[talfano]

Hello. TIA for taking the time to read this.

I have a 2011 X3. Both the tail gate and the fender lamps are out. The brake lights work, and blinkers work, and reverse lights work.

Troubleshooting, I took one tail light assembly completely off the tail gate (unplugged it from the main connector shown at the bottom).

Then I turned the car on. I got a tail lamp failure warning on the dash. When I plugged the assembly back in, the tail lamp failure warning went away.

Can I assume that the fuse is good? Since I got the warning when I unplugged the assembly, I figured the fuse is good because it's at least getting current to the assembly (otherwise how would it know to warn me about a failure).

If the fuse is good, then that points to each assembly. I know the LED driver in these assemblies are problematic, so is it more likely to be the LED drivers in all four assemblies, or do think maybe it's the bulbs?

I was thinking my next step would be to buy one of those Mean Well LED Drivers and try it with one assembly and see if it works.

Any input, advice, or suggestions on something else I should try or do would greatly appreciate it.

[Bdavi011]

My guess is the LED drivers are bad. I replaced all 4 of mine with a set from Amazon. Working well.

[talfano]

Thanks! I will give it a try.

[tracer bullet]

It's interesting that with things plugged in, the car doesn't alert you of an issue. So - it things things are connected and have resistance, implying the bulbs are OK.

If that gives anything to think about for trouble shooting.

You might also want to be sure that they are supposed to be on... like if it's related to the switch position of the headlights or something (does auto mode note that it's daytime and just have them turned off). Maybe not exactly that but along those lines. Just to be sure you actually have a problem...

[pungo]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

It's interesting that with things plugged in, the car doesn't alert you of an issue. So - it things things are connected and have resistance, implying the bulbs are OK.

If that gives anything to think about for trouble shooting.

You might also want to be sure that they are supposed to be on... like if it's related to the switch position of the headlights or something (does auto mode note that it's daytime and just have them turned off). Maybe not exactly that but along those lines. Just to be sure you actually have a problem...

If the tail lights are LED, the bulb out monitoring is turned off by default, therefor; there won't be any errors when they don't light up due to a failure.

If the tail lights are LED and the DRLs are enabled on, they will be on day and night regardless of the auto mode or the light switch position.

[talfano]

UPDATE:

I ordered a driver board from amazon, and it fixed a taillight. So now I am ordering three more for the other tail lights.

Here is what I ordered:

Rear LED light Repair REPLACEMENT Board Taillight Led Chip Compatible For 2011 to 2015 BMW X3 F25 (valeo b003809.2 Replacement) https://a.co/d/eLyA2bA

[Felix799]

Check for broken electronic circuit.

[talfano]

Update: I ordered the remaining valeo replacement boards, and the remaining three tail lights are fully working.

If anyone else has this problem, I hope this thread helps. BTW, the tail lights are extremely easy to remove and replace the board. There are left and right covers on each side of the tail gate. Just remove those, unscrew the single bolt holding the tail light assembly in. Then the tail light slips right out. You'll need to unplug the connector, but it's a breeze.

The other tail lights on the fender are just as easy. Just remove the black cover on the tail gate jam, then unscrew the two main bolts. It slips right out. You'll see the driver board on each assembly.