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BMW 3-Series and 4-Series Forum (F30 / F32) | F30POST > Technical Forums > Cosmetic and Lighting Modifications (exterior & interior) > Melted Light Connector, Rear Left
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      01-07-2019, 07:26 PM   #23
lucbigras
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This fix worked for my 2013 F30 as well. Thank you!!!!
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      01-29-2019, 09:24 PM   #24
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Had the same issue with my wife's F30.. both housings and ground wires inside the connectors were burned (charred) beyond recognition... bought brand new housings and connectors from ECS and replaced them, I also swapped the Halogens bulbs with LEDs to see if that helps minimize the amount of current flowing thru the ground wire thus preventing another meltdown.

Blows my mind that this is not a recall, this is a serious fire hazard. Oh well.. guess BMW just waits until somebody dies or gets seriously hurt before they do anything about it.
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      06-03-2019, 01:09 AM   #25
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Does anyone know where to connect the ground wire to the housing socket on a F32 tail light? I found f30 and other BMWs except for the 4 series.

here is the f32 socket housing

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      06-06-2019, 08:52 AM   #26
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it might be a very Sily Question . Did you disconnect your batteries before doing this . How do I do that on a 2014 320i . any help is appreciated . Thanks in Advance


Quote:
Originally Posted by DieselDemonDM View Post
Had the same issue with my wife's F30.. both housings and ground wires inside the connectors were burned (charred) beyond recognition... bought brand new housings and connectors from ECS and replaced them, I also swapped the Halogens bulbs with LEDs to see if that helps minimize the amount of current flowing thru the ground wire thus preventing another meltdown.

Blows my mind that this is not a recall, this is a serious fire hazard. Oh well.. guess BMW just waits until somebody dies or gets seriously hurt before they do anything about it.
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      06-06-2019, 10:11 AM   #27
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There's no reason to disconnect the battery when working on the lights. Just don't have the ignition turned on.
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I also swapped the Halogens bulbs with LEDs to see if that helps minimize the amount of current flowing thru the ground wire thus preventing another meltdown.
That's one of the reasons I went to LED, but those considering it should be cautioned that you absolutely positively have to code to use LEDs.
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      06-06-2019, 05:44 PM   #28
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Thank you BillFitz . I am going to try this ground Fix for my 14 320i xd tail lamp this weekend Then.

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There's no reason to disconnect the battery when working on the lights. Just don't have the ignition turned on.
That's one of the reasons I went to LED, but those considering it should be cautioned that you absolutely positively have to code to use LEDs.
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      06-07-2019, 07:14 AM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by karthick13 View Post
it might be a very Sily Question . Did you disconnect your batteries before doing this . How do I do that on a 2014 320i . any help is appreciated . Thanks in Advance


Quote:
Originally Posted by DieselDemonDM View Post
Had the same issue with my wife's F30.. both housings and ground wires inside the connectors were burned (charred) beyond recognition... bought brand new housings and connectors from ECS and replaced them, I also swapped the Halogens bulbs with LEDs to see if that helps minimize the amount of current flowing thru the ground wire thus preventing another meltdown.

Blows my mind that this is not a recall, this is a serious fire hazard. Oh well.. guess BMW just waits until somebody dies or gets seriously hurt before they do anything about it.
No sir, just like the others mentioned, no need to disconnect the battery.
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      06-07-2019, 07:16 AM   #30
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Originally Posted by Billfitz View Post
There's no reason to disconnect the battery when working on the lights. Just don't have the ignition turned on.
Quote:
I also swapped the Halogens bulbs with LEDs to see if that helps minimize the amount of current flowing thru the ground wire thus preventing another meltdown.
That's one of the reasons I went to LED, but those considering it should be cautioned that you absolutely positively have to code to use LEDs.
Yes, coding is a must.. otherwise you have a disco party in your garage every time you turn on your car.. also the dash board will light up with errors.
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      06-07-2019, 08:03 AM   #31
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Bulbs that are canbus ready have internal circuitry that prevents error codes. What they won't prevent is the cold and warm checks that flash the lights every minute or so, and since you can't see them you're not aware of it. People behind you will be, and might not appreciate what could be perceived as 'brake check' on your part, especially if it's a cop.
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      06-10-2019, 10:04 PM   #32
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Just did that fix on my 2014 328i (F30) with the same symptoms (rear left signal and brake light malfunction) and it seems to work well thanks!
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      06-20-2019, 10:35 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DieselDemonDM View Post
Had the same issue with my wife's F30.. both housings and ground wires inside the connectors were burned (charred) beyond recognition... bought brand new housings and connectors from ECS and replaced them, I also swapped the Halogens bulbs with LEDs to see if that helps minimize the amount of current flowing thru the ground wire thus preventing another meltdown.

Blows my mind that this is not a recall, this is a serious fire hazard. Oh well.. guess BMW just waits until somebody dies or gets seriously hurt before they do anything about it.
I had this same problem and brought it to the dealer. My SA said there was a service bulletin for it and it was a free fix. Not entirely sure if there actually is a bulletin for it or just having a good relationship with the SA.
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      06-21-2019, 05:00 AM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stro-TX View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by DieselDemonDM View Post
Had the same issue with my wife's F30.. both housings and ground wires inside the connectors were burned (charred) beyond recognition... bought brand new housings and connectors from ECS and replaced them, I also swapped the Halogens bulbs with LEDs to see if that helps minimize the amount of current flowing thru the ground wire thus preventing another meltdown.

Blows my mind that this is not a recall, this is a serious fire hazard. Oh well.. guess BMW just waits until somebody dies or gets seriously hurt before they do anything about it.
I had this same problem and brought it to the dealer. My SA said there was a service bulletin for it and it was a free fix. Not entirely sure if there actually is a bulletin for it or just having a good relationship with the SA.
Not sure there is one either, if there is one it was probably released not to long ago, I looked everywhere for a SB and couldn't find anything. All the information I found online said that people took their cars in to get them fixed and dealers were charging people for it... and trust me.. I ain't paying no damn dealer their outrageous service fees.
You probably have an outstanding SA that actually cares.. here in Houston it's impossible to find a good SA, dealership go thru them like candy and they all act they care but when it comes to real customer service.. no dice.. I just recently took my X5 for a recall and I never saw the face of the SA that got assigned to me.. then I call him to ask him about some part numbers and 3 weeks in.. no call back.
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      06-23-2019, 04:49 AM   #35
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This was a common issue on the E46 as well. The easy fix on those was to cut the earth wire above the plug then put a female spade connector on the end, and there was a male terminal on the actual earth track that went around the bulb holder. Never had any more issues after that. It also occurs on both sides.
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      06-23-2019, 08:42 AM   #36
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The cause is simple to understand. Count the number of + connections. Since the lamps aren't connected to chassis ground but instead use a common ground wire that wire, and the connectors it uses, should be of a larger size than the +. It's not, so when more than one of the bulbs in the lamp are turned on the ground connection is overloaded. Connecting the lamp ground to chassis ground, the way BMW should have done it in the first place, fixes it. Why they didn't use chassis ground is odd, to say the least.
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      07-02-2019, 10:32 PM   #37
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where to connect ground on f32?

Quote:
Originally Posted by 335i-AZ View Post
Does anyone know where to connect the ground wire to the housing socket on a F32 tail light? I found f30 and other BMWs except for the 4 series.

here is the f32 socket housing

Does anyone have the answer for this question? About to try this fix on my f32

Thanks
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      07-03-2019, 12:22 PM   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by triad027 View Post
Does anyone have the answer for this question? About to try this fix on my f32

Thanks
Use a multimeter to test for continuity, the ground will be the one that goes to the outside of the bulb.

The positive will go to the middle connection in the holder.
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      08-02-2019, 05:58 AM   #39
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Hi guys. Same problem here. Any info/sheet/link about how to access rear left light assembly in my 2015 BMW 420D (EU market)?

Thanks a lot
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      08-02-2019, 07:09 AM   #40
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https://www.newtis.info/
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      08-03-2019, 05:13 PM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rebound View Post
This happened to me on my 2014. Seems to be a common problem with BMW’s. In my case (and it looks the same on this car), it was the brown ground pin which cooked. Probably the interconnect in the connector is just not thick enough and it cooks, just like a burnt fuse. On my car, the ground is shared with the brake light and the turn signal. To repair it, I took a little bit of speaker cable and soldered it to the metal inside the housing. You need to scrape the metal a bit to roughen it for the solder to adhere. Once the wire is soldered, now you have a nice, thick ground which won’t fail. But, you need to get to through to where that connector is. In my housing, near that connector, there’s a small white cap which is removable. Pretty sure the purpose is to allow condensation to dry out without letting water in. If you pull this white cap off, you can thread the wire through, then replace the white cap.

Then I bought a simple spade lug male and female connector. I crimped one to the new wire I soldered in. Then, I pulled the wire from the “cooked” connector and crimped the other spade connector to that wire. Install the housing, attach the stock wire connector, and connect your two spade lug connectors. This way, you can easily disconnect the wires in the future when you need to replace a bulb.

A few months later, I took the car to the dealer for service and they replaced it all under warranty with stock parts, but I’m certain that my repair was far more durable than stock. I have some pictures but can’t attach them now. PM me if you’d like to see them or if you need more clear details.
Hey bud having the same issue here but I am out of warranty, I would appreciate if you could please post the picture showing the location where you soldered the wire and where it was run through, if you don't have the pictures, maybe you could draw it on a stock image?

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      08-09-2019, 01:42 PM   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by triad027 View Post
Does anyone have the answer for this question? About to try this fix on my f32

Thanks
I've done the fix on my f32. It's been about 2mo, and no issues since then.

See attachment. I attached the blade receptacle on the tab marked by the red circle, and I shoved the blade receptacle and wire through the hole marked by the blue circle.
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      08-15-2019, 10:27 AM   #43
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I had this issue 2 months ago on my 320D (F30) 2013, I had the error code for a while and I checked the bulbs and switched them over but solve the issue, I checked everyrhing again and nocied the middle pin was snapped and burnt but all the other ones where fine what was strange, I called BMW and got a replacement for the same price as ebay's cheapiest (about £37 if I can rember correcly) This solved the issue and they also said about buying the replacement wireing kit if needed, But I said I will get back to them if this doesn't solve my issue or it happnes again, But it seems fine,

I looked online again and fount your post as I want to know if there is a grounding issue or just water mabe in the electrics somewhere?

Any update on solutions would be awsome!!!
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      08-15-2019, 11:58 AM   #44
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Read post #38. It's a design flaw, pure and simple.
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