Opinions needed - 3rd brake light fail after 2 months

Scooba_Steve · Post by **Scooba_Steve** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:32 am

I had quite a fight with BMW to honour the warranty too... they denied it existed - very unimpressed.

SonnyA85 · Post by **SonnyA85** » Tue Aug 23, 2016 6:41 pm

I bought a new light and new springs and washers from sopers. If it's got a 2 year warranty I think I'll give them a call. However these things need to be made of tougher parts IMO it's very brittle plastic.

An indy fitted the part. I told them it was caused by the springs being too strong and new weaker springs solved this but I seriously doubt they did replace them as a 2 month failure IMO is shocking.

I never ever use any force on closing the boot. However the wife has once and she was swiftly told of her error and it's never been repeated. I've done my research on these as it's a common failure. I read up on Z4's for a while after buying one so I know the ins and outs of most things to look out for.

I've also had some black sugru delivered today. I'll do the bodge job for now. Hope sopers replace. If not I'll see if the sugru holds before buying a new one.

Chris_D · Post by **Chris_D** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 1:15 am

cj10jeeper wrote:
Marlon wrote:
cj10jeeper wrote: . .

As above boot slamming is as bad. Mrs CJ broke my original lens trying to drive the boot lid through the floor...
(sorry, but your descriptions funny)
True though. We did have a short training session on closing it with one finger...
I later received a training session on loading the dishwasher and something called an 'iron'

The 'Iron'? Is that the thing that sits next to the thing women refer to as a 'mangle', whatever that is?

enzed4 · Post by **enzed4** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 1:38 am

Chris_D wrote: The 'Iron'? Is that the thing that sits next to the thing women refer to as a 'mangle', whatever that is?

If there's a Mrs Chris_D, and she reads this, you'll get 'mangled' you cheeky bugger

Chris_D · Post by **Chris_D** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 1:48 am

Reminds me of something my uncle mike used to retort if there was something he'd object to be asked to do: 'I'd rather feed me knackers through a mangle'. Gruesome turn of phrase but typical Scouse vernacular!

cj10jeeper · Post by **cj10jeeper** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:00 am

All tongue in cheek from me. MrsCJ reads my posts and I'm still posting.
Don't understand why she's searching 'mangle' on eBay?

ChazLuke · Post by **ChazLuke** » Thu Jan 03, 2019 6:44 am

I'm replacing mine for the third time. To me it seems the brake light being spring loaded in the mounting hole allows the brake light to move around and twist vertically when the trunk is closed. This could be what is putting stress on the plastic at its top if the light is momentarily not fitting flush all around. I have a couple of ideas that may apply.

What if we ran a bead of silicone on the inside of the lamp between the trunk and the brake light? If we keep the light seated properly with less twisting there would be less stress at a single point.

Also my trunk closes hard and you have to really watch what you are doing to close it softly. Is this normal? It has to do with how much weight there is on the rear of the trunk. There are dampers on the trunk lid. What is their purpose, to stop the trunk from opening too fast or from closing too fast? If they are supposed to stop it from closing too fast, my dampers may be wore out. In that case the brake light issue may be a result of faulty dampers. Anyone know a 2003 Z4 owner that doesn't have the issue and can tell us how his dampers work?

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