So I just bought this 1988 528e, in immaculate condition. On my way home from buying it the check brake light came on. Quickly found I had no brake lights at all. Checked the fuse and switch to no avail. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
I don't want to mis-lead you with this info so keep this in mind when I suggest this.....check to see if your 'load reduction relay' is the problem???
I'm dealing with a 'short' in the electrical system and several things are affected.....no brake lights is one of them (see my post 'load reduction relay').
I've been doing some searches online about this relay and found that there are problems with the electrical system after an 'after-market' stereo system was added (original radio system replaced).
I can't find a replacement relay to see if it helps.......at least until Monday when the local BMW dealership opens. Hopefully they should have an replacement....no one else in town has this specific type relay. Good luck, I hope this info will be helpful in finding your problem.
BTW- the other problems that exist may have been caused by the long term 'shorting' (melted fuses) of this after-market stereo??
Maybe you do have a serious issue, but I had a similar problem and it turned out to be...hold on to your seats...the BULB WAS OUT! And it's shockingly easy to change.
That's what the system is supposed to do! It was telling you that you had a non-working bulb. Unfortunately they can be "moody" and that's why you have to make sure that the bulbs have SILVER not copper bases and that all the connections are clean. The system actually works by measuring the resistance in the different circuits that it monitors and when one of them is out of the specification it triggers the led.
Now, Gold86Bimmer, make sure that your problem is in fact the relay. If you do have an aftermarket radio, I would suggest that you re-connect the main power feed to the spare accesory fuse by the main fuse box. There are two fuses in it, one is switched power and the other one is continuous. By doing this you remove the load from the newer (and most probably higher powered) head unit from fuse 5 which was already kind of maxxed out. The only difficult part is getting the wire into the car from the engine compartment. In mycar, since it is manual, I pushed it besides the clutch master cylinder supply hose. Also, check the brake switch on the pedal since they have been known to die and were even upgraded (I don't know the date though).
I had the same problem and everytime I started my car I hit the brake and the brake light would come on then I hit the button by the idiot lights by the sunroof then they would start working again also I checked the metal panel were the lights are and make sure that all the lights are touching it. BMW made a mistake when they made that thing.
I've got a marker light out on one side and a brake light out on the other. I guess I will start with the new bulbs and some dioxit. Then I will take a look at the possible problem involving the aftermarket head unit the car has.
Got back in the car tonight and now no running lights either....Hopefully discount has some OE bulbs and oxidate stuff I've heard about.
The 4 ways work front and rear and the right side brake light works. So I can only assume either bad buld or the contact from the bulb housing to the metal bracket isn't up to snuff?
Have ALL rear lights working except passenger side tail light. Cleaned the bulb housing. New bulb. Made sure there was good contact w/ the bulb and the housing...and the housing and the bracket. I am at a loss.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
BimmerFest BMW Forum
11.4M posts
753.1K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to BMW owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about Bimmerfest events, production numbers, programming, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more! Bringing the BMW community together.