I have an idea... why don't you whine about it 
German Over-engineered stupidity. Like... WTF?????
3
Okay, so the goal here, is to replace a bulb that is faulty, or at least clean the socket that its in as it works very sparatically. Simple enough? First off I had to remove the front drivers side tire to get at this area... that was one thing... but if thats it.. then so be it. No biggie eh? Wrong.
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^ The bulb sits right inside that area of the turn signal that goes from that "dark" part to the "more lighted" part. Its right in that area, very close to that little orange rectangle.
This is how it looks in there with the access panel removed.
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and another pic
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I'm honestly stumped, I have no other idea what to do. Everything that I tried to remove, broke, or is un-removable completely, as in that black plastic mass that is on the left of the pic. I'd perfer not to remove the HID assembly as thats 25,000 volts... and I dont want to go flying across the garage unexpectantly.
That black & orange circle thing to the lower left of it, looks like it is removable, and from there, it therotically should be where the bulb resides.
However it broke while trying to remove it, as it was not meant to be removed. Even though it looks as if that it is removable by bending its mounting clips its not.
I just have no idea how else to do it. I dont want to have to take it in to a BMW dealership to get a fucking bulb replaced.. but what do I supposed to do short of removing its whole front bumper to get at the light housing?
So fucking stupid.... arrghhh this car drives me nuts.
^ The bulb sits right inside that area of the turn signal that goes from that "dark" part to the "more lighted" part. Its right in that area, very close to that little orange rectangle.
This is how it looks in there with the access panel removed.
and another pic
I'm honestly stumped, I have no other idea what to do. Everything that I tried to remove, broke, or is un-removable completely, as in that black plastic mass that is on the left of the pic. I'd perfer not to remove the HID assembly as thats 25,000 volts... and I dont want to go flying across the garage unexpectantly.
That black & orange circle thing to the lower left of it, looks like it is removable, and from there, it therotically should be where the bulb resides.
However it broke while trying to remove it, as it was not meant to be removed. Even though it looks as if that it is removable by bending its mounting clips its not.
I just have no idea how else to do it. I dont want to have to take it in to a BMW dealership to get a fucking bulb replaced.. but what do I supposed to do short of removing its whole front bumper to get at the light housing?
So fucking stupid.... arrghhh this car drives me nuts.
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^ Done, thats what the original post was for I'm more asking for opinions of whats next then anything... but venting over my anger for this stupidity was a fantastic alternative
I'm more asking for opinions of whats next then anything... but venting over my anger for this stupidity was a fantastic alternative 
Datsun Z cars are the same way. Suck it up Nancy
Datsun Z cars are the same way. Suck it up Nancy
Almost without exception every car that can be thought of as a true enthusiast's car will always be a pain to work on. Even back in the good ol days when everything was simpler the fun cars always cut you up and tested your patience.
^ I'm bashing the car, not you. No where was I bashing you per se', just the laughable characteristics of that car in comparison to other cars available during its era, and for just as much if not even less money.
:shrug: The third gen T/A's had more then a few "Quirks" A Quirk is something that is easy to work around, perhaps something that gives a car personality. The TA had many quirks, but it also had catastrophic issues that could not be avoided. So rather then dump $5k just trying to get the car ready for something more then 260hp, I just fuck it, and decided to cut my losses. 260hp for anything with over 5 liters AND 8 cylinders from the late 80's to early 90's is laughable, today it would be hilarious, and that is to why I dont have a problem ragging on that car. I apologize to you personally if what I said about it: went to you in anyway.
Yes I'm aware I seem to be the only person that works on his own car in the BMW world, very few people do anything to these cars other then wash them... thats kind of why I came here as well, hoping some of you guys would have some insight into this.
And Goat, my mom has a CRV, I'll keep that in mind if the tail light ever goes out.
asevidenced by this thread, you'd be wholly underequipped to tackle a CRV tail light bulb.
by the way - don't be afraid of the HID ballast. you won't spontaneously be blasted.
by the way - don't be afraid of the HID ballast. you won't spontaneously be blasted.
^ True that. but an instantaneous capacitor dump with that said voltage will still equal either a vicious shock, or a quick voyage to 20 feet behind you. Yes I've experienced both. So removing that HID bulb assembly was kind of a iffy choice.
:shrug: Whatever said voltage containment there is would be in the ballast, so just so long as I where gloves this time, I should be okay.
I'll give it one last shot before I take it into the dealer. I've broken a fair bit of shit trying to access new areas on that assembly
:shrug: Whatever said voltage containment there is would be in the ballast, so just so long as I where gloves this time, I should be okay.
I'll give it one last shot before I take it into the dealer. I've broken a fair bit of shit trying to access new areas on that assembly
Could it be fiber optics with the actual light source somewhere else? Wouldn't put it past BMW to put that kind of thing on what should be a basic little sports car.
Not to go off topic but HP per unit of displacement doesn't win races. That's just something Honda boys use to console them selves whenever they lose to something with pushrods.
EDIT: Was looking in to your problem and found this.... hope it helps
From some random Bimmer forum.
Not to go off topic but HP per unit of displacement doesn't win races. That's just something Honda boys use to console them selves whenever they lose to something with pushrods.
EDIT: Was looking in to your problem and found this.... hope it helps
From some random Bimmer forum.
^ I dont really care in the least about half the knobs that own these cars. Most of them dont know the difference between a ductile iron brake disk and duct-tape.
Hey Graham, just send me your headlights, including balasts and wiring; I'll take care of it quite nicely and shove them into some 1g headlights
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