Help! Right Side Tail Light Not Working

[zodiax24]

I recently unplugged the Right side Tail Light, removed it and put it back in place, and after that it stopped lighting up. The instrument cluster is showing "Check Brake Lights".

The Left side works fine.

I assumed it could be a fuse, but I checked them and they look good. Also, if it was a fuse, the left side would not work either correct? One fuse controls both tail lights?

What could this be? All I did was basically unplug the connector and put it back in, and it stopped working.

Could it be that I somehow shorted the tail light?

[jamesdc4]

Welcome.

Did you disconnect the wiring harness that connects to the bulb carrier or did you remove the tail light bulb only?

[zodiax24]

I disconnected the wiring harness. I did not touch the bulbs

[amancuso]

FWIW the facelift models do not have bulb carriers. Does the brake or turn signal on the "bad" side work?

[zodiax24]

No it does not. When I turn the signal to that direction it starts making that clicking noise rapidly

[Qsilver7]

Just for information purposes...all external lights are controlled by the LCM (light control module)...there isn't a "fuse" that controls them...this can be verified by looking at the fuse index card in the glovebox and on the back of the battery compartment fold down door. (no fuses for external lights...take a look see)

Can you reveal what made you remove the tail light in the first place? For those of us out here on the internet...it's as if a big piece of the puzzle is missing. Most people wouldn't remove an entire rear light assembly just to remove it (but I guess it's possible) ...could it be something else that is causing the problem?

[bluebmw83]

where is the light control module located in a 2000 528ia mine needs to be replaced asap my right headlight(xenon) will function properly then all of sudden go out and if i shut off the car and restart it it comes back on. And when the vehicle is shut off the lights will sometimes turn on on their own while the car is off and the switch is in the off position, also while the car is running or sit still and the lights are on sometimes it will activate the high beams without me touching the switch and it will start flicking them on and off i started to think the car is possessed by some demons or something, please help.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by bluebmw83

where is the light control module located in a 2000 528ia.

See the 2nd paragraph in the first image in my post above. This applies to the e38/e39/e53...the design of the module changes in Sept 1998...but the location remains the same.

None of the text or arrows in the illustration below have to do with the LCM...but the "finned" LCM can obviously be seen in the passenger side kick panel in the illustration...just below the 3:

[bluebmw83]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

See the 2nd paragraph in the first image in my post above. This applies to the e38/e39/e53...the design of the module changes in Sept 1998...but the location remains the same.

None of the text or arrows in the illustration below have to do with the LCM...but the "finned" LCM can obviously be seen in the passenger side kick panel in the illustration...just below the 3:

thank u so much since ive been on this forum u have been a big help, now how can i correct this problem or should i find a new one out of a wrecked 528 cause im not crazy about paying $400 for a new one

[Qsilver7]

The problem with installing a used LCM is the REDUNDANT DATA STORAGE issue.

The LCM & IKE (instrument cluster) share important data (odometer mileage/VIN/Service Interval info) and if the car's VIN doesn't match, the odometer tamper dot illuminates.

The only way to not have this happen is that YOUR car's VIN has to be coded into the used LCM and the mileage has to be set to ZERO. This is where the problem arises. The dealership won't/can't do this (they only do new ones)...so you'd have to find someone who has the equipment and know how to manipulate the mileage in the LCM.

You can see the SIX major data points in the information below about Redundant Data Storage...and installing a used LCM...the 1st thru 4th data points listed below need to be considered. Also note the paragraph right below the 6th data point...this is what you run into going to the dealer...they only install NEW components:

[zodiax24]

The reason I removed the light in the first place was because my razor blade fell behind it. It slipped through the little opening. Therefore I thought it would be a quick and easy removal to get it out.

So, what should I do? Do you think it is the LCM? I doubt it because everything was fine right before I removed the light..

[rrcompton]

WOW that sucks....Ive removed my tails a lot and Ive never had a problem. You sure the connector is seated into the back of the tail light good and snug? Pull out your multimeter and test the leads.

The gray is the parking lights, you can ground to the brown wire or at any of the 4 screws that the tail light bolts to. See what you get.....

[zodiax24]

Okay I will try that. If the leads are getting power, does that mean it's the tail light itself that needs to be replaced?

And what if the meter shows the leads are not getting power, what does that mean?

[rrcompton]

If youre not getting power you may have a short or its the LCM (I dont know how the LCM works).....if youre getting power it may be the tail light but thats weird NONE of the bulbs would work. I just took apart the back of a celis tail, removed all the trace leads by drilling out the melted tabs holding it in place and I dont see how every bulb could stop working?

I can see if the parking lights (celis rods) stopped working since those are LEDs and you couldve blown a resistor but the other bulbs would work as long as the filament is good.

[Qsilver7]

I'm at a slight disadvantage since my e39 is a Touring and the rear tail lights are slightly different than the e39 sedans.

But on the 7 series...there is a large ground connector bolted to the car where the tail light assembly also gets bolted to the car. If the e39 sedans have those...you may want to make sure that the ground connector is screwed on tight....because many owners mistakenly loosen the nut to the ground connector thinking that it is holding the rear tail light to the car (but it's not).

The connector on the e38 that I'm referring to can be seen in the image below...it is the long connector with approx 10 brown wires running to it and is secured to the car with one hex nut. If the E39 has this same connector...make sure that the nut securing it to the car is screwed on tight:

[amancuso]

If all that happens with replacing the LCM is a tamper dot, and you're already over 100K miles, who cares? This could perhaps be good for those with pre-facelift cars that want to upgrade to the CELIS tails.

[zodiax24]

Yes it does have the brown connector part of the plug, and it is tight.

The only thing that works is the brake light when I press the brake. The parking lights do not work, the turn signal and reverse don't work either..

I will have to test the plug to see if it is getting power.

If the plug is getting power, is it safe to say the tail light needs replacement?

[Qsilver7]

Is the electrical harness for the other tail light identical or are the wires "mirrorred"? If the e-harness is the same...before chucking the tail light...unplug the other side and plug it into the non-working tail light and see what happens.

If it lights up, then obviously nothings wrong with it and the problem lies elsewhere. If you already tried this...I apologize...I did scroll back up (quickly) and didn't see where you wrote this...but again, I scrolled quickly and may have overlooked it.

[zodiax24]

Qsilver, I just swapped the lights...

I moved the bad one to the good side. It still didn't work, not even the brake light which was working when it was on its original side.

I moved the good one to the bad side. It was lighting up, but the functions were off. When I pressed the brake the 4 LED lines that go across lit up. When I turned the light switch to the ON position, the top white / red lights came on.

So what does this mean? It does look like the tail light is bad, but I'm just wondering why the functions were off when I moved the good tail light to the bad side...

[blackxs]

The 4 LED lights should not come on with the brakes. Your light switch being on should not put any "top" lights on. Brakes are the bottom outer socket. When you turn your light swithc on those 4 LED lights should light up - but they are NOT brake lights.

Sounds like a serious problem. A short, or an incorrect wiring harness

[zodiax24]

Can't be an incorrect wiring harness because nothing was changed on the car..

This only happened when I swapped the good light to the bad side

[amancuso]

Originally Posted by zodiax24

Can't be an incorrect wiring harness because nothing was changed on the car..

This only happened when I swapped the good light to the bad side

That's why that happened. The connectors wires are in different positions in a similar looking connector. You cannot simply swap L to R and vice versa. But since you were getting the Right side one lighting up (albeit incorrectly) when you swapped, that means power is getting to the connector and it seems that your tali light cluster may in fact be dead.

[crex65439]

if you have a meter check the harness for 12 v and a ground ... if you dont have either then thats the problem make sure you also fully connected the harnnesses ... there tends to be a corrosion problem with the right taillights and the connectors

[zodiax24]

amancuso, you're right, I came to that same exact conclusion.

I noticed the connector pins on the tail light are very corroded, that may be what's causing this problem. Can I use WD40 to clean it?