tjpeistr

Over the past month, I have been tinkering with my lights and I now have a "defective lamp" message. According to the manual, this message must be cleared by dealer -- is that correct, or will the message disappear once the bulbs are "correct?"

Background:
I replaced the OEM front main bulbs (hi- and lo-beam) with Xenon-filled bulbs. Easy swap-out and no "defective lamp" message. But the blue-ish tinge of the bulbs clashed with the yellow H6W "city lights," so I tried swapping them, as well. First I put in some 8 watt Polarg bulbs. Everything went crazy. "Defective lamp" message first appeared, although it did go out briefly. Rear bulbs went out. Then one of my new Xenon bulbs went out. I replaced one of the Xenon ones with the OEM halogen. The lights were all working okay, but the "defective lamp" message stayed. So I replaced the 8 watt Polarg bulbs with H6W 433C Cool Blue Halogen bulbs from Osram and replaced the OEM with a replacement Xenon. All of my lights seem to be working fine, but I still have the "lamp defective" message. Is there an easy way to reset?

sosh

Moral of the story is don't tinker.

raymond g-

how about pulling the battery cable for a few minutes.....or, pulling the fuses for
all /each lighting....to see if it'll reset? you'll might need to reset memory for
seat, mirrors, roof in the process (if battery cable pulled) so try just the fuses first.

Huachipato

I have a fog lamp that is out on my car right now. Oddly though, I do NOT get an error message until I actually activate the fog lamps. I would think, based on that, that the error message is reset every time you turn off the car.

Do you get the message when you start it up or when you turn on the lights?

Other thing I have read on this forum, you want to match the bulbs to the original wattage rating of the car as much as possible.

E320Star

fog lights are excluded from the defectve lamp error msg. U have a diff problem looks like

tjpeistr

I still have error message.

I tried removing fuses and reinstalling, but I did this when car was turned off, so I suspect that this had no effect.

Also, I removed the light bulbs, replaced anything that looked older and sprayed electrical contact cleaner/lubricant on all contact points. No effect.

Again, all bulbs appear to have OEM wattage (though they are not OEM bulbs) and all are working. But the error message persists. The manual says that the error message does not go out on its own. Is there any way for me to reset the message and see if it comes back on?

E320Star

As long as you are using an OEM replacement parts and all are working including the lic plate lights and you are are sure all lights are working and still getting the defective light msg, then it must beone of the rear bulb sockets.

tjpeistr

I removed bulb housing from each rear socket, cleaned the contacts and reinstalled.

I did have some difficulty with them the first time I did this, as I found it a challenge to get the bulbs and housing seated properly. In fact, this may have triggered the error message at some point.

But now I just can't get rid of it...

tjpeistr

Is there a simple way to check for any damage to wire harness? Maybe this is the problem? ...

E320Star

I would say have someone help u press the brakes while u check the rear lights. Switch corresponding sockets and bulbs from the rght side to the left side to identify which socket and/or bulp casuing the issue.

tjpeistr

Been there, done that.

E320Star

what do u drive yr/model and mileage on the car?

tjpeistr

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mjwaldrop

I'm having similar issues. Defective lamp comes on when I hit the brake. My driver side brake light is not working, however the bulb is fine. What gives? When I put on my lights, the bulb lights up. However, when I hit the brake I get the error message and no brake light. PLEASE HELP...this is driving me nuts.

tjpeistr

Have you tried removing the socket and bulb, cleaning the contacts and reinserting the bulb/scoket? The bulb can be very tricky to properly seat in the socket, and the socket can be difficult to properly insert, as well. Sorry if this sounds too obvious, but I'm scratching my head as well.

Big J

Defective Lamp and no brake light means your brake light switch is dead easy DIY

tjpeistr

Problem solved -- at least temporarily.

Over the weekend, my MB mechanic (from Switzerland) and I troubleshot the electrical problem. We located two issues, both of which are now fixed (at least temporarily) and, as a result, I have now been without the annoying "lamp defective" message for 48 hours.

(1) The blue Xenon headlights that I purchased (http://xenonlightshid.com/) blow out easily. In fixing the brake light, there was some sort of surge, which caused one of the bulbs to blow. My mechanic grinds his teeth when he sees these lights.

(2) The assembly in which the three rear light sockets are attached comes loose easily. There doesn't seem to be any way to permanently re-attach (there are no screws). As a result, when the assembly comes loose, the bulb socket doesn't have a good connection. We screwed the bulb socket in partially and the light goes on and the error message stays off. My mechanic was also able to wiggle the assembly into a relatively stable position, but says that it will likely be jarred loose again. He says many of the BMWs have a similar problem.

So, if you have regular OEM lightbulbs, take a good look at the rear assembly in which the problem bulbs/sockets are attached. It may be loose.

E320Star

I was right afterall. It must be one of the sockets

tjpeistr

In this case, it is the assembly that is the root cause, not the socket. But if you wnat credit, that's cool...