[Dackelone]

I have been wanting to make a third LED brake light replacement DIY for awhile now. I was meeting some BMW friends the other day in Munich (Muenchen Stammtisch, the guys who put together the Welt 4.0 car shows) and one of the members was replacing his LED brake light right there in the parking lot! So with the help of Peter... here is my little DIY. I was merely there to take the pics.



You will need to remove the black push/plugs that hold the trunk lining onto the trunk lid. I forgot to take a pic of Peter doing that part... so here is a picture of LESTER 's that I snagged from one of his posts here.


You can see the very LEFT edge of the LED brake light is broken.








LED third brake light lens bmw p/n 63257164978
four new springs for light bmw p/n 63257211238
four new hex nuts for light p/n 63259128043

total costs of all the parts ~50 euros.

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...55&hg=63&fg=25


remove the two torx screws that hold on the bracket for the warning triangle. On some cars these screws are phillips screws.



IF your car has the EU warning triangle.. there are two torx screws T20 (?) that secure the triangle holders to the trunk lid. Remove those with the black plugs that secure the carpet to the trunk lid.



trunk liner carpet removed...


use an 8mm deep 1/4 socket to remove the nuts securing the LED light to the trunk lid.


old compressed spring and nut. The new springs are much thinner and provide less stress on the LED light. I think this is why some people report going thru numerous LED lights. I bet they never get those springs and nuts replaced when their dealer replaces the brake light. ?






8mm ratchet in action!




nuts removed!


carefully remove the electrical connector and DO NOT scratch your painted trunk lid!!!






see that little metal lip(center in the slot/hole) thats gotta go...




old LED brake light on top, new brake light (bottom). See how the new light doesn't have that cut out anymore. This is why you will need to use a file to remove that metal tab on your trunk lid OR... use a dremell tool to mod your new LED lens to look like your old one. Peter chose to use a metal file to remove that lip on the trunk lid...


use a metal file to remove that lip on the trunk lid...


going...


going... some more file work...






almost perfect...










Now... see that plastic lip on the bottom of the LED lens... looks like we need to trim that piece off...














new LED lens sitting perfectly flush! Good job!










All done!