Rear Light Cluster - Water Ingress

J

Japseroony

Member
Hi Guys

Can anyone tell me if BMW ever did anything re water ingress into the rear light cluster as my drivers side indicators have just gone off, well some of them have and the indicators are flashing 2x normal speed with the warning on the dash.

I have read a lot on here but most of the info is some years old and there seems to be no real consistency from BMW?
 
Just been down to Coopers BMW and they have confirmed water ingress and apparently BMW are offering a goodwill payment.

Coopers have the lights in stock (ordered them yesterday after I contacted them which is a bit presumptuous) but they don't have all the seals so she is booked in for Thursday this week for the new lights to be fitted. I think I have to pay something like £160 which is labour and BMW are paying for the lights but not 100% sure - will report back on Thursday once I find out for certain.

Going to ask them about the front ones now as there is a fair amount of condensation in them as well :roll:
 
Scooba_Steve said:
Why can't you just fit them yourself?
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I guess I could but they would still want me to pay up to £250 towards the lights - BMW require a payment under the goodwill offering depending on how old the vehicle is.

Up to 48 months BMW can ask for up to £150 and over 48 months they could ask for up to £250 - I think that's how it works :?
 
They will cover some of the cost but not all as my car is 4 years old this month on the 23rd. They require the customer to make a contribution of some sort and as the units are something like £214 plus VAT each I guess I have the least expensive part of the deal!!
 
Get a quote from an independent. We've had both fail. First was done under warranty. Second was at over 4 years and we got it done at an independent.

My recollection is that it was £200+VAT to get one replaced - including labour.

The part wasn't branded BMW - but that's notnecessarily a bad thing in this case - either it's from the same OEM that BMW use (in which case same problems but less money) or it's different in which case it may well be better.

There are instructions on fitting these things on one of the threads on this site andon youtube if you're willing to try yourself - and Eurocarparts seem to have them listed at under £140.

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/BMW_Z4+Roadster_2.5_2010/p/car-parts/car-electrics-and-car-lighting/lighting1/rear-light/?478112510&1&a4a3946f62f61d77d43a14e3568c27c3cf896ee6&000269

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/BMW_Z4+Roadster_2.5_2010/p/car-parts/car-electrics-and-car-lighting/lighting1/rear-light/?478112520&1&0f00dcc475c28d0c37ea02909bc31d6bbba4dd9f&000269
 
Happy fitting them myself but BMW would still want £150 contribution as a minimum so the saving would not justify the cost as I would be forking out £280 for 2 lights and fitting them myself as opposed to £150 and having Coopers fit them.

I guess I would also get some sort of warranty on the lights if fitted by BMW.

If BMW would let me take the lights with no contribution then happy days but they wont - just checked :roll:
 
That's really handy to know that you can buy them from ECP!! And yes, Magnetti Marelli do make the rear light clusters (I've had them out several times).

To the OP: I'd check the warranty - BMW sometimes only offer warranty on warranty / goodwill parts, to the end of the original manufacturer's warranty (so in your case, nothing!) if they say that, go buy the ECP ones and save yourself a fortune. (The clusters take minutes to remove and fit - honest!!!)
 
abeardo83 said:
That's really handy to know that you can buy them from ECP!! And yes, Magnetti Marelli do make the rear light clusters (I've had them out several times).

To the OP: I'd check the warranty - BMW sometimes only offer warranty on warranty / goodwill parts, to the end of the original manufacturer's warranty (so in your case, nothing!) if they say that, go buy the ECP ones and save yourself a fortune. (The clusters take minutes to remove and fit - honest!!!)
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Not sure if you read what I said - its either go buy 2 units at £140 each, so £280 in total and fit them myself or pay £150 and have BMW fit 2 new units for me as they are paying for the replacement parts - total bill from BMW would be approx £665 but I only contribute £150 of that :thumbsup:
 
abeardo83 said:
The title of your post said 'cluster' so I assumed one... apologies.
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No worries, I should have made it clearer - they have both been replaced now at Coopers and my bill was £156.10 so not so bad :thumbsup:
 
My advice would be to take the new one's off and seal them before they leak again. There seems no evidence that BMW have taken any trouble to solve the problem. I took mine apart and sealed up with Evostick glue, no problems since.
 
flybobbie said:
My advice would be to take the new one's off and seal them before they leak again. There seems no evidence that BMW have taken any trouble to solve the problem. I took mine apart and sealed up with Evostick glue, no problems since.
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Did the Evostick react with the plastic material ?
 
flybobbie said:
My advice would be to take the new one's off and seal them before they leak again. There seems no evidence that BMW have taken any trouble to solve the problem. I took mine apart and sealed up with Evostick glue, no problems since.
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Did the Evostick react with the plastic material ?
 
No problems. They leak at the rear due to the open cell foam that's used to seal the rear of the unit.
If the rear section is removed the seal will be revealed.
I just dried my out and glued it back in place using plenty of glue before reassembly. Then final spray over to seal.
Just poor design and all the water from the boot gutter flows over the rear of the tail lights.
 
I think the new lights are different now as they seem to have rubber seals around the rear of the lights that sits around the opening in the back panel (its the opening if you need to change a bulb) and if fitted correctly should not allow water ingress - mine were not fitted correctly!!

The rubber seals are a tight fit around the actual lights so they may have at last done away with the foam?
 
No. Those rubber seals have always been there, otherwise the boot would fill with water.
The foam can only bee seen if the lamp is taken apart.
 
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