Lights ON Warning Fails - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

vadas1 · 20th September 2003, 21:33

My neighbour came over this evening and said I'd left my lights on. Indeed I had.

Why didn't I get the usual gong and then ?lights on message?

The dash showed ? Lights on when I got into the car. I started it, turned the lights off, then on and opened the door , nothing. I switched the engine off, kept the lights on , opened the door , nothing. No gong. No warning message.

Any ideas?

ralph (vadas1)

IvanDias · 20th September 2003, 22:43

Hi Ralph,

If you find this out, please, please let me know.

The 535i has never gonged "Lights On" since I`ve owned it, and the M5 didn`t for the first two years.

Then, since I`ve been having an annoying "Door Open", occasional message, the "Lights On" has been working fine !!

Arrrrgggghhhhh !!!

Electrical Gremlins have been getting me recently.

I`ve now developed a "Dipped Beam" Gong randomly, but I know what that one is, it`s the solder joints on the four relays inside the LKM. Needless to say the lights are shining fine.
You may recall the dipped beams were dying completely, no gong, a while back before I whipped out the LKM and swapped it with the 535i.

Also, just for entertainment value, I`ve had four or so "Brake Light Circuit" flashing gongs (!).
Each time I`ve stopped and asked a passer-by to check them, each time they are all ok. Reckon this ones dirty or loose connectors in the rear lamp clusters, probably install new bulbs all round too.

Then, today for the third time, apparently it is somewhere between minus 27 and minus 41 degress celcius outside. Err... I`m impressed that BMW designed my car to operate in the polar regions of your Earthling planet.
Time to scrabble about seeing if the sensors dirty or unplugged, they`re similar to the plugs on the diff that do the speed calculations.

Oh, and a fog lights on the blink. Not literally, but kick it and it lights up. I`m not going into details of how I found that out....

Ivan

AlexA · 21st September 2003, 14:43

I get the occasional "Side Lights bulb" gong, and I don't even know what a side light is. All bulbs seem to be functioning fine. I have had to repair the harness to the tail gate a couple of times, as it gave me the annoying #lic. plate bulb" every time I turned on and off the ignition.
A very low temperature indicates a broken temperature sensor (or a bad connection maybe). It's in the right "brake duct" of the front spoiler.
The wiring and connectors of these cars are not up to todays standards at all. (I have a 98 Citroen Berlingo diesel with far better wiring, but not quite so much fun).
Alex

92 M5 Touring.