E46 Frustrastions!

[OppositeLockMT]

As much as I love my car there just seems to be one problem after another.

My right hand side light indicator and rear right hand indicator have decided to be temperamental and not work. Initially I thought it could be the tail light LED cluster but I'm starting to think that it could be an issue with the wiring? It rained quite heavily today so maybe the moisture is causing a short in the wiring?

Not familiar with electrics and I don't want to have to take the rear light apart, a little bit of guidance would really be appreciated!

These are my tail lights:

 

[Donovan2412]

Probably best to take it to a good autoelectrician.

 

[Loom]

Perhaps a blown fuse or relay?

 

[OppositeLockMT]

Apparently the E46 don't have relays for h indicators and they are controlled from the LCM? Just what I gathered from my online search.

 

[jerzi]

When my computer box blew I had the same issue along with the heat gauge not working and rev counter good luck hope it's nothing too serious

 

[Coisman]

I know from previous discussions on the forum, that the E46's are prone to having the earth on the tail lights melt - See this thread:

LINK: http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=10429

 

[Lizzard]

:withStu:

The earth wire on the cable connecting from the body to the light normally will melt and short out. I had this problem on my E46 and had it fixed, no master on electrics but this was a simple wire reconnect.

Disconnect your rear right light and then look at the brown wire and see if it is still connected to the cluster or the bracket that clips into the light, inspect it thoroughly and see if it isn't loose :rollsmile:

 

[kilotango]

i see the light cluster is LED, are those stock or aftermarket?

most of these aftermarket units have resistors and crappy wiring inside that pack up after a while. its hard to say for sure, but as mentioned.. check the ground wiring first.. thats a very common issue

 

[ET was here]

:withStu:

earth wiring first point to investigate

 

[Boosted]

i see the light cluster is LED, are those stock or aftermarket?

most of these aftermarket units have resistors and crappy wiring inside that pack up after a while. its hard to say for sure, but as mentioned.. check the ground wiring first.. thats a very common issue

+1

Earth wire melting was common, but other thank that, I cant really see that the LCM is defective, they have internal electronic fuses.

I wouldnt trust these aftermarket LED clusters. If you still have the original light clusters, rather plu them in first and see what happens.

Good luck.

 

[worshond]

Am I the only one seeing how ironic this us? BM with a faulty indicator. .


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[Serg_ZA]

I had an issue with my front right indicator where if I tapped it it would work fine but going over bumps would cause it to stop working. I took the indicator out and checked the terminals. Turns out the terminal needed to be bent back to place as years of compression seem to cause these to change shape. Check your indicator for this!

 

[OppositeLockMT]

Am I the only one seeing how ironic this us? BM with a faulty indicator. .


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Already had quite a few people get annoyed at me because they thought I wasn't actually indicating :rollsmile:

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Dropped the car off at the workshop today, fingers crossed that it's just the wiring. Can't spend another 2k on a tail light and I would really like to keep these.

 

[Lizzard]

Good luck, lets hope they get it sorted and keep us updated :rollsmile:

 

[OppositeLockMT]

So, got the car back. Turns out it's a fault with the tail light. Annoying thing is that it's a sealed unit so it has to be replaced, which means I need new tail lights! So the hunt begins, hopefully I can find a set similar to mine at a reasonable price - this car is becoming a money pit.

 

[Donovan2412]

So, got the car back. Turns out it's a fault with the tail light. Annoying thing is that it's a sealed unit so it has to be replaced, which means I need new tail lights! So the hunt begins, hopefully I can find a set similar to mine at a reasonable price - this car is becoming a money pit.

Check around scrap yards.

A lot of cars smashed on the front only

 

[OppositeLockMT]

They would have to be LED though, this time OEM.

 

[kilotango]

if im not mistaken.. to fit OEM LED sets.. you'd need to change your LCM. there may be other wiring changes as well... but its not just a straight swap unfortunately. with standard LCM and LED's you will get strobing and other weird things happening.

those rear light sets can be opened with a dremel and then resealed afterward if you're careful

 

[DieselFan]

if im not mistaken.. to fit OEM LED sets.. you'd need to change your LCM. there may be other wiring changes as well... but its not just a straight swap unfortunately. with standard LCM and LED's you will get strobing and other weird things happening.

those rear light sets can be opened with a dremel and then resealed afterward if you're careful

That can more than likely just be coded without changing the module.

You honestly can't complain about your lights failing. Yes it sucks. But you did fit "cheap" aftermarket lights. Hope you get the car sorted. Do you not have your stock lights you can fit in the interim.

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[OppositeLockMT]

if im not mistaken.. to fit OEM LED sets.. you'd need to change your LCM. there may be other wiring changes as well... but its not just a straight swap unfortunately. with standard LCM and LED's you will get strobing and other weird things happening.

those rear light sets can be opened with a dremel and then resealed afterward if you're careful

That can more than likely just be coded without changing the module.

You honestly can't complain about your lights failing. Yes it sucks. But you did fit "cheap" aftermarket lights. Hope you get the car sorted. Do you not have your stock lights you can fit in the interim.

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Haven't had an issue with them for five years now, they may be aftermarket but I assumed these were durable given the cost. Been similar cases with OEM BMW LEDs as well, particularly on the LCI E90.

I still have my older set, the orange ones, but those look terrible to be honest. That would be a last resort.