E89 Brake Light Bulb

Tinker15 · Post by **Tinker15** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:20 pm

Can anyone tell me the bulb type as per the photo below.

BeardyJon · Post by **BeardyJon** » Mon Apr 01, 2019 2:35 pm

Should be a W16W bulb 16 Watt according to the owners manual.

Tinker15 · Post by **Tinker15** » Mon Apr 01, 2019 3:09 pm

Thanks BeardyJon that’s what I thought on reading the manual. The bulb in the photo is a H21W which I’d have discovered if I’d read the bulb holder!

The W16W bulb is pictured below. Both bulbs come on when braking.

BeardyJon · Post by **BeardyJon** » Mon Apr 01, 2019 11:07 pm

Well that’s nice of them to sneak a 2nd type of bulb in there and not make that obvious!

Tinker15 · Post by **Tinker15** » Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:05 am

BeardyJon wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2019 11:07 pm Well that’s nice of them to sneak a 2nd type of bulb in there and not make that obvious!

That’s what I thought while dashing out to buy another bulb.

DaytonZ4 · Post by **DaytonZ4** » Tue May 16, 2023 3:17 pm

The owner's manual does indicate that there are two bulbs per side: H21W is the inside one while W16W is the outer. However, the real reason for posting is the car indicates right brake light is out (verified) and I wanted to see if anyone has replaced these with LED bulbs. If so, did it have any issues. I've seen them on Scamazon and they say they are error-free. What say the crowd?

matsmith749 · Post by **matsmith749** » Tue May 16, 2023 3:25 pm

Error free just means it has a similar resistance to a traditional incandescent lamp.

Some led replacement lamps have tiny low resistance & throw an error.

B21 · Post by **B21** » Tue May 16, 2023 3:52 pm

DaytonZ4 wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 3:17 pm The owner's manual does indicate that there are two bulbs per side: H21W is the inside one while W16W is the outer. However, the real reason for posting is the car indicates right brake light is out (verified) and I wanted to see if anyone has replaced these with LED bulbs. If so, did it have any issues. I've seen them on Scamazon and they say they are error-free. What say the crowd?

I have LEDs in for the brake lights and reversing bulbs..they don't throw any errors but..

First issue is that the FRM does a 'cold check' which results every 15 minutes with a brief pulse of light in sequence across the bulbs..keeps folks following on their toes..also in weak reception areas the DAB radio washes out for the period the brakes applied...I use Carplay now mostly so DAB is effectively redundant now..

Irritatingly my 20i and its LED bulbs the DAB didn't wash out...

Nice and bright!

If they do throw errors its easy to code out that using Protool or similar..

JACKAZZ2000 · Post by **JACKAZZ2000** » Sun Jun 11, 2023 12:33 am

I did that to my angel eyes on the front. The error free code is usually valid because they have an internal circuitry that prevents that issue. Long as you install them quickly and check you can always return em within 30 days no questions asked.

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