Rear driving light out...

[SimonB]

Has anyone else had a rear driving light die on them? Noticed it yesterday. Initially thought it may have been caused when the dealer replaced the rear brake light, but the indicator and brake is okay, so it must be a globe. Anyone else replaced one? Easy? I know the angel eyes were damned fiddly.

[BBK]

Driving light as in the LED? I had my whole brake light replaced a couple weeks ago. The brake light worked and the blinker, but the 3 lines (LEDs) didn't. Had to replace the whole thing.

Had to be shipped from Sydney and my dealer said that it was the last one they had in stock, more were on back-order so if it's what I'm thinking of you may need to wait a while...

[2bob]

Mine was replaced recently-- had to be ordered from Germany .

[SimonB]

Originally Posted by BBK

Driving light as in the LED? I had my whole brake light replaced a couple weeks ago. The brake light worked and the blinker, but the 3 lines (LEDs) didn't. Had to replace the whole thing.

Had to be shipped from Sydney and my dealer said that it was the last one they had in stock, more were on back-order so if it's what I'm thinking of you may need to wait a while...

Holy guacamole. Yes, it's the 3 horizontal lines that aren't working. I assumed (obviously wrongly) that it's just a 'light pipe' arrangement. Sheesz, now I have to go back to the dealer AGAIN and, by the sounds of it, AGAIN when they get the bits in. This is getting a bit off. I don't expect this for a car that's less than 2 years old.

Simon....

[2bob]

It seems like it could be a common problem like the HPFP witch ive just had replaced on my 15 month car.Anyone with long cranks should get the dealer to replace under warrany.

[minijet]

Originally Posted by 2bob

It seems like it could be a common problem like the HPFP witch ive just had replaced on my 15 month car.Anyone with long cranks should get the dealer to replace under warrany.

I agree.
My left rear light went out too. had to replace the whole light enclosure.
sigh.. i fear what this car is going to cost me once its out of warranty..

Man my VW had less issues.

[amk2912]

My 5 yr old X5 is starting to cost a bit. Nothing is built to last, as the old saying goes. My old man has tools etc that he bought in the '40s and '50s - they're still going strong but I fear those companies went to the wall as their products lasted forever.

[d3syd]

I'm starting to thing we are driving around in time bombs (albeit fun ones) waiting for things to go wrong. Very disappointing. There seem to be less problems cropping up on the LANDROVER Disco forum that I am on.

[SimonB]

This is quite disturbing news, to me at least. Hardly scientific, but a handful of "me too"s in a day doesn't bode well. I'll have to have a look through the US forums and see if they have any experiences too. I rang the dealer this arvo, but they haven't called me back.

If it did fail out of warranty, you would have to ask if the "not fit for purpose" laws could help.

Yup, it appears to be a problem:

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=321226

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298324

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=278514

Simon....

[amk2912]

We need a version of the US "Lemon" laws in this country. Somehow I don't think that would happen as the motor industry here would fight tooth and nail to prevent their introduction.

[SimonB]

I wouldn't think the lemon laws would help here, amk2912. After all, it would appear to be a design fault. I thought lemon laws were for vehicles that got built while the robot or assembler was half asleep and, as a result, the car was always in the shop.

[123D-M]

Do you get a warning light in the dashboard that a light isn't working? Or did you have to be outside the car to notice?

[SimonB]

Originally Posted by 123D-M

Do you get a warning light in the dashboard that a light isn't working? Or did you have to be outside the car to notice?

I happened to notice when I walked behind the car when it was running, with the lights on. Not something I do everyday... No warning light on my dash.

[BBK]

Only time I noticed was when I was in an underground car park and unlocked the car when returning...

[Alext]

I had mine go too Whole unit

[SimonB]

Booked in for Tuesday next week, hope the cops don't pull me up before then :-( Thankfully, AC are ensuring that they have a replacement unit on hand so that we don't have to double deal.

[amk2912]

Originally Posted by SimonB

Booked in for Tuesday next week, hope the cops don't pull me up before then :-( Thankfully, AC are ensuring that they have a replacement unit on hand so that we don't have to double deal.

Better double check they have the correct one in stock. They ordered in the wrong wing mirror for my X5....TWICE!! Third time lucky....then the steering wheel angle sensor blew as I was leaving AC. To their credit they organised a new one very quickly and I got the car back a day before I left for OS.

[MikeVictor]

I noticed my rear left had gone spang tonight. Not happy

[d3syd]

Wonder what is causing the failure. LEDs are meant to virtually never blow. Crappy eastern bloc soldering perhaps??

[MikeVictor]

Updated- BBMW have got the unit on order for me, they're aware of this being an issue for some cars. Very nice of them to see to me when I dropped in unannounced too, they've always shown great service to me.

Now it's just a matter of waiting to see if there's anywhere in Aus with a spare unit or if it has to get shipped from Deutschland.

[sparoz]

Originally Posted by SimonB

Holy guacamole. Yes, it's the 3 horizontal lines that aren't working. I assumed (obviously wrongly) that it's just a 'light pipe' arrangement. Sheesz, now I have to go back to the dealer AGAIN and, by the sounds of it, AGAIN when they get the bits in. This is getting a bit off. I don't expect this for a car that's less than 2 years old.

Simon....

Must be your first bmw?

BMWs have always been like that - list of things went wrong - Brake squeals, ECU doesn't know how to shift pass 2nd, failed Sunroof, failed auto windows driver side, fuel flap malfunction, Air con (transistor failure), brake light wiring over heated causing failure, a split radiator, broken on off/volume button on stereo, loud sound coming of rear left speaker (and that happened right at the end of the meet - that's why you might noticed I slowed down at the end ).

Most of these failures happened in the first 3 years. Got used to it - I rather deal with the reliability issue than driving a Lexus or any other car for that matter.

Originally Posted by minijet

I agree.
My left rear light went out too. had to replace the whole light enclosure.
sigh.. i fear what this car is going to cost me once its out of warranty..

Man my VW had less issues.

That's why I replaced the 120D before its warranty runs out this time. I worked out the cost of the last 3 years of the 318i ownership would equate to depreciation on a new car.

But I will be keeping the 135i/M1 - as I think it would be such a cult car.

Originally Posted by d3syd

I'm starting to thing we are driving around in time bombs (albeit fun ones) waiting for things to go wrong. Very disappointing. There seem to be less problems cropping up on the LANDROVER Disco forum that I am on.

Lol - that's why when someone tell me I shouldn't get a Landie because of its reliability, I just said to myself it is not something I am not used anyway. I will take a better car any day. I always want to make sure what I get is good at its designed purpose.

Now that everyone has failed, I better check mine.

[Zuzu]

Originally Posted by sparoz

Must be your first bmw?

BMWs have always been like that - list of things went wrong - Brake squeals, ECU doesn't know how to shift pass 2nd, failed Sunroof, failed auto windows driver side, fuel flap malfunction, Air con (transistor failure), brake light wiring over heated causing failure, a split radiator, broken on off/volume button on stereo, loud sound coming of rear left speaker (and that happened right at the end of the meet - that's why you might noticed I slowed down at the end ).

Most of these failures happened in the first 3 years. Got used to it - I rather deal with the reliability issue than driving a Lexus or any other car for that matter.

Have to disagree with you Sparoz on this one mate..

I have had new BMW's for the past 20 years replacing them every 2 to 3 years and have never had any reliability/warranty issues with any of my past 3 series cars..
Unlike the 1er which has been back to the workshop now 12 times for warranty repairs.