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144K views 257 replies 76 participants last post by  enjoydriving 
#1 ·
I have the strangest thing going on with the LED tail lights in my 2011 X3. Hoping somebody might be able to help me out. It is out of warranty (65k miles). The only tail light (led) that is working is the right fender light. The 2 tail gate led lights and the far left are not working. Well, let me rephrase that.... Not working all the time. After the car sits for a while and then when started the left will work for about a minute and then dim out. All while the Right stays on continuously. Also the Right tail gate light will do the same from time to time (on for about a minute, then dims out). Took it to a local import shop and they couldn't figure it out. They recommended I replace the Left fender light for the tune of $280. But then they couldn't explain why it would work intermittently. Anybody have any ideas why this would happen? Could it be possible that a dying battery could cause this?? Anybody know how this lighting system works? Does it go to a central hub of some sort? Any thoughts or testing idea's would be awesome. Thanks!
 
#191 ·
#193 ·
I don't know what the dif is. I bought the ones that were here in the states. It's so much easier then dealing with other countries and waiting for the mail. I mean I paid enough for the X3, $35 wasn't going to make anyone miss a meal if you know what I mean. It literally took 15 minutes to replace.
 
#196 ·
Where is the Valeo board???

Hello all, i've been following this thread for a while now and decided to try and fix my issue myself. I plan on using the LDD-L mean well 300mA pins and detaching the wires and crimping them on to the driver as per the instructions from an earlier post. However, when I opened up the tail light and removed the black bulb case, there was no valeo board to be found. Is this a new thing that BMW decided to do? If so, I can't see any way that the LED strips can be powered without the wires and the two gold contacts for the positive/negative inputs. I'm at a halt and don't know what to do next without those wires. I guess an option would be to go to radio shack and try to find the gold contact and some wires to connect them to the LEDs. Any suggestions?
 

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#197 ·
Uless you don't have LED's at all. Someone replaced your tail light with a non LED variant. This happened on my X3. The previous abuser had a small body damage event on the right rear. The body shop had to replace the tail light and did so with a non LED version. $240 later I replaced it.
None the less, I carry a spare replacement board in the console. I've replaced two boards to far. For me, the plug and play is far easier and faster to replace.
 
#198 ·
Hello everyone. I too joined the bimmerfest forum because of the great info I found on this thread. Want to say that I've had to drop a wad of dough on repairs lately on my 2012 X3. After finally getting it back from the mechanic again (3rd time in 2 months), I was disheartened to find the left tail lights out. So, I did the inevitable and changed the bulbs. You know the result of that ... nothing. That's when I started to search and found this thread. I ended up ordering a new logic board off of Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HWJMMQ4/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_R-SLCbGWFG6SD ), and had it shipped overnight-- $32.00 + $3 overnight. Literally a 5 minute fix! I am not mechanically inclined in the least, so if I can do this anyone can. Thanks for all the great input.
 
#200 ·
Bmw rear tail light and rear tailgate mounted taillight fix

So glad to find this forum. I have a 2011 X.3 I 28 with the need to replace the LED strips for both the inner and outer tail lights and also the tailgate mounted tail light on the driver side. Quote from my BMW dealer is $750. Will the Amazon part listed work for both of these tail lights? I am a novice about these things but would surely be willing to try them. Allstate auto parts b003809.2. Thanks for any help and advice.
 
#202 ·
Hi I'm new here and from over the pond, I just wanted to say that getting the Meanwell solution over here proved harder than I thought it would so I bought a set of the hiperlights boards, an easy solution, however they cut the signal to my DAB!

Its worse on the left rear light which obliterates it, the one on the right just takes it out every 100 metres or so! So I am in the process of trying for a refund, however the language back so far makes me think I may well have to take it on the chin, I have found a UK supplier for the LDD 300L, which is slightly different to the ones used in the thread apart from the later ones with the circuit board, so I will see how that runs out, I have ordered one, if the DAB signal survives I will go with that on all 4 lights.

This place has been a great resource, I havent found as much info on the UK sites, so thanks very much everyone, a concurrent project will be to sort out the excessive inner front tyre wear, I am taking the same tack as we did with our e70 X5 and making the front toe as close to zero as possible and may even swerve runflats next time as when the summer tyres go back on I need a whole new set!
 
#206 ·
They ordered the wrong tail light assy. Take it back and make them order the right one. The previous abuser of my x3 must of had an incident on the right rear and the body shop that "fixed" the car installed a non LED tail light. It cost me 250 bucks from eBay to buy the correct unit. With board and harness
 
#210 ·
Understand. If it doesn't have a harness or board it also won't have the LED portion of the assembly. The non and with LED assemblies have different parts. As I said, the shop that replaced mine replaced it with a non led version. Cost me $250 to fix it right. Sorry for your trouble.
 
#212 ·
I'm not having drama. Just trying to save you the trouble spending money on something that will not work. There are no LED's in your assembly. What I did was buy a new LED version on eBay for $250. After I replaced it I sold the NON LED Version on Ebay for $150. So my net was only $100 and 10 minutes of labor to replace them.
 
#215 ·
#218 ·
Replacing the bulbs in the outer lights fixed my issues along with the new Chinese boards so who knows what actually fixed them lmao

I still have the two stage right brake lamp malf code with a new board in there so I guess it might be bulbs in that too. Does anyone know which bulbs to get for the inner tailgate light??
 
#219 ·
LED tail lights



I had the same problem. One side the LED tail light stopped working. I took the LED circuit board out of the good side and tested it on the nonworking side. The problem is the white 1x3 circuit board. It is in a slot and can remove and swap out with a new one.
The part is Valeo b003809.2 on my 2015 X3d.
 
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