Has anyone any experience repairing the vert 3rd brake light? This is the one in the trunk lid. I followed my wife the other night and noticed that 2/3 of the light was dead. I took it apart thinking I could replace some bad bulbs only to find it is an LED set up. There are nuerous LED's on a circuit board. If I have to buy a new one I will, but I would rather not spend the $150 if I can help it.

TIA

It is a sealed unit yes, but if you can open it and find the correct leds I don't see what the problem would be.

On this one there are, I'm guessing here, about 70 LED's. Only about 20 on the extreme right side work. The unit has access holes to the circuit board, but I can't see any burned or corroded connections.

Cracked solder joints are a more likely cause than bad LEDs. There may also be electronic controls involved. LEDs typically work at about 2 volts, so there are several in series. One bad connection affects the hole string. They are also unstable, the hotter they get, the more heat they can make. So they have either a resistor or an integrated circuit to make them stable.

70 leds? I thought more like 7 in total?

I have one that I will sell for $100 used if you want it! PM me

Shame they don't do a white one as on the e46 vert.

Although I like the red one.

I just ordered one from Bavarian Auto Recycling. As soon as I get it, I'll take the old one apart to attempt repair.

I wish there were only 7 LED's in there. It would make life much simpler. They are 3 to 4 high with many many rows.

Maybe earlier models are different, this is in a 97.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BK83&mospid=47477&btnr=63_0282&hg=63&fg=25

I just ordered one from Bavarian Auto Recycling. As soon as I get it, I'll take the old one apart to attempt repair.

I wish there were only 7 LED's in there. It would make life much simpler. They are 3 to 4 high with many many rows.

Maybe earlier models are different, this is in a 97.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BK83&mospid=47477&btnr=63_0282&hg=63&fg=25

Mine's a 1997 too. I will check tomorrow. I'm positive there are no 70 leds. (But I could be very wrong!)

I just replaced the 3rd brake light this morning. I counted the LED's. My original guess of 70 was fairly close. Upon counting I came up with 65.

I just replaced the 3rd brake light this morning. I counted the LED's. My original guess of 70 was fairly close. Upon counting I came up with 65.

Yeah I never realized they are small clusters instead of like 7 big ones.

Looks cool as!