wondering if/what will arise when I bring that into a dealer.

P.S. I'm a tech and our foreman helped with the job, he thought it was a good repair. I'd take the BMW repair if I can, but am confident in what I have now.

P.P.S. I only did the driver's side, passenger still looks fine, would they do only 1 side?

Originally Posted by 2003 325i

Can you find out what the mechs/dealers will do about already "repaired" vehicles to fix the grounding problem? I did the spade connector repair for the ground to the ground side bar on the lighting housing done on here and am wondering if/what will arise when I bring that into a dealer.

P.S. I'm a tech and our foreman helped with the job, he thought it was a good repair. I'd take the BMW repair if I can, but am confident in what I have now.

P.P.S. I only did the driver's side, passenger still looks fine, would they do only 1 side?

Read my previous post, there is a picture of what bmw does lol

Again, nice and simple: does this defect affect e46s with factory LED tails?

Originally Posted by rwall

Again, nice and simple: does this defect affect e46s with factory LED tails?

No, only sedans. Read.

Mines fix I am not taking my car to the dealer at all. I can not stand them and do not want them touching my car. I swear when I ask them simple questions about the engine or performance type things that they should Know they either say well with only deal with DINAN or We Can Give Any Information on that. Stupid they couldnt even Flash my car to EU2 Software they never even knew they could! Pretty dumb.

Originally Posted by Loaded325i

When I worked at lexus we had to deal with a valve train issue where the springs and shims needed to be replaced. I recall an incident where a customer brought a vehicle back and complained of a rattle on cold start up, ended up the greenhorn mechanic used the recalled part numbers that somehow where still in stock to repair the vehicle. This resulted in a free repair without pay, sadly this happened on other occasions where bandaids were performed and we had to put a guarentee on the repair in our name. It was terrible, and it almost ruined a perfectly good hobby. I fix and rebuild diesel generators and fix logging equipment out in the middle of nowhere, and to be honest...Ive never been happier to work outdoors, except in the winter time...it can be quiet cold and I hate busting my knuckles up when my hands are freezing.

This and many other stories I've heard is why I never considered becoming a mechanic. All I hear is crappy pay, no pay on warranty work, rushing etc. The only way to make money as a mechanic is to be self employed and or run your own shop.

Originally Posted by bwallace530

Mines fix I am not taking my car to the dealer at all. I can not stand them and do not want them touching my car. I swear when I ask them simple questions about the engine or performance type things that they should Know they either say well with only deal with DINAN or We Can Give Any Information on that. Stupid they couldnt even Flash my car to EU2 Software they never even knew they could! Pretty dumb.

That doesn't surprise me. Dealerships wouldn't bother.

Originally Posted by blarf

And the wiring has been problematic for most of the life of the E46 and BMW knows this and already has an updated part for the facelift cars. As far as the pre-facelift cars I know my 323 has wrecked a few bulb carriers already…

It's one of those things, they tried too hard to cheapen their cars and ended up with the E36. Sure, the E46 is better built in a number of ways, but there was still some wacky cost cutting going on.

yep, weak upper strut towers, weak rear subframe...