I'm so confused.

So I've had my e39 for almost a year now, and I keep noticing that there's no trunk light. Of course, I only notice this when it's dark and I never remember to check in the day time. But today I was checking the third brake light (thought the bulb was burned out, turns out the plastic broke and it was just dangling in the trunk) and noticed the trunk light and gave it a look. First thing I noticed was that it looks just light the puddle lights in the door. I popped it out and to my surprise it wasn't plugged in to anything! I fished around in the hole and found a plug that also wasn't connected. I tried to plug it in, but it wouldn't fit. The connections are similar, but not close enough.

This is was the female socket on the light looks like (I outlined it because they're cell phone pics):


And this is the male plug I found, which I'm assuming is for the trunk light (again outlined for clarity):


Another angle:


There's a small plastic tab on the left side of the plug that prevents it from going into the socket. Another picture to show this:


I added the black lines to show they're the same width and outlined the tab in red.

Obviously there's two possible explanations. I either found the wrong wire (unlikely because it was right by the hole and not plugged into anything else) or some jacka** put the wrong light in and didn't bother to fix it when he realized his mistake.
I'm leaning towards option number two because after further inspection, the light seems a little too narrow for the hole. I took a picture of this too:

Note the gap between plastic and metal.

I checked realoem and I was able to find a part number for the trunk light, but I couldn't find a number on the puddle lights to compare.

I've decided that I could probably file the little plastic tab off the plug and make it work, but I have one reservation. I don't know which pin in the female socket is positive and which is ground, and I've paid the price of the guess and test method in the past. Any advice here?

Side Note: I've keep seeing a "Spare Bulb Box" mentioned in the realoem diagrams, but it doesn't specify where it's located in the car. Anyone know? It'd be very handy.

I've never found a "spare bulb box" in my car.

There are two trunk lights.

"Puddle lights?" The lights on the underside of the doors?

Why not take your trunk light to the dealer, and compare with what he has. If his seems to fit, buy it.

If the other trunk light doesn't work, there's an outside chance that a wire is broken inside the rubber gaiter that connects the trunk and the body. You can skin back the gaiter to examine the wires. Not uncommon.

#6 & #8 are the 2 lamp assemblies in the trunk...the bulb (#9) for lamp assembly #8 is halogen according to the part database...click link to get BMW 11 digit part nbrs:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...08&hg=63&fg=30

I can't seem to find the second rear light anywhere. I'm looking at this diagram:


I'm assuming you're talking about #4, which realoem calls the "registration plate light". It looks like it should be on the driver's side, but there's nothing there. From what I can tell there's not even a place where it should be. Would you be so kind as to post a picture of this mystery light?

As for your other questions:
Yes, that's what I mean by puddle light. So when you open the door at night you dont step in puddles.
I'm conveniently located 2 hours from the nearest dealers in every direction, so that's out. Not to mention I get tired of the condescending attitude I get from them for being 20 and owning a BMW.
I've checked the wires where you were talking about, the only thing I discovered was that my radio antenna was disconnected (once again I'm forced to say WTF!?!)

Originally Posted by QSilver7

#6 & #8 are the 2 lamp assemblies in the trunk...the bulb (#9) for lamp assembly #8 is halogen according to the part database...click link to get BMW 11 digit part nbrs:

Posted while I was typing a response. Well that clears up why #4 is a registration plate light haha. Still, I've crawled into my trunk to look for the second light and can't find it.

Edit:
After reading your post, I went back and checked again. Still no sign of another light. For what it's worth, my car has the premium sound option with dsp, so the majority of the roof of the trunk consists of the enclosures for the speakers in the rear deck. Is it possible that cars with these options only have one light? Seems improbable, but it's the best explanation I can make.

Anyway, the existence of a second light is secondary to solving my problem. Any thoughts on filing the tab off of the plug to make it fight the light I have?

bump...anybody?

There are two lights in the trunk, one is in the trunk opining and one near the 3rd break light with or without DSP. also check the plug for curent with the trunk open and closed and the polarity should not mater.