I have a question for you. My right brake light is out. I was in the dealer a while ago and they said that the “bcm module is not sending a signal to the brake light to illuminate “. I would rather not spend $950 to get that fixed by them. So I was tinkering around trying to come up with a fix. I managed to isolate the brake light wires on both sides. I used a jumper wire between the two and voila it lit up.


So my question is- can I switch to LED bulbs and just run a wire between the lights and be good to go?
Or will I burn out the bcm module (or another one) completely?
I got pulled over by the cops the other night- made it 4 years on my dead brake light!

I’d hate to make my situation worse by doing something dumb.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks, Mike

 

In my opinion, is not the best idea, because right brake light and left brake light have separate connection on Body computer,and the load is double on a single channel.
Better buy an used BC , fit without any mods, worst case you must recode if the donor car had another configuration,can be miss of fog lights,rain sensor,different AC type, and so on.But BC can be easy recoded with NCSExpert.

 

What did you do with the turn signal?

 

In a similar thread, the plug on the wiring harness may have been the issue - perhaps the first place to look.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-2004-r50.html

There are many different MINI rear light units, so a photo would help. If you have 2 brake lights on each side, 1 bottom, 1 top, you may be able to jumper from one to the other within the same unit. If you have the rear fog light option, this may not work correctly.
A very common problem is that the plastic bulb holder melts & the bulb loses contact - many have reported that the molten plastic can be cut away & the circuit restored.
LEDs should generate less heat & should not cause any other problems.

 

Thanks for the ideas. It is only the right brake light that does not work. I jumped between the left and right side brake bulb and both lights worked, so I know it isn't the harness. I am thinking that if I switch to LED bulbs on the running/brake lights the current draw will be less- 8 watts total vs. 60 watts with the standard bulbs, so there wouldn't be too much burden on the BCM.

Do you think this will work long term?

 

Yes, I do, though I still think you could check & clean the plug first & jumper within that right-side unit if you need to.
Just be sure you get CANBUS bulbs in RED (or amber for the directionals) to get no flickering & the correct color.
If it's any help, attached is a list of most of the bulbs in my '02 R53.

 

Ok thanks, I am going to try it. Worse case I kill another bcm. Thanks for the bulb list, that is helpful.

Mike

 

Had mine in Tuesday for a little work and had been told the left brake light was out by someone that morning. The shop guy just pulled the assembly and replaced the bulb. No hokus pokus or casting of spellsl.