First Problem (brake light cover)

[spicv0712]

My SA told me the covers are on back order. Ive been waiting for 3 weeks already, this is ridiculous!!! I think Im going to walk in there and just tell them to steal one off a showroom car.

[xSegFaultx]

Mine actually came in just last week and I had it put on last Friday. So far so good. We'll see how well the replacement holds up. Maybe they adjusted the way it sits in the housing so there is no stress on it. I'll keep everyone posted if I see any more cracks develop.

[airrek]

2 wks ago i was washing my car to discover the 3rd brake light was gone completely; however, the APPEARANCE is that the cover was broken off as the fragments of the red plastic lens were hanging on/fragmented on the LED itself. My salesperson and 2 service advisors said they'd never seen vandalism of this type before but now that i'm reading this post from SO MANY of you, what is the chance of my problem being the same as yours - i.e. manufacturer's defect?! Not one service advisor mentioned i could get this service done under warranty because the appearance is of vandalism though there is no damage to the trunk (i hadnt noticed the lens broken/lying in the parking lot where i've parked - if it werent for washing my own car, it may have been longer before i'd even noticed it was even missing).

Anyway, as i said, on mine it looks like someone went and tried to snap off the lens (since it's apparently attached to the LEDs as one single assembly, right?) but if anyone can confirm that's how theirs looks as well, i'd like some advice on how i can 'convince' the service ppl to fix this as warranty instead of shelling out $300+ (expected) for this thing. BTW i was told "50 lights on backorder across the USA, expected shipment from Germany 8/20" and "we'll send you a postcard when the part comes in."

Guys, please let me know! I've been mad as hell about my 'vandalized' brakelight for 2 weeks now!

[xSegFaultx]

Originally Posted by airrek

2 wks ago i was washing my car to discover the 3rd brake light was gone completely; however, the APPEARANCE is that the cover was broken off as the fragments of the red plastic lens were hanging on/fragmented on the LED itself. My salesperson and 2 service advisors said they'd never seen vandalism of this type before but now that i'm reading this post from SO MANY of you, what is the chance of my problem being the same as yours - i.e. manufacturer's defect?! Not one service advisor mentioned i could get this service done under warranty because the appearance is of vandalism though there is no damage to the trunk (i hadnt noticed the lens broken/lying in the parking lot where i've parked - if it werent for washing my own car, it may have been longer before i'd even noticed it was even missing).

Anyway, as i said, on mine it looks like someone went and tried to snap off the lens (since it's apparently attached to the LEDs as one single assembly, right?) but if anyone can confirm that's how theirs looks as well, i'd like some advice on how i can 'convince' the service ppl to fix this as warranty instead of shelling out $300+ (expected) for this thing. BTW i was told "50 lights on backorder across the USA, expected shipment from Germany 8/20" and "we'll send you a postcard when the part comes in."

Guys, please let me know! I've been mad as hell about my 'vandalized' brakelight for 2 weeks now!

I showed mine to the service department when I noticed just a crack down the middle. They ordered it right then and there, no questions asked, knowing that this was once a problem on the Z4s.

I looked at it a few days later and half of the light had fallen off, then a few days later the other half fell off. What was left was a black housing for the light on the inside of the trunk, with what appeared to be an epoxy around the rear facing ring that held the red plastic brake cover on. Embedded in the epoxy all around the edge were bits of the red brake cover. So, yes, it kind of looks like someone just popped off the brake cover, with no damage to anything else.

After looking at it, I think what is making the brake covers crack and then fall off is that the housing mounted in the trunk doesn't sit centered top to bottom on the rear opening that the cover lines up in, and fits in to. Once the cover fell off, if I crouched down and looked straight on at the housing from the back, it sat about a half an inch lower than the opening. I would guess that this is putting pressure on the cover, and causing the cracking to start, and later resulting in the entire ring of epoxy to fail.

[128CTGUY]

You can add this CT Guy to the list of third brake light cover failures. After a rain on Weds of this past week I noticed a crack in the center and a gap on the far right edge. On Friday I found half of the red LED cover laying in my driveway. Luckly I did not back over it. Anyway, I called my CA and I have to bring it in this week so he can order the part. No way am I paying for this after reading this string! Thanks fellow addicts!

[BigBlue]

Originally Posted by airrek

2 wks ago i was washing my car to discover the 3rd brake light was gone completely; however, the APPEARANCE is that the cover was broken off as the fragments of the red plastic lens were hanging on/fragmented on the LED itself. My salesperson and 2 service advisors said they'd never seen vandalism of this type before but now that i'm reading this post from SO MANY of you, what is the chance of my problem being the same as yours - i.e. manufacturer's defect?! Not one service advisor mentioned i could get this service done under warranty because the appearance is of vandalism though there is no damage to the trunk (i hadnt noticed the lens broken/lying in the parking lot where i've parked - if it werent for washing my own car, it may have been longer before i'd even noticed it was even missing).

Anyway, as i said, on mine it looks like someone went and tried to snap off the lens (since it's apparently attached to the LEDs as one single assembly, right?) but if anyone can confirm that's how theirs looks as well, i'd like some advice on how i can 'convince' the service ppl to fix this as warranty instead of shelling out $300+ (expected) for this thing. BTW i was told "50 lights on backorder across the USA, expected shipment from Germany 8/20" and "we'll send you a postcard when the part comes in."

Guys, please let me know! I've been mad as hell about my 'vandalized' brakelight for 2 weeks now!

I just found out tonight that my 3rd brake light cover was gone as well. Mine looks like someone broke it off with tiny piece of red still attached to the LED. I thought it was vandelism of course but after reading all our your responses, this is obviously a defect.

[M3A4135i]

Well I just added another thing to inspect when I pick up my car

[one-35]

My 3rd brake light is also cracked. I checked it about 1 month ago (when this problem was first posted on 1addicts.com), and it was fine.

Obviously a design flaw (like the whistling mirror caps). Looks like I'll be calling up my Service Mgr. ...again.

[spicv0712]

FINALLY!!!! I just got my cover replaced on Saturday...

Dinan tune on Friday and part replaced on Sat, what a good weekend!!!!

[barrchord]

We have a new 128 vert and the third brake light cover broke in half and popped out. I saw it happen. My wife was backing up slowly and it dramatically popped out in 2 pieces, broken in the middle. Dealer replaced it no problem. Picked up car, drove 30 miles and looked at the new one. What do you know,, a 1/4" vertical crack starting from the top of the new tail light cover- just to the right of center. That was yesterday. Today, noticed another fine line crack about 1/16" starting about 1" to the right of 1/4" crack. Contacted dealer again, and will replace. Looking at the forum thread, it seems this is happing to both the coupe and vert. Also, it seems it is not happing to all cars because we would hear more about it. To me, this could be a design flaw or lot related material flaw on the light. Would be interesting to hear from those who have not had this happen to look a their third brake light cover (flashlight helps) and see if there is a fine line crack. I can also run my fingernail over the crack and feel it. I believe this will be permanantly fixed by BMW. The car is fantastic otherwise.

[xSegFaultx]

Just out of curiosity, today when I pulled into work I walked around to the back of my car and checked my tail light cover...

A CRACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, I've only had the new cover on for what, three weeks? A small hairline crack has developed going from the top center down to the small circle in the middle of the cover. This is asinine. I guess I will just wait for it to crack all the way through (AGAIN) and take it back to the dealer.

[one-35]

Someone at BMW Engineering needs to figure out the ROOT CAUSE of the crack initiation and come up with a permanent fix... soon.

I would recommend to EVERYONE who has experienced the crack problem to call up BMW NA and let them know about it. Your BMW Service Center will just keep replacing broken pieces. Only BMW Germany will come up with a permanent fix.

...unless a rocket scientist like me does first.

[skeee1]

I just had my 3rd brake light replaced 3 weeks ago and sure enough I am seeing cracking again. I went to my dealership yesterday and talk to service. Just before I walked into the door I noticed three 135s in the parking lot. Sure enough 2 were severely cracked in half and one did not even have a 3rd tail light cover (fallen off). I am sure happy BMW is on top of things. (HA HA!!)

[RedTRex]

I noticed mine was cracked over the weekend......have an appointment for replacement.....

[BigBlue]

Originally Posted by One-35

Someone at BMW Engineering needs to figure out the ROOT CAUSE of the crack initiation and come up with a permanent fix... soon.

I would recommend to EVERYONE who has experienced the crack problem to call up BMW NA and let them know about it. Your BMW Service Center will just keep replacing broken pieces. Only BMW Germany will come up with a permanent fix.

...unless a rocket scientist like me does first.

I emailed BMW NA about this problem, still waiting to hear back. Phone call will be next. In the meantime, my dealership said that this part is on backorder so it will be awhile.

[RedTRex]

Mine was replaced under warranty yesterday.....

Also got progman update to fix intermittent slow start issue (had a code A127 apparently)

Originally Posted by RedTRex

I noticed mine was cracked over the weekend......have an appointment for replacement.....

[bman6074]

I have cracks in my brake ligt too. Here are some pics. Talked to my SA and said its not covered under warranty but after reading here I am going to take a print of this thread and have them replace it under warranty as it appears to be a defect.

[barrchord]

Let me add some photo's as well. The first 2 photo's were taken on August 22, 3 days after the BMW replaced the tail light. Remember, a crack had started a few hours after they installed the new one. See my other post. I took a couple of more pics this morning, Sept 8 whch is about 2 1/2 weeks later. As you can see the crack is spreading. The dealer has a new tail light for me and will install it as soon as we get the car over there. They assure me that I will not see the problem again. However, I will be sure to find out why they are so confident. The dealership is really helping us with this. Your dealer should not hesitate to fix this under warranty. Otherwise, go to BMW USA..

[one-35]

My dealer ordered the part 2 weeks ago. Checked with Service Mgr. today, and he said there are 112 on back order from BMW (I assume for SoCal).

[bman6074]

Hey Barrchord, Thanks for posting those pics I sent them and this thread to my dealer and told them it appears to be a defect as many others are experiencing it and there dealers have ordered replacements. I believe they are going to order the part and replace it under warranty.
Thanks again for the help

[BigBlue]

Great close up photos! I went to my dealership this past weekend and looked at all the 1 series on the lot. Most all of them had signs of cracks starting from the middle of the cover. My replacement part is in transit from Germany, hope to get it within the next 2 weeks. There are definitely many on backorder, lets just hope that they were manufactured better ;o)

[128CTGUY]

Just noticed cracks on my replacement 3rd light cover. Am I going to have to create a standing monthly appointment to replace this? Anyone have any insight as to how BMW will address this if at all? What a pain!!