“Eagle Eyes” LED taillights cause bulb out warning

Guys, I need help.
I have recently installed set of LED taillights on my 2003 325i. Installation was a breeze. Taillights look great and finish is perfect. But here is my fly in the ointment which bugs the hell out of me. As soon as i start the car i get bulb out warning on both sides. One of them (right) goes away as soon as i flash my right turn signal. But it flashes very quickly for couple of seconds, like you had the bulb out, and then it begins to flash normally and bulb out warning goes away. Same story on left side with the exception that bulb out warning does not go away. Ultimately all lights work from the outside. I had another person driving behind and in front of me to check that.
So what can be the problem? Resistors? Or something else? Please help!!!

Yes, resistors. Search for resistors & taillights

Check to see if the resistors are 100% secure, sounds like a resistor box issue.

Well, resistor box is secured as best as it can be behind the trunk trim. I find odd that i have problems with both lights; i think it is unlikely that both resistors boxes are bad. Ca it be something related to the car electrics?

If it's both sides, then most likely it's a compatibility issue between the resistor boxes and your factory wiring.

Dont you have to snap off part of the white thing that pressed against the frame of the car?

Originally Posted by Solidjake

Dont you have to snap off part of the white thing that pressed against the frame of the car?

i had to do that...

i get a "bulb out" light for a couple seconds when i turn lights on, on the RH side only sometimes though... no biggie smalls.

Originally Posted by jhowe1

i had to do that...

i get a "bulb out" light for a couple seconds when i turn lights on, on the RH side only sometimes though... no biggie smalls.

So do your lights flicker quickly for couple of seconds when you get bulb out warning? And do they flash normally when warning disappears?

Originally Posted by Yurekk

So do your lights flicker quickly for couple of seconds when you get bulb out warning? And do they flash normally when warning disappears?

Not that I know of. Maybe I should look.

Originally Posted by Solidjake

Dont you have to snap off part of the white thing that pressed against the frame of the car?

Originally Posted by jhowe1

i had to do that...

i get a "bulb out" light for a couple seconds when i turn lights on, on the RH side only sometimes though... no biggie smalls.

Originally Posted by Yurekk

Yeah, i had to do that. If you don’t snap this thing off it will press against the LED plate and most likely will damage it.

Where was that in the "instructions" ?...I wish I had known before I installed mine, I heard a crack and yep I broke the board on one of them..It still works though !...

My clear sides didn't mention anything on the instructions either about having to file or modify the slot so they would seat properly...You don't find that out until you call JleviSW and asking them why they don't seat properly...They tell you then about this "easy" little fix to get it to seat, but what they don't tell you is "they don't take them back if you mess it up"... Why won't a part so simple work without modifying it ?

Originally Posted by Solidjake

Dont you have to snap off part of the white thing that pressed against the frame of the car?

Yeah, i had to do that. If you don’t snap this thing off it will press against the LED plate and most likely will damage it.

I have the same exact problem Yurekk is having. I installed Eagle Eye LED tails on my 2003 325 xi in January, and have yet to find the time to resolve this problem. I posted about a month or so ago but no one could figure it out. I ordered my tails from Turner Motorsports. I called them and they had no idea why this was happening and were going to try to contact manufacturer. My indy mechanic says that different year and model e46's have different lighting control boards in the ECU which handle the LED resistors differently. What kind of e46 did you install these LED tails on? That would be great if we could get to the bottom of this.

Originally Posted by kevin860

I have the same exact problem Yurekk is having. I installed Eagle Eye LED tails on my 2003 325 xi in January, and have yet to find the time to resolve this problem. I posted about a month or so ago but no one could figure it out. I ordered my tails from Turner Motorsports. I called them and they had no idea why this was happening and were going to try to contact manufacturer. My indy mechanic says that different year and model e46's have different lighting control boards in the ECU which handle the LED resistors differently. What kind of e46 did you install these LED tails on? That would be great if we could get to the bottom of this.

It is a 2003 4D 325i. I did not know that they installed different lighting control boards depending on year and model. But it is a good point. May be those resistors are not the right kind for the car or something. We need to figure this out, it really bothers me. I am taking my car to dealership tomorrow for routine maintenance and will pick the brain of some smart electronic technician over there

Originally Posted by Yurekk

I am taking my car to dealership tomorrow for routine maintenance and will pick the brain of some smart electronic technician over there

...Good luck with that !....

If it is a resistor issue, and it probably is, why not pick up another one like this and put it in series with the other one.

RL-650 Tail Light Load Resistor kit
http://superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/s...gi?product=CAR

You'll have to test in series with both resistors on each taillight (one for each turn signal and one for each brake light) to find which resistor needs more resistance.

About $14 to $16 per kit of two with T-Taps and shipping.

Stealership would not even look at anything for free. They said that they can fix it but it would cost me $150 just for diagnostics. Screw this. I'll find another way around it.