So, I've had leaks in the back of me coupey for a long time.
Gets in by the rear SAM and plays hell with the rear tail lights
and gets all wet down in that compartment.
Soooo...I ordered new seals. And today it rained, 1st rain of the season.
Figured maybe a good time to put them in.
Easy right? Well no. One of the nuts was stuck and it pulled the stud out,
and the plastic around it broke. I sort of knew one of those studs was a problem
when I 1st put the 05 tail lights in back in 08. And it appears I put some glue on that stud.
I tried to grab onto it with some vice grips, and just turn the nut, but too late the damage was done.
Also there's this (what appears to be a T10) bulbs that goes in where the tail light is on the bottom.
The running lights so to speak. It's not listed in the owners manual or parts lists online.
The left one just did not want to come out and there's no connector or anything on the harness to disconnect and remove the bulb
socket. So, after wrestling with it a whie, I go it out, but it appears these little bulbs get VERY hot and this one
melted the plastic on the tail light assembly where the socket slides in. So the socket came out and bulb is stuck in the
assembly. Ok.....not what I was expecting, but silly me, I was expecting everything to go perfect on a 23 year old car?
Well, so I pulled the right one out to see how it all goes together. And was trying to determine what this T10 bulb was for?
Well it appears it's a 2nd running light of sorts. The right one burned out years ago it seems, the left one
now stuck in the assembly. So I rousted up a T10 bulb and tested both sides and as I said, it's a running light.
So now, the question is getting the jammed bulb out, and repairing the area where the socket goes in.
Hmmmm.....not sure exactly how to do that, other than drilling it out. Would be nice if I had the socket in hand,
but the only way to do that is cut it and then reinstall after. Here's a photo of the good
side. And the seal itself. Trying to decide what to do about the stuck T10. The good side, that bulb was burned out.
Doesn't throw a code which is nice. So, thinking maybe use LED's that don't get so hot, because I touched one while it was one
and the damn thing burned my fingers. What sayest you guys? If I drill it out, I may have to use some electric tape or something to get it to stay, and
with a regular T10 it might melt the damn tape?! Maybe I'll just leave them out for now since they don't throw codes. Hmmmm....comments?

 

Could the T10 be the back up lamp? I once had a bad tail lamp and the KI says "Notbeleuchtung aktiv" so the side wasn't dark. But I have the older all red all style tail lamp.
Usually if I brake some of these plastic stuff I use epoxy glue or super glue laminated with paper stripes, depends on the damage. Sweet project cars channel has some nice repair tricks.

 

Keep in mind the bulb size may be correct but the incorrect wattage. Ran into this with my parents 240D.

The individual brake & running lamp were identical but the higher wattage brake lamp was the only one in stock at local part houses. I actually had to get the lower wattage bulb from the stealer so it didn’t look like a brake lamps was on 24/7.

Now days it’s simply google and an online parts house.

 

The tail lights slide right out after removing the 3 nuts. If you had glued the last nut, all bets are off.

The foam is easily removable. I found that they are actually glued onto the tail light assembly at the factory. The old one can just be peeled off. Honestly I don't think any glue is actually required. It's more to keep the foam in place during installation.

The extra T10 bulb is for the rear sidemarker. In US spec cars, there is a mandatory lit red light for the side of the car at the rear. Same way there is a lit amber sidemarker on all cars at the side of the car at the front. Interesting that it's T10 for your car. For MY2003, the bulb is W5W, which is the same light as the reading lights in the dome light assembly, and the front sidemarkers. Euro tail lights do not have a hole for this bulb, as sidemarkers aren't required in that part of the world. This is why the front Euro impact strips also don't the sidemarker holes.

The good news is that the car doesn't monitor those bulbs for burning out, so you can just remove them without any issues. If you want to install an LED replacement, use a red one. And don't go too crazy on the brightness (just match the lumens of a W5W) or people will think your brakes are on.

 

That's why I don't have this bulb and red is also not allowed as a sidemarker in Europe.

 

T10 and W5W are basically the same thing.
So, I glued the broken stud, but I guess it went in a bit sideways, and had to drill
into the metal on the body a little to get it to go through.
The T10 (W5W) one that melted the hole, I cut the bulb socket off to test it,
and drilled out the hole till it fit correctly.
To ensure it doesn't melt like that again, I bought some T10 LED's which run much cooler,
and also replaced my old T10 LED's in the headlights. They were flickering and the
color didn't match. Look great! LED's have improved a lot since I installed those years ago.
I reattached the socket with these babies here.
So nice, no stripping wires or anything. Sweet. Especially since there's not much wire between the harness and the socket.
Ok, onto the next projects. My rear shocks are making a hell of a racket, tires need rotating, my windshield washer tank leaks like crazy,
and I have a $300 of loaner tools from Autozone for the AC I need to return and get my money back.
Just need to top up the AC a little.
The shocks are rear shocks are TEIN. I tried replacing the bushings on the top, but that was just a waste of money.
I figure I'll just put my original shocks back in. They're basically OK. I don't have much suspension travel so it doesn't matter much.
WW tank, car got sideswiped while parked, knocked the bumper off and damaged the tank. I have another tank from the junkyard,
Need to order new seals for it, and install. Flush the intercooler while I have the bumper off. But AC 1st so I can return the loaner equipment.
And I need to find somebody who can clear my SRS error after I swapped the steering wheel with a restored one.
My iCarsoft MBII unit won't do it!