Weird Bulb Warning Error

[coupedan]

Hi All,

Noticed recently I keep on getting the "Lamp out" warning on the dash, it only happens with my foot pressed on the brake and no other time (Kinda eliminates itself to the brake light circuit).

Now I have checked my bulbs and none of them are out, I even replaced my brake lamp bulbs just incase they were faulty but to no avail.

This is also very intermittent, and does not do it every time but will at least 2-3 times a week (Gets driven daily to and from work)
What's weird also, with my foot fully on the brake the warning will show for a second and then go out, then show then out etc and it will carry on until I turn the car off for a period of time.

I thought it may be moisture but it does it when the car is completely bone dry.

Took it into the Stealers but as my car is in under AUC warranty they "Could not find anything wrong".. all the usual riff raff :headbang:

Has anyone else had anything like this at all? it's driving me nuts!

Also got a video.. just to prove to the stealers I wasn't imagining this -
http://youtu.be/laKb1YsAHmI

Cheers,
Dan.

 

[Wa'ya]

Just out of curiosity Dan, what kind of shape is your 3rd brake light in?

 

[coupedan]

Just out of curiosity Dan, what kind of shape is your 3rd brake light in?

It's the normal LED strip that runs across the rear hatch above the BMW roundel.
Just like a strip with almost oval / triangular shaped ends.
I haven't replaced that one yet, only the conventional bulbs

Cheers.
Dan

 

[Rob_benton]

I had an issue with a rear side light.
I got the warning to say a bulb was out occasionally.
All bulbs were fine but a side light bulb was slightly dim.
Replaced the bulb and it was still dim.
There was no visible corrosion on the bulb holder, but I went over the holder contacts with some fine sand paper and it's been fine for about 4 months now.
I think the warning light system is really sensitive and picks up any slight difference in voltage from the bulbs.

Worth a go maybe ?

 

[Wa'ya]

I had an issue with a rear side light.
I got the warning to say a bulb was out occasionally.
All bulbs were fine but a side light bulb was slightly dim.
Replaced the bulb and it was still dim.
There was no visible corrosion on the bulb holder, but I went over the holder contacts with some fine sand paper and it's been fine for about 4 months now.
I think the warning light system is really sensitive and picks up any slight difference in voltage from the bulbs.

Worth a go maybe ?

Thats a thought, I was having problems with the cigarette lighter in mine not heating up, checked the fuse but it was fine when I pulled the housing unit which holds the lighter socket out I found the connection was corroded, cleaned that up and its working great now.

No Dan, I was just wondering if it was cracked or broken any where mosture could be getting into it?

 

[Clearancediver]

If you have the software program INPA you can read the trouble codes and isolate where the bulb issue is. Likely a dirty connection or a bulb that's iffy.... Cleaning the connections and inspecting plugs would be a start if you don't have the software. A bulb that looks good still might read as faulty to the electronic monitoring system. I had to replace what looked to be perfectly good bulb to clear my fault after I isolated what bulb cluster was tripping the error warning.


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[VENDAR]

I had the same issue last year and i couldn't understand why. After 2 weeks of this happening my right xenon bulb died and i had to replace it. The mechanic told me that the system saw that the bulb was about to go out due to volt changes and kept lighting because it thought it was dead already. Maybe something similar will happen to you as well. I hope if it does it will be a cheap bulb change and not the xenon bulb :headbang:

 

[coupedan]

I had an issue with a rear side light.
I got the warning to say a bulb was out occasionally.
All bulbs were fine but a side light bulb was slightly dim.
Replaced the bulb and it was still dim.
There was no visible corrosion on the bulb holder, but I went over the holder contacts with some fine sand paper and it's been fine for about 4 months now.
I think the warning light system is really sensitive and picks up any slight difference in voltage from the bulbs.

Worth a go maybe ?

Thats a thought, I was having problems with the cigarette lighter in mine not heating up, checked the fuse but it was fine when I pulled the housing unit which holds the lighter socket out I found the connection was corroded, cleaned that up and its working great now.

No Dan, I was just wondering if it was cracked or broken any where mosture could be getting into it?

Had a look today, no moisture in there at all but it's started doing whilst driving this morning.. Changed the normal lamps in the the rear light clusters.. Still doing it and no sign of corrosion on the bulb holders etc.

So the only thing left to test is the 3rd (led) brake lamp and the brake light switch.. A brake circuit can't be that complicated surely? :headbang:

BMW took a look at it and said they can't find anything as there's no codes being stored.. What a bugger!

Cheers.

Dan

 

[coupedan]

I had the same issue last year and i couldn't understand why. After 2 weeks of this happening my right xenon bulb died and i had to replace it. The mechanic told me that the system saw that the bulb was about to go out due to volt changes and kept lighting because it thought it was dead already. Maybe something similar will happen to you as well. I hope if it does it will be a cheap bulb change and not the xenon bulb :headbang:

Luckily, it only happens when my foot is on the brake so narrows it down to the brake circuit.
Also I don't have Xenons.. Only an aftermarket HID kit, so I don't have to shell out for an expensive Xenon bulb :evil:

Cheers.
Dan

 

[Rob_benton]

Mine had no corrosion but I still used a bit of sand paper where the bulb touches the bulb holder and it solved the problem.

The metal material the holder is made out of may not show obvious signs of rust/ corrosion when it starts. If that makes sense.....

Try a bit of sand paper, it's worth a go.

 

[mac27040]

you could get a copy of navcoder and which off brake light check !!! this will stop you getiing a bulb out warning light on the dash.

 

[richardjgreen]

mine comes on 2 or 3 times a week for some unknown reason if i turn the engine off and back on again it goes out ????

 

[Wa'ya]

Do you have a code reader yourself Dan? If so I would take a reading while holding the brake.

Have you had someone looking at the brake lights while pressing the pedals to see if one is dimmer?

Another thought could be corrosion somewhere else besides the bulbs themselves, every junction or plug in an electrical circuit/harness is a chance for a problem. The corrosion I had was at the crimped connection on the cigar lighter socket could have easily been at any plug feeding the lighter.

I once had a Jukebox I was repairing, CD's would play then stop and then restart where they stopped. All indications pointed to a bad head, $160 replacement part. We bought the part and replaced it but still had the same problem. So just for grins and giggles I unplugged and re-plugged every connection in the Jukebox, which ended up fixing the problem.... also if you find a spot where moisture is causing your problem you might want to add some dielectric grease to block out the moisture.

 

[coupedan]

Do you have a code reader yourself Dan? If so I would take a reading while holding the brake.

Have you had someone looking at the brake lights while pressing the pedals to see if one is dimmer?

Another thought could be corrosion somewhere else besides the bulbs themselves, every junction or plug in an electrical circuit/harness is a chance for a problem. The corrosion I had was at the crimped connection on the cigar lighter socket could have easily been at any plug feeding the lighter.

I once had a Jukebox I was repairing, CD's would play then stop and then restart where they stopped. All indications pointed to a bad head, $160 replacement part. We bought the part and replaced it but still had the same problem. So just for grins and giggles I unplugged and re-plugged every connection in the Jukebox, which ended up fixing the problem.... also if you find a spot where moisture is causing your problem you might want to add some dielectric grease to block out the moisture.

I have managed to narrow this down now after a few weeks.. and this is my conclusion:

. Cleaned / Sanded bulb contact points, holders and the contacts in the cluster itself = Fault still happens.
. Replaced rear brake lamps (Apart from LED 3rd brake light) = Fault still happens.

However - this is the weird bit;
I only get the fault when the headlights are on.. not sure why this is, I'm thinking maybe the Canbus does a scan of the system and checks for any inconsistency in voltage, etc and does a comparison between front and rear.. anyone had experience of this?
Also it still intermittent with the lights on, so daytime driving is not a factor as I always drive with lights on.

I have just ordered an OBD scanner so should be here in the next few days so hopefully should be able to pick a fault that way.

Will update once the scanner arrives :headbang:

Cheers
Dan.

 

[Jembo]

Yep - had this with mine when I got it.

Solution was quite simple of removing bulbs, cleaning connections & SWAPPING them around (single filament like 4 like)

Over time you get corrosion which creates resistance which in turn makes the CAMBUS think there's a light out... cleaning them up & swapping them around sorted it for me

 

[Jembo]

To be clear am referring to the bulbs accessible in the boot only

 

[coupedan]

Yep - had this with mine when I got it.

Solution was quite simple of removing bulbs, cleaning connections & SWAPPING them around (single filament like 4 like)

Over time you get corrosion which creates resistance which in turn makes the CAMBUS think there's a light out... cleaning them up & swapping them around sorted it for me

Thanks for the reply but I have already tried this to no success!

It seems to only do it when my headlights are on - does not do it when headlights are off.

 

[Clearancediver]

If it only happens when your headlights are on, it's possible it's a headlight that's going, but likely one of your parking lights that's the issue. Buy a brand new bulb to match those parking/side lights and replace one bulb at a time while car headlights are on ( car on charger or running to save battery).... When the light goes out throw the bulb just removed into the garbage bin......


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