Rear reading lights always on

[Bargain Bucket]

A weird electrical issue has surfaced on my E53. The rear reading lights are permanently on from the moment I wake the car up in the morning. They do go out after 15 mins but aside from that, I cannot extinguish them. The footwell lights behave as they should and go out when the rest of the interior lights go out but the reading lights remain on. Any ideas anyone?

Thanks.

[Sanj]

Obvious stupid question, you have tried pressing the buttons next each reading light?

[X5Sport]

That would be my suggestion too as all the lights would dim together unless someone has set them to be on.  Anyone been 'playing' in the back like kids etc?

Richard

[Bargain Bucket]

LOL. Pressed them many times with no luck. I've narrowed it down to the passenger rear door. If I open it and close it, the reading lights go out. Strange though because if it was a door switch issue I'd expect the footwell lights to be on as well.

[gchristofi]

I vaguely remember a post that says if u press and hold the main switch for interior lighting in the front, it turns off all the lights.  Not sure it applies to reading spots though but worth a try anyway.

[Sanj]

It does. Count to 10, but will that reset the lights??? Just turns them off.

[Bargain Bucket]

Solved. The 10 second push of the main interior lighting switch didn't work. But a 10 second push of the drivers side rear light did make it go out. The passenger side would then go out with just a normal push and now normal operation has been restored to both lights (i.e. go on and off with the rest of the interior lights). Many thanks for the clues guys.