E36 Lic Plate Light Fail

[Phumi]

This past weekend I experienced the phantom "NUM PLATE LIGHT FAIL" messages on the OBC, & my boot wasn’t unlocking with the rest of the Central Locking System.
Checked my number plate lights & both bulbs were lighting up just fine. Did a bit of research yesterday & i found that this was\is a common error on ALL E36's

This is caused by the wiring harness that goes from the car to the boot on the left hand side, the wires over time rub against each other due to the opening & closing of the boot causing them to get weak & lose their coating either the wires will touch or as in my case the wires simply break.

the pics below show what normally happens to the wires...I WAS SHOCKED
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk282/phumi_album/forum_pics/Bootwiring.jpg

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk282/phumi_album/forum_pics/WiringIssue.jpg

After doing some more reading i eventually repaired this by taking off the black plastic covering & slicing open the rubber like tube to expose all the wires. I then reconnected the broken wires & taped them up using insulation tape, i followed this up by insulating up the wiring harness as well. It took me all of 30mins to do & now everything works 100% & my boot now locks with the Central Locking :thumbs:

I suggest anyone with an E36 to check this out as a preventative measure

found this link to contain detailed info as to what to do & how to it to fix this.
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...threadid=79896

 

[Doomsdaya]

:ty:

Will check it out

 

[Yuvan]

Cool, will do, if the problem shows up!

 

[Phumi]

Cool, will do, if the problem shows up!

dont wait for the problem to show up, your wires might already be exposed...checking it wont hurt IMO

 

[FaSTandFurious]

Great post :thumbs:

 

[Technician]

when i got mine i checked that- its worth the effort to check it out.
small job, saves hassles.

 

[Yuvan]

Cool, will do, if the problem shows up!

dont wait for the problem to show up, your wires might already be exposed...checking it wont hurt IMO

Very True, i will check it out this weekend! Thanks Bud, awesome post!!!!:thumbs:

 

[Prev]

Thanks Phumi.......will check this out tomorrow:thumbs:

 

[Theo D]

Phumi you the man... I have the exact same problems you were having
License plate light failure and boot central locking not working.
Gonna check it out after work :thumbs: