Disappointed in BMW

Post Tue Oct 04, 2016 5:54 pm

I just had an MOT and one of it's fails was because the rear fog light is on the wrong side

. No problem I thought, it's sure to just be a case of putting a bulb in the right side cluster and it will work. Wrong. Although the wiring is all present on the right side there's no 6th pin on the socket to get power to it. Cue much soldering and bodgery to get it working

.

Another problem was both side lights stopped working in the test station! The bulbs are good and the fuses are good, what else can I check?

Post Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:22 pm

I too had a MOT test today, but my tester is restoring an E30, and is short of a couple of trim pieces which just happened to be on the front sear of my car when I delivered it to the test station this morning.

Don't blame BMW for the missing foglight bits - that's down to the laws of the country the car was built to be sold in. UK spec. E30s have foglights on both sides, although only the offside one is required to work.
You say sidelights failed, Both sides? Front and back?

Post Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:36 pm

Scratch the side light problem. I had led bulbs fitted which are a couple of mm longer than standard and a complete sod to fit and remove because of the restricted space. I just got a call from my man and he told me both the bulbs had fallen out of the cups and were now inside the light unit. A bit strange that they both fell out at the same time right in front of me! Back to standard bulbs I think.

Post Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:44 pm

Cloggy Saint wrote: A bit strange that they both fell out at the same time right in front of me!

Driving over the brake test rollers to get onto the ramp always gives things a bit of a jolt.
Left and right side/tail lamp circuits are completely separate from the battery + connection at the fusebox onwards. The only thing that would put both tail lights out (along with the brake and number plate lights) is if one of the plugs fell out of the bulb check module.

Post Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:47 pm

It was just the front side lights that didn't work. I'm going to have lots of fun trying to fish them out of the units tomorrow.