brake light problems

[Heart0fapoet07]

im having the same problem and need help
when i turn the lights on for night the right side bottom right light wont stay dim like the left side when i press of the brakes it will turn bright but then shut off as soon as i let go of the brakes. any idea why that might be?

[1996 328ti]

You sure you have the correct bulb?

[tiFreak]

that bulb has two filaments, the parking light filament might be burned out or you could possibly have the wrong bulb (BMW likes to use odd bulbs for some reason)

[Heart0fapoet07]

okay well this is whats going on, at night her in dash isnt durning on unless she presses on the brakes, would that have anything to do with the components not being right with the tail lights?
it could be the problem me not having the right bulbs but i went to murrays and got the numbers for all of them hmm : / but having the bulbs in the wrong place wuold that cause the indash board to not work as well as the bulb?
ive heard if one thing goes wrong in these cars it sets off a couple other things untill you get the one thing working correctly the other stuff will start working again for instanse the bulb and the indash board.

[cooljess76]

I can't understand a damn thing you're saying, but check the fuses and possibly the headlight switch.

[tiFreak]

so it's the instrument cluster that's not lighting up? but when you step on the brakes it does come on?

[1996 328ti]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

I can't understand a damn thing you're saying, but check the fuses and possibly the headlight switch.

+1

Were the brake and dash board lights working one day and suddenly stopped?
You didn't install anything? Change anything before?

[Heart0fapoet07]

yeah like one day the dash and all the lights inside the car that light up at night including the radio just stoped working after i was trying to change her tail light bulbs. could me changing her tail light bulbs and putting in the wrong kind be causing this to happen. ive read that if one light is out then it screws up the current of things and it messes up a couple other things in your car untill you get it fixed. im going to go buy new tail lights tomorrow because one is kinda rusted and see if that fix's the problem i just want to have a reinsurance of thats what it is before i go off and blow 150$ of tail lights that dont need to be replaced. ive checked the fuses and their fine and the switch i checked and its fine to. if its something to do with the wiring then im ****ed because i dont know how to fix wiring. any ideas would really help

[1996 328ti]

The corrosion could be causing the problem. Still very odd.

[pdxmotorhead]

I had something similar, one of hte rear tail/brakelight bulbs had crossed up inside when the element burned out. When I replaced the bulb problem went away...

Dave

[danielbritt]

i had this issue with my newly purchased montreal blue 318ti; my local carquest told me that i had to match up with the original panel as there were various configurations. i pulled off the light panels and marched confidently into the store with my panels eagerly awaiting my new improved lighting. the person i bought the car from had the bulbs a little jacked up and got me in this mess...after buying qty. 6 new single filament bulbs i still had the issue.

so, i followed the advice in this thread of putting the dual filaments in the position noted and the single filaments in the 2 other slots and it worked like a champ. if you look closely at the panel, the bulb requirements have an additional note next to the watt rating to sort the differences.

Originally Posted by tiFreak

that bulb has two filaments, the parking light filament might be burned out or you could possibly have the wrong bulb (BMW likes to use odd bulbs for some reason)