Brake bulb out warning

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07-23-2009, 02:05 PM

chesney72

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My Ride: E61 sold nice E91 335i Sport Touring now

Got a message saying my rear left brake bulb needs replaced. I stopped the car and checked it and it was working fine

Is the system so clever it can tell in advance that the bulb is going to blow

Message won't go away even though the bulb is clearly working. Maybe I should just buy a new bulb and see if that clears it. Anyone had a similar problem?

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07-23-2009, 02:17 PM

theXman

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You'll be surprise. Sometimes, thats how it happens. Just wait a little while to see if the bulb is still ok.

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07-23-2009, 02:23 PM

luigi524td

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Quote:

Originally Posted by chesney72' post='952058' date='Jul 23 2009, 06:05 PM

Got a message saying my rear left brake bulb needs replaced. I stopped the car and checked it and it was working fine

Is the system so clever it can tell in advance that the bulb is going to blow

Message won't go away even though the bulb is clearly working. Maybe I should just buy a new bulb and see if that clears it. Anyone had a similar problem?

Check and clean the bulb socket contacts and check the connector. A small amount of corrosion can cause the slight additional resistance to trigger a bulb error. However, if the bulb filament is starting to fail it may actually fracture beforehand and when cool have a gap open; when the bulb vibrates ever so slightly up the gap closes and the bulb operates (or at least seems to) normally.