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03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

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Spooky
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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by Spooky » Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:47 am

No dramas, but your probably right i should have put up the correct photo and not the first one i came accross.
:thumbsup:

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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by Leon. » Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:33 pm

Thanks for the information, did this last night :thumbsup:

Used simple connector blocks, stripped the insulation off the wires (without cutting the wire) and fed them into the blocks. This was I can remove the blocks and put insulation tape around the wires, and the wires will be intact.

It looks much better, but is also more visible to the a***holes who sit on your a***.

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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by Hotride » Sat Jun 12, 2010 8:49 am

I did mine today :D verry simple with the scotch lock connectors, and very effective.

i always assumed they were full circle lights, but never looked untill i read this post.

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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by JDM » Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:55 pm

Just completed this mod with the scotchlock connectors.

Looks so much better but now I have the bulb failure light on the dash :headbang: any ideas?

Thanks
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chris
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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by chris » Sat Oct 02, 2010 9:07 pm

You sure there is no bulb out? Bit strange, as ive done mine ages ago and all good :D
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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by cj10jeeper » Sat Oct 02, 2010 9:13 pm

As Chris says is a bulb out. Eliminate the obvious and check every bulb from side to main dipped and indicators, number plate, etc.

If all OK did you double check the wiring you did? Scotclocks are notoriously bad at connecting and cause all sorts of problems.
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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by JDM » Mon Oct 04, 2010 9:40 am

OK so i do actually feel a bit stupid now..

After checking it was indeed a bulb that had blown.. The only excuse I have is it is the rear fog so its not one that I noticed once checking the lights after doing the mod. :oops: Bit of a coincidence that the bulb decided to blow inbetween turning off the car and ten minutes later once i had completed the mod though!! :?
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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by JDM » Mon Oct 04, 2010 9:54 am

Here's a little video after the mod. Is it me or do the brake lights not appear to be that much brighter than the tail lights, or are the tail lights brighter after the mod? Either way I dont think there is as much definition between the two as there was prior to the mod?

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/2970/img1204.mp4
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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by cj10jeeper » Mon Oct 04, 2010 10:58 am

From memory that's the downside of the mod that you are brightening the sidelights and of course lights the full not half circle, so difference is reduced. iirc the sidelights are fed 6v, but after the mod 12v, but I might have just made that up.

Of course the centre brake light makes it pretty damn obvious and mine's been through a couple of MOT's that way.
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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by AndyCEB » Thu Nov 11, 2010 9:30 pm

Strangely enough I read about this 1/2 brake light 'feature' today and just spotted this thread - great idea I will be doing this mod I think :thumbsup:

I can only echo others thoughts about the scotchlocks - they are a sinful aweful mess :thumbsdown: I don't mean to criticise anyone who has used them but in the fairness of anyone else planning on doing this mod I think it is worth clearing up how they work and why they cause issues...

Basically they contain a small blade which cuts through the plastic wire insulation and digs into the metal wire on two cables... connecting them together. This would be fine except the insulation has a purpose - to insulate. The wire is now exposed and will begin to oxidise especally if there is mositure around which in the boot is very likely (rear light clustors are a common cluprit for leaks too!) so now your cable has oxidised it will do two things... 1) become brittle and maybe break, especially if it is likely to be knocked around or vibrated, which in a car boot is likely. 2) stop conducting electricity which in the case of this mod means no brake lights! :o

The even more annoying thing is removing the scotch lock does not help! Once fitted the damage is done and the insulation and wire is already cut, the only option would be to try to recover the cut with heat shrink or something.
Last edited by AndyCEB on Thu Nov 11, 2010 11:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by inkey$ » Thu Nov 11, 2010 10:33 pm

Not a fan then AndyCEB? :poke:

Read this post also in the last 48 hours and plan to do the mod myself too. Using CJ's wiring technique though.
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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by AndyCEB » Thu Nov 11, 2010 11:14 pm

inkey$ wrote:Not a fan then AndyCEB? :poke:

Read this post also in the last 48 hours and plan to do the mod myself too. Using CJ's wiring technique though.
:lol: :lol: Its a sore point, when I bought my car the previous owner had used quite a few of these... I ended up re-wiring the whole car with a fresh wiring loom :headbang: :lol:

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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by inkey$ » Thu Nov 11, 2010 11:28 pm

Ouch. That must have been quite a discovery. :x
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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by cj10jeeper » Fri Nov 12, 2010 12:21 am

Glad to see this line of comment. I hate the damned things and they can cause all sorts of electrical problems from poor connectivity which can lead to resistance heat & melted wires, failing electronics and on and on.

Do things properly or don't bother :thumbsup:
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Re: 03~05 FULL circle Brake light BRIEF

Post by kernel-debugger » Sun Jan 02, 2011 8:50 pm

Forgive me for saying but ............. I thought the Z4 brake lights lit up in two stages? Light braking whilst driving (not stationary) only half the circle lights....heavy braking illuminates the full circle? I must be missing the point here? I thought BMW got that perfect at the design stage :cry:
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