Rear Indicator Failure

flybobbie said:
They need the internal seal gluing up to keep water out. All the mods Magnetti did missed a fundamental problem the seal material.
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Interesting.

All the backlight clusters I've checked in the past never leaked on the internal seals. The typical reasons for water ingress were:
  • broken lasered line on the bottom of the backlight body
  • 3rd hole not sealed after replacing
  • internal seals not correctly mounted after replacing/remounting
  • of course the two vents in the lower trunk body
Once it's mounted in the correct manner, it's stable from my point of view.
 
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Rather than start a new topic/thread I will post here .

The dreaded rear indicator fault. I have posted before that my left rear indicator had an 'intermittent' fault, recap first year of ownership approx 5 events of failure ( warning light), mainly towards the end of the summer. The fault would rectify itself the next day, so not an immediate problem.

This year again no problems ( note I did remove both rear light units , stripped down / cleaned the insides which had water ingress, over winter. I did not dismantle the unit completly at this stage to check the ciircuit board, or the leds.

Any way this year no problems, that is until last week. Previously the issue would resolve itself and not re-occur for a few weeks or so, mainly towards the end of summer. But this year the fault is consistent and so I decided to just fix it.

Options :-

1/ Repair service.

2/ New Replacement unit.

3/ Used unit.

So last year ALL these options where available and at approx £150, used unit would be less, but hey still £100 !

This year everything has increased a lot.

Repair service:- is now £200 for a fitted/swap unit. Repair is £140 + £17 return postage + your sending postage = say £180 total .

Brand New replacement unit :- £200 delivered

Used units :- £140 approx !

Faulty units :- £100+

Having looked at the options available including Ali Express, I bought a brand new unit from Germany :-

Heckleuchte Rücklicht Rückleuchte links für BMW Z4 Roadster E89 - bis 03.2013
EUR 200.84Unit price EUR 200.84
Item number: 285692700975

Returns accepted through 18 Oct 2026.

Actual cost in GBP = £196.60


Delivery this Thursday/Friday.
 
The stupid design is the boot gutters drain water over the tail lights.
The plastic piece screwed on the back uses a foam seal like bath sponge, so water gets inside the lamp housing.
Take that figure of 8 cover off and use spray Evostick glue liberally on seal and after screwing the cover back on.
Had to do this to a new set several years ago.
No leaks since, still like new.

Only problem now a dead spider has fallen in!!
 
Crikey found the link by Google search..13 years ago...this was before i tried silicone on original set, doesn't work. Need Evostick.
Z

Thread 'Rear light clusters again'

OK i'm on my third set of rear lenses.

Today the nearside unit is filled with water.

Now before I call the dealer is there something they might not be doing right when they refit the new lenses?

Seems odd and it's annoying as the car has been perfect now for the last year.
 
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