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nimereht · 05-10-2018, 11:51 PM

Hey all, 1998 US 318ti M-Sport, new to me with 215K+ miles but running well and seems pretty well looked after.

I seem to have created a very strange electrical issue however, in trying to install LEDs for some of the interior lights... replaced the main center 'bullet' style dome light - no problem.

Went to replace the first map/reading light (left one, driver's side here in the US ;)) - fiddly as heck! but it was working. Just slightly loose, and as I tried to get it securely into the socket I think I may have shorted something. Bulb is still OK. At some point I actually had both of those map/reading lights working along with the center "dome" light... but then - things got weird.

This is where we are now:

Center "dome" light: works fine - LED or original bulb, no problem there. Switch works as expected in all three positions.
Side map/reading lights: neither work
Sunroof switch: nothing (mechanic who checked out the car for me pre-sale warned that this was working "intermittently" but it's worked for me every time I've tried it. Now nothing at all.)

But wait, it gets weirder:

Both of the visor/vanity lights - not yet changed to LED - also stopped working coincidentally with this endeavor (the ones that switch on/off when you slide the vanity mirror covers open/closed)...

As far as I can tell, everything else is working OK, no other issues.

All of the fuses are OK, and I'm pretty sure there's no fuse controlling just the map lights, sunroof motor, and vanity lights anyway (the sunroof fuse is, like the rest, definitely intact and I tried swapping it with a "good" one anyway...)

Is it possible that the way the wiring is running through the sunroof motor switch, that if that's indeed faulty it could be causing these other issues "downstream" ?

Or maybe I just bent contacts with the map lights in a way that they're now shorting out - but I don't think so... now poking around with a multitester trying to figure out what's going on, but open to suggestions!

05-10-2018, 11:51 PM	#1
nimereht Junior Member Join Date: May 2018 Location: Alameda, California, USA Posts: 5 iTrader: (0) Photo Gallery	Strange interior light problem Hey all, 1998 US 318ti M-Sport, new to me with 215K+ miles but running well and seems pretty well looked after. I seem to have created a very strange electrical issue however, in trying to install LEDs for some of the interior lights... replaced the main center 'bullet' style dome light - no problem. Went to replace the first map/reading light (left one, driver's side here in the US ;)) - fiddly as heck! but it was working. Just slightly loose, and as I tried to get it securely into the socket I think I may have shorted something. Bulb is still OK. At some point I actually had both of those map/reading lights working along with the center "dome" light... but then - things got weird. This is where we are now: Center "dome" light: works fine - LED or original bulb, no problem there. Switch works as expected in all three positions. Side map/reading lights: neither work Sunroof switch: nothing (mechanic who checked out the car for me pre-sale warned that this was working "intermittently" but it's worked for me every time I've tried it. Now nothing at all.) But wait, it gets weirder: Both of the visor/vanity lights - not yet changed to LED - also stopped working coincidentally with this endeavor (the ones that switch on/off when you slide the vanity mirror covers open/closed)... As far as I can tell, everything else is working OK, no other issues. All of the fuses are OK, and I'm pretty sure there's no fuse controlling just the map lights, sunroof motor, and vanity lights anyway (the sunroof fuse is, like the rest, definitely intact and I tried swapping it with a "good" one anyway...) Is it possible that the way the wiring is running through the sunroof motor switch, that if that's indeed faulty it could be causing these other issues "downstream" ? Or maybe I just bent contacts with the map lights in a way that they're now shorting out - but I don't think so... now poking around with a multitester trying to figure out what's going on, but open to suggestions!