Difference between 2008 and 2009 LCI rear taillights
05-12-2009, 03:03 AM
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Recently member Stylezzza bought a set of V5.1 LCI tail-lights retrofit cables from me but contacted me saying they were not working. There were no errors or anything except that the Middle (inner) brake light was always ON behind the LED rods.
After many emails and days he is now convinced that the cables are not at fault but he has the 2009 tail-lights and hence that is the problem.
How has he come to this conclusion.
He took the V5.1 cables and tried them on a friends car that has my V4 cables. The cables worked fine with his friend's car and lights.
He took his friends V4 cables and tried them on his own car and lights. And the same thing happened i.e. Inner brake light was always on.
He took his friends lights and the V5.1 cable and tried them on his car and he tells me everything is fine.
So he thinks its the lights.
He has not tried his lights on his friend's car yet to confirm this but I've asked him to do that.
Has anyone else ever heard of a similar issue? What is strange is that there has been no change to the part number of the lights. What is even more strange is that the lights themselves have no method of changing their behaviour and only listen to what the LCM is telling it to do. So I had suspected the LCM was acting up but his latest report about the 2008 lights working fine on his car have completely baffled me.
So how come he is seeing these issues? Any ideas.
After many emails and days he is now convinced that the cables are not at fault but he has the 2009 tail-lights and hence that is the problem.
How has he come to this conclusion.
He took the V5.1 cables and tried them on a friends car that has my V4 cables. The cables worked fine with his friend's car and lights.
He took his friends V4 cables and tried them on his own car and lights. And the same thing happened i.e. Inner brake light was always on.
He took his friends lights and the V5.1 cable and tried them on his car and he tells me everything is fine.
So he thinks its the lights.
He has not tried his lights on his friend's car yet to confirm this but I've asked him to do that.
Has anyone else ever heard of a similar issue? What is strange is that there has been no change to the part number of the lights. What is even more strange is that the lights themselves have no method of changing their behaviour and only listen to what the LCM is telling it to do. So I had suspected the LCM was acting up but his latest report about the 2008 lights working fine on his car have completely baffled me.
So how come he is seeing these issues? Any ideas.
05-12-2009, 09:22 AM
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Originally Posted by bruce_miranda' post='875965' date='May 12 2009, 07:03 AM
He has not tried his lights on his friend's car yet to confirm this but I've asked him to do that.
05-12-2009, 09:48 AM
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Originally Posted by bruce_miranda' post='875965' date='May 12 2009, 07:03 AM
Recently member Stylezzza bought a set of V5.1 LCI tail-lights retrofit cables from me but contacted me saying they were not working. There were no errors or anything except that the Middle (inner) brake light was always ON behind the LED rods.
After many emails and days he is now convinced that the cables are not at fault but he has the 2009 tail-lights and hence that is the problem.
How has he come to this conclusion.
He took the V5.1 cables and tried them on a friends car that has my V4 cables. The cables worked fine with his friend's car and lights.
He took his friends V4 cables and tried them on his own car and lights. And the same thing happened i.e. Inner brake light was always on.
He took his friends lights and the V5.1 cable and tried them on his car and he tells me everything is fine.
So he thinks its the lights.
He has not tried his lights on his friend's car yet to confirm this but I've asked him to do that.
Has anyone else ever heard of a similar issue? What is strange is that there has been no change to the part number of the lights. What is even more strange is that the lights themselves have no method of changing their behaviour and only listen to what the LCM is telling it to do. So I had suspected the LCM was acting up but his latest report about the 2008 lights working fine on his car have completely baffled me.
So how come he is seeing these issues? Any ideas.
After many emails and days he is now convinced that the cables are not at fault but he has the 2009 tail-lights and hence that is the problem.
How has he come to this conclusion.
He took the V5.1 cables and tried them on a friends car that has my V4 cables. The cables worked fine with his friend's car and lights.
He took his friends V4 cables and tried them on his own car and lights. And the same thing happened i.e. Inner brake light was always on.
He took his friends lights and the V5.1 cable and tried them on his car and he tells me everything is fine.
So he thinks its the lights.
He has not tried his lights on his friend's car yet to confirm this but I've asked him to do that.
Has anyone else ever heard of a similar issue? What is strange is that there has been no change to the part number of the lights. What is even more strange is that the lights themselves have no method of changing their behaviour and only listen to what the LCM is telling it to do. So I had suspected the LCM was acting up but his latest report about the 2008 lights working fine on his car have completely baffled me.
So how come he is seeing these issues? Any ideas.
I got my lights from Germany in March and have no problems with the v5.1 cables.
05-12-2009, 10:04 AM
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His are US spec lights. And I've asked him to try a few combinations because I cannot understand why he is seeing this behaviour.
05-12-2009, 10:38 AM
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Originally Posted by bruce_miranda' post='876327' date='May 12 2009, 01:04 PM
His are US spec lights. And I've asked him to try a few combinations because I cannot understand why he is seeing this behaviour.
05-12-2009, 12:08 PM
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Originally Posted by bruce_miranda' post='876327' date='May 12 2009, 02:04 PM
His are US spec lights. And I've asked him to try a few combinations because I cannot understand why he is seeing this behaviour.
He was over my house and we tried the swap. All my lights worked fine, I have the 2008 LCI tails, but when we plugged in his 2009 with my cable, V4 and the his cables, v5, had the same problem. So from all this testing I think is the 2008 LCI's and 2009 LCI's are different. Damn BMW.
05-12-2009, 01:35 PM
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Is that an isolated issue? Or Are the 2009 taillights in fact different
I have the v5 cable and was thinking to get the Euro spec from the GB. Maybe not.
I have the v5 cable and was thinking to get the Euro spec from the GB. Maybe not.
05-12-2009, 01:47 PM
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Originally Posted by nigxdoof' post='876446' date='May 12 2009, 02:08 PM
Hey Bruce,
He was over my house and we tried the swap. All my lights worked fine, I have the 2008 LCI tails, but when we plugged in his 2009 with my cable, V4 and the his cables, v5, had the same problem. So from all this testing I think is the 2008 LCI's and 2009 LCI's are different. Damn BMW.
He was over my house and we tried the swap. All my lights worked fine, I have the 2008 LCI tails, but when we plugged in his 2009 with my cable, V4 and the his cables, v5, had the same problem. So from all this testing I think is the 2008 LCI's and 2009 LCI's are different. Damn BMW.
05-12-2009, 02:17 PM
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Model Year: 2006
Originally Posted by nigxdoof' post='876446' date='May 12 2009, 09:08 PM
Hey Bruce,
He was over my house and we tried the swap. All my lights worked fine, I have the 2008 LCI tails, but when we plugged in his 2009 with my cable, V4 and the his cables, v5, had the same problem. So from all this testing I think is the 2008 LCI's and 2009 LCI's are different. Damn BMW.
He was over my house and we tried the swap. All my lights worked fine, I have the 2008 LCI tails, but when we plugged in his 2009 with my cable, V4 and the his cables, v5, had the same problem. So from all this testing I think is the 2008 LCI's and 2009 LCI's are different. Damn BMW.
The EU ones have also not changed and so far no one in Europe has ever complained of this issue. If this is an actual issue then I'm going to have a lot people contacting me next week because everyone has ordered brand new lights from Gary. Will see.
05-12-2009, 02:31 PM
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Originally Posted by bruce_miranda' post='876558' date='May 12 2009, 06:17 PM
Did you try his 2009 lights and his V5.1 cables on your car and see if the problem happened? As I said I have never heard of this before and so far the part numbers on the ETK have not changed since the LCI was introduced.
The EU ones have also not changed and so far no one in Europe has ever complained of this issue. If this is an actual issue then I'm going to have a lot people contacting me next week because everyone has ordered brand new lights from Gary. Will see.
The EU ones have also not changed and so far no one in Europe has ever complained of this issue. If this is an actual issue then I'm going to have a lot people contacting me next week because everyone has ordered brand new lights from Gary. Will see.
I have not tested my 2009 lci lights w/ your v5.1 cables on Mikes car yet but something tells me that the same problem will occur, I will find out the part number tonight and email it to you. As of right now I am trying to swap my 2009 lci taillights for 2008 lci taillights from a LCI e60, it will probably work for lci e60 since they don't need cables for it. I will keep you posted.