Signal light problem – Very Strange

[Dabear]

My rear driver’s side signal light appeared to be burnt out.
- The light stopped flashing
- The warning light came on in the dash board
- The other two turning lights on that side of the car went into double-speed when flashing.

I released the bulb housing panel and the signal light suddenly starting working again. The bulb looked fine but I replaced it anyway. I put the bulb housing panel back on and everything seemed to be ok.

Later that day, the signal light stopped working again. Once again I went to replace the bulb but it started to work again, but only for a short while.

I have been searching on the web for a solution but this doesn’t seem to be like a common error.

Can someone please help me out?
2002 320i

[j0nblayz]

loose connection?

[Dabear]

You may very well be right. I thought the same thing but the wires and connections seem to be in great shape.

I am debating taking it in.
Can any body recommend a good garage in Calgary?
I have only had my car for a few months and I want to avoid the BMW dealership garage.

[snowcatxx87]

I can help you for one thing,

Your lights will go hyper-fast because you are missing a bulb, so you have "more power". That is normal.

Check your connections for the light issue, or perhaps try another bulb.

Also, what about your wiring harness? Can you see kinks that might have caused a wire to be loose?

[j0nblayz]

well im not sure how the e46 are, but in my e36, sometimes the bulb plugs dont sit right inside the tail light housing, i had to wiggle it sometimes, and on the other side i bent the little metal tabs on the plugs to get a better connection. Hopefully that made sense.

[Dabear]

Damn Mosquitoes!

I Decided I better take a closer look. On the bulb housing panel I found a Mosquito stuck in/under the circuit. It was connecting two positives (one going to the signal light & the other to a lower light). At first I thought it was a small piece of wire. I picked it out with some tweezers and was very surprised to find a mosquito.

I am no electrician so I don’t actually know if that mosquito would cause any problems but I thought it was kind of funny.

When I disconnect the wiring harness I found that the ground connection was almost completed gone. It was badly burnt. The pin was half gone and the plastic was no longer holding the wire in place.

I went to the source and bought some pin connections ($2.50). I made a new connection for the ground and everything works great now. A cheep but effective fix.

Thanks for the replies guys.

[snowcatxx87]

Glad to here it!