10-21-2015, 10:26 AM | #23 |
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here is the part that stops the outer tail lamps from working
circled in red the area circled in red touches these contact points, which gives the LED power on mine the contacts in the bulb holder were sort of corroded, and the circuit was intermittent I used sandpaper and cleaned them all up and also bent them upwards to so they would touch the contact points with more force, that worked initially second time I got sick and tired of the LED going on and off so I soldered a wire between the bulb holder and the tail light now it works 100% of the time, forever
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10-22-2015, 06:16 AM | #24 |
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Awesome post.
I looked into changing mine out, couldn't find anything online, and subsequently took it to the dealer. Luckily they did a goodwill repair since I was one month out of warranty. I'll be using this guide next time though! |
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10-30-2015, 02:11 PM | #25 |
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I finally brought my (expired warranty) x3 to the dealership to see if they can replace my 2 tail lights through "goodwill" warranty. I know I should have tried the soldering method first but didn't have time for trial and error. Anyway, the dealership told me the final total would be $1,300 for the 2 tail lights...but since my warranty is only 5 months expired, they reduced the amount to $350. All in all, I'm pretty happy...at least the replaced lights have 2 years warranty. At least now if the other lights malfunction, I'll know what to do! Thanks for all your help!
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11-02-2015, 11:01 AM | #27 |
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glad to hear that
in the end I gave up on mine so I ran a wire from the red cable inside the tail light to the wire coming from the factory loom that is for the LED thereby bypassing the entire plug works perfectly now so something was messed up with the plug, and I couldn't be bothered to dismantle it and diagnose it
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11-02-2015, 10:31 PM | #29 | |
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Quote:
Open tail gate Lift up the black plastic piece next to the tail light Push it upwards Undo 2x 10mm nuts And the entire tail light comes out
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12-09-2015, 07:04 AM | #30 |
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BMW X3 LED tail light repair
Hello All, new (2011) X3 owner and new to the forum. I just went through the LED tail light malfunction and successfully fixed both lights for less than $20.00 and about an hour of my time. Hope this helps someone else out. The fix is simple and the same component seems to be the common failure point from all the posts I have read. Anyway, saved me $500 +/-.
Cheers, Brian |
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04-06-2016, 11:34 AM | #31 | |
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Quote:
My other 2 lamps are now out |
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04-07-2016, 02:51 PM | #32 |
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yeah right now 2 of my tail lights are down
1 works 80% of the time the other is more like 50% of the time all 4 failed on that little circuit board thinking of just replacing that board with something aftermarket it's basically a board that takes 12v, and brings it down to 3v I think and limits the current going to the LED bulb something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/400536123117...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
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04-08-2016, 04:41 AM | #33 |
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kmarei, you have to resold all the circuit boards. mine is still working 100%. another solution is this: http://www.bmwpassion.com/forum/show...riori-x3/page3
the post is in italian but the solution is to change the circuit board with a compatible one. bye |
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06-18-2016, 01:02 PM | #34 |
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Hi to everybody... both of my external led tail lights had stopped to work.... a friend of mine resolded both the circuit boards and then all work fine.....that's all ! bye
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07-01-2016, 05:28 PM | #35 |
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Had the right inner lift gate light replaced today under extended warranty for a $50 deductible. Otherwise, it would have been $346 installed. Unable to keep original part to repair later.
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07-01-2016, 06:41 PM | #37 |
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Our extended warranty is the Hendrick Autoguard for 100K miles. Our '13 X3 is at 60K miles, so far replaced under this extended warranty was the windshield washer fluid reservoir, both lift gate power spindles and now the right inner lift gate led rear light. Around $2K retail repair cost thus far under this warranty for a $50 deductible each time. Apparently for us, having a car like this we needed an extended warranty beyond the piece of mind. It's paid for itself thus far with a long way to go. Also, hasn't BMW stopped the included maintenance program. We may need to consider that as well when we decide to buy again...
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07-04-2016, 02:12 PM | #38 | |
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Quote:
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08-02-2016, 11:13 AM | #39 |
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Thanks to everyone for this post. My left inner LED light stopped working on my 2011 35i (the one on the tailgate) and i searched the forum which took me to this thread. Today I had a coworker who has some soldering skills help out and he resoldered one connection on the little circuit board on the LED module after using an electric meter tester to figure out which one. All fixed. $0 and 1 favor for a coworker.
Greg
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08-04-2016, 12:33 PM | #40 |
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and it didn't last - worked for a few days and stopped. any ideas on how to solder this to make it last? mine is left inner - on the tailgate
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08-04-2016, 09:19 PM | #41 |
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I had the same issue. I soldered it and it lasted only a day or so. I did it again (this time really heating up the solder and "pushing" the soldering iron down). I figured if it doesn't work I'll have to buy another light anyway. It's been working for weeks now. I assume by heating more and pushing a bit it filled the cracks better where the joint was failing.
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08-23-2016, 08:24 AM | #42 |
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The circuit board must be very hot while soldering joints. My friend has a heating plate on which he putted the circuit board....when the plate was hot he soldered every join on the board. He's an electrotechnical. My first repaired led tail light is still working 100% after over an year. Sorry for my bad english. Bye to everyone
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10-09-2016, 12:05 AM | #44 |
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2nd attempt to fix mine lasted almost 3 weeks :/
I can't ask the same friend for #3. He is a hardware tech who solders all the time. i figure i can either unplug the other side to make my X3 looks like it doesn't have the LED lighting package or buy the replacement part online. which i could just get the controller w/o the lense
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