Hello all,

I have a 2006 R53 and I have searched extensively for information about this and have become completely confused.

Currently I have a black plastic cover where a fog light would be in the rear bumper. I would like to put a light in there and make it function as a 4th brake light. This is what I'm looking at. http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop..._lamp_kit.html

Besides buying the light housing, will I need to purchase a wiring kit? Can I splice it into the brake wiring? I do not want the fog light option and I don't want to replace my bank of switches.

Sorry if this question has been asked to death. Blame it on my newby-ness! Thanks.

Walter

 

Reading their add I would say you need to buy some wire and a few wire taps. then you just splice it in to the existing brake lights.

 

A search on 'fourth brake light' returned this thread.
A search on 'rear fog as brake light returned this thread. Multi-function is pretty cool.
Search is your friend.
Welcome to NAM!

 

Thanks Eric.

I had utilized the search function but it only added to my confusion. i just want to add the light as a fourth brake light which requires me to make a jumper. Am I right on this? No need for the diode as I do not have the rear fog light option.

I think.

Walter

 

You can splice into the wiring bundle yourself if you know which wires to splice together. If you cut the wire going back the BCU, it would be safe to go without a diode, but if you just splice, a diode would be safer to avoid current feeding back to the BCU. The main value of the wiring kit (also at Outmotoring) is that it shows you which wires in the wiring bundle to splice to each other.

 

@RKW there isn't any difference in SPLICING vs cutting and connecting. You don't need a Diode because you're not introducing an OUTSIDE power-source on the line. If you were to add a switch to also light the bulb then yes you would want to keep that from going back into the BCU. When you would "flip the switch" it would energize the entire circuit feeding power back to the module.

 

No splicing even needed. A simple tap will do.

 

Perhaps I was using the wrong term. What I meant was to add a wire that makes a connection between two other wires.


Here's what I was trying to say. There is a line going from the BCU to the brake light, and there is a line going from the BCU to the fog light. They happen to be right next to each other in the main wiring harness. If you add a connection between those two lines (vs cutting), current will feed back into fog output of the BCU. If you don't have the fog option, that might actually be okay, but since the BCU is a black box and you don't know what's inside, it would be better to add that diode.