Brake Light Failure & Fog Light

[toneus]

Picked up my new 40d E70 3 weeks ago, and already had a brake light failure!  :rant: The left brake light is out and when we contacted BMW said not covered under warranty! In addition, I can't change the bulb myself as apparently it's a sealed unit and therefore we would invalidate the warranty (manual also says go to service centre). Going to dealer tomorrow to rectify, but since bought through BMW Employee & Family scheme not expecting any goodwill freebie replacement from them....

Also, not sure if this is a fault or not, but can't seem to find anything in the manual. When the lights are in AUTO position, the nearside foglight is ON, but the offside is OFF. I thought I had another bulb out, but if I put the foglights on, then both are on  ??? . Can anybody shed any light on this?

[X5Sport]

What angle are you leaving the steering at?  You could have 'cornering lights' which may be being triggered if the steering isn't straight.  It should swap left to right as you move the wheel and the car is either stationery or moving at low speed.

Other than that, yes lights are a 'wear & tear' item, but .i would have expected 3-weeks of use to constitute a premature failure and be covered under a warranty.  It seems (to me) a bit harsh for the Dealer to walk away after that fast a failure.  It is a 'hard to get at' part so it's not as if you could have mistreated it.

Richard

[toneus]

I'll check that tomorrow ( one too many G&Ts), but the dealer didn't sell me the car. BMW employee scheme means you buy it from them with no dealer involvement, but I agree  should last longer than 3 weeks- so hopefully get it done FOC. Will advise....

[Whitey]

Sound similar to the problem I had , was getting fog light bulb fault but they were working .

Have a look see if you can see water in the housing along the bottom , the seal has let water in , they changed to a gasket seal from the older tiger goo seal .

If its a bulb just take to unit off and change , I'm sure there is a how to on YouTube , see if I can find it

[Whitey]

The link is more of a DIY changing the rear lights


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGZ3GxH0 ... ata_player

[gchristofi]

[quote="toneus"]
Picked up my new 40d E70 3 weeks ago, and already had a brake light failure!  :rant: The left brake light is out and when we contacted BMW said not covered under warranty! In addition, I can't change the bulb myself as apparently it's a sealed unit and therefore we would invalidate the warranty (manual also says go to service centre). Going to dealer tomorrow to rectify, but since bought through BMW Employee & Family scheme not expecting any goodwill freebie replacement from them....

Also, not sure if this is a fault or not, but can't seem to find anything in the manual. When the lights are in AUTO position, the nearside foglight is ON, but the offside is OFF. I thought I had another bulb out, but if I put the foglights on, then both are on  ??? . Can anybody shed any light on this?
[/quote]

I think some of these cars automatically activate the corresponding fog light if there is a failure of the main rear or headlight... that might explain why one fog light comes on with the auto set on.

[toneus]

Brake light fixed under warranty! Thanks to BMW North Oxford. Still don't know about fog light but may be what gchristoph said....