Fix intermittent tail light bulb out wiring problem. BMW E46 330i

robdude1969

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I kept getting a taillight bulb indicator on my dash saying I had a bulb out in the back of my BMW E46 330i. Sure enough it was off, but when I pulled the bulb to replace it, it was fine. I would put it back in and close the trunk, and it would work again. Then it would show up again later. I take it out, clean the socket contacts and it's mysteriously fixed again. Then it's off and then on. The BMW tail light gremlins are messing with me. I eventually notice the wiring loom had been taped and after inspecting closer I see the wires have been exposed and were potentially shorting out. In this video, I show what I did to expose the BMW E46 tail light loom, repair the wires, and insulate and reinstall them. #BMW #E46 #TailLight
Items used were basic electrical tools and supplies which can be purchased from affiliate links below.
3m Electrical tape - amzn.to/31npA7g
assorted shrink tube - amzn.to/2SeBV9Z
wire stripper - amzn.to/2RYwmgZ
soldering station - amzn.to/2vFRTlE
60/40 electrical solder - amzn.to/2RSmFAq
heat gun - amzn.to/2UnwPeg

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2 фев 2020

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Комментарии : 42

@dominicvanni5587 9 месяцев назад

Just want to tell you that was an awesome do-it-yourself helpful bit you had there I fixed my lights same way and I want to tell you thank you very much it was great and very thorough and to the point

@robdude1969 9 месяцев назад

Glad it helped! Cheers!

@netorodriguez6192 2 месяца назад

Glad this video showed me where to look thanks

@robdude1969 2 месяца назад

Good luck!!!

@bryanhernandez9378 2 года назад

I've learn a lot from this video thanks

@Quacks0 27 дней назад

8:43 It's a good idea to apply extra flux to the joint before soldering it, even if the wires are already tinned. The joint will go together a lot easier and better, which is especially good in cases like this, when the wires are kind of "wiggly and wobbly" while they're being joined. Here again, though, it would be good to make hooks in the wire-ends and crimp the hooks together, or if possible, not even cut the wires apart in the first place. :D

@Quacks0 27 дней назад

7:34 You'll want to make sure to always slide the heat-shrink tubing well down the length of the wire to avoid the heated portion while soldering the wires together (also, wait for the heated wires to cool down again before sliding the tubing back up towards the newly-soldered joint, so that the still-very-warm wires don't pre-shrink the tubing before you can get it onto the soldered joint); otherwise, the tubing will shrink prematurely where the heat-conducting-copper-cored wire is touching it, and then the shrunken-smaller tubing will be harder to slide back onto your soldered joint afterwards. :D

@Quacks0 27 дней назад

8:20 if you just make small hooks in the ends of the tinned wires and then crimp the hooks together, the wires will likely stay together long enough for the solder to join them. (Here's yet another advantage to using the solder-filling method --- rather than doing the "standard" cut-and-splice --- that I described in my previous comment, since the wires will not be in two separate pieces to begin with, and so they will not need to be initially held together till they're permanently re-joined with solder.)

@abraxusvolta9070 3 года назад

Thanks for the tip. Facing similar problem with one reverse light out. That is one area I can check.

@robdude1969 3 года назад

poor design... I have another one out too... Just other problems to deal with first! Share if this was your problem, or something else! Good luck!

@TheOfficialWoof 4 года назад

Nice video, thanks for the tips. Helps save a lot of time.

@robertbarbutti6672 4 года назад

TheOfficialWoof did you have this problem too? I’m so glad to help!!

@TheOfficialWoof 4 года назад

@@robertbarbutti6672 Yeah I had the same issue. It also helped fix the issue I had with the trunk release button not working, as the wiring for that was also torn.

@robertbarbutti6672 4 года назад

TheOfficialWoof awesome! Glad it worked!!!

@Quacks0 27 дней назад

I trust that you ***tested the wiring*** prior to taping them all back together, didn't you??? :P

@Hardee03 4 года назад

Hello Mr Rob Do you have an idea as to where to tap a Led Resistor in the taillight/signal light wiring harness? thank you very much!

@veganwally 6 месяцев назад

Thank you.

@robdude1969 5 месяцев назад

You're welcome!

@juanquirino2246 Год назад

Thank you so much i have same problem on my car now i can fix it my self instead pay hundreds 🤙🏻

@robdude1969 Год назад

That’s the reason I made these videos. Just sharing a solution to my own problems. Cheers!!

@DamzXdav 3 года назад

Can I do this with headlights ?

@bimmer1110 2 года назад

Yo dude. Got a problem. Reverse lights aren't working at all. And the wires on my bmw are a mess in the trunk, I should connect each with the matching color?

@geotechnologictv4177 2 года назад

battary drain ?

@Quacks0 27 дней назад

5:00 You don't actually have to cut frayed-but-still-connected wires prior to fixing them, especially if they're fairly light-gauge, as they are here --- what you can do instead is to first use a fairly-high-wattage soldering iron/gun to melt off (cutting/scraping it off with a knife would risk damaging the conductor-strands further; merely melting away the insulation is a much "gentler" way of removing it) about an inch of the insulation from either side of the frayed area, then clean and brighten all the strands and gently smoothe/twist them back into a compact bundle again, and with all of the broken strands flattened back down and nested back in where they belong. You then spread flux generously onto the damaged area of the wire, then fill it all in with solder to "catch" all of the broken wire-strand ends and make a nice robust solid joint there to restore the wire's integrity and current-carrying capacity. (Bonus perk --- filling in the still-intact wires with solder instead of cutting-and-splicing them also avoids the risk of mixing up similar-colored wires, since you never separated the wires in the first place. Plus, of course, it also avoids having to make the wires any shorter, which is especially wise if there isn't much extra wire-length to begin with, as is the case here.) I have done this many times with damaged wiring like this, and it's always worked --- I've never had a joint malfunction or overheat after being refurbished this way. :D

@robdude1969 26 дней назад

Good point, but I wanted to insulate the wires with a shrink tube. I suppose a liquid insulation would work. I just hate how tapes get goopy over time. Thanks for your input, it absolutely makes sense.

@Quacks0 26 дней назад

@@robdude1969 Yes, I totally "hear ya" about the tape's getting messy (and often coming back off, as well!) after a while. You could still use heat-shrink tubing (and yes --- I, too, always prefer that over electrical tape whenever reasonably possible) without cutting the wires if the wires could be disconnected at either end so you could access the end to slip the tubing over the wire and slide it all the way up to your soldered joint. But in this case with just working in the middle of the wire-bundles, there would be no way to access the wire-ends, and so cutting the wires might indeed be necessary in order to use heat-shrink tubing. I was just pointing out other broken-strands-repair options for frayed wires in case they could be used, especially, as I said, in cases where the wires were either very short and so you would not want to reduce their lengths even further, and/or if, as was the case here, some of the wire-colors were similar enough that you could get them mixed up if you cut several of them (one way to avoid this problem, of course, would be to just cut and splice one wire at a time so you that never had more than one pair of cut wire-ends disconnected). Flat-strip tape, though, can just wrap around a wire without having to access its end, but then, as you say, this tape can get messy, and it also can come loose again after a while. Good news, though --- there are special electrical tapes --- such as "self-fusing" --- available that are more durable and long-lasting than regular plastic-and-adhesive electrical tape. :D

@devanthomas8653 3 года назад

So. At first my passenger side was out then I moved the connecter around then it worked but then both sides went out. Any ideas??

@robdude1969 3 года назад

Possible short in the wires. Check for any places the wires have been rubbing. Check the bulbs and plugs to be sure contacts are clean as well. Sometimes a little corrosion can give intermittent issues.

@rickilynnwolfe8357 3 года назад

Great video thanks for sharing my friend .

@robdude1969 3 года назад

Thanks! I just got that warning light again and sure enough, the loom is bunched up back there. Time to investigate!

@rickilynnwolfe8357 3 года назад

@@robdude1969 hahaha I hear ya .I know you'll get it working great tho because your good at fixing things .I dont know if you remember my 63' Chevy Nova I cut the floor pans out of it at the beginning or summer .Iam hoping to weld the new ones in with in the next few weeks when the weather starts to cool . Always something isnt it lol. Have a blessed night my friend 👍

@robdude1969 3 года назад

@@rickilynnwolfe8357 Glad you are still at it!! if it takes a lifetime, it will still be worth it as long as you get to enjoy it! The struggles bring the passion!

@rickilynnwolfe8357 3 года назад

@@robdude1969 your so right

@xm1193 2 года назад

Mines totally out. Bulb indicator comes on but when I press the brake it goes out. Now the whole tail light right side (and left side lp light…huh?) is out and my xenon headlights flick on and off when I press the brakes. Guess I know what I’m doing next weekend.

@robdude1969 2 года назад

those xenon wires can crumble inside the housing too... I got a video on that as well... Good luck!!

@Praise_God369 4 месяца назад

dude i have xenon problems to ...my left xenon more often than not doesnt light up ! changed bulbs ,igniter and even the ballast ...nothing ...i have both rear lights ON in my dash ,you think it has something to do with it? (lights work fine)