The light is burned out in my '05 MCS and I can't find anything in the owner's manual about what replacement bulb to buy or how to install it. I searched NAM and found all kinds of info on other lights but not this one. (I may not be calling it the right thing).

Would appreciate any help.

 

open the access panel in the rear quarter in the back. Reach in there and I can't remeber exactly how it all comes apart, but I do remember it's pretty easy...

Matt

 

Thanks, Doc. Is this a $2 light I can buy at AutoZone or a $50 light I have to buy at the dealership?

 

if you are talking the side light that's in the wheel trim piece I think you need to pull the wheel liner apart to get at it ... the access panel will get you to the main rear light assembly. The liner can be pulled open after you remove a couple of plastic fasteners. My experience at getting to this light was gained when I had to relocate the fixtures when installing factory rear mud flaps.... I was able to pull three of the fasteners (unscrew then pull out - it is a plastic expanding toggle) then pull the flexible liner out a bit to get to the back of the light built into the wheel arch trim.... did not need to remove the whole thing

The bulb should be a 5 watt wedge type available at any parts store; a quarter turn should allow the bulb holder to be removed from the fixture.

 

By the time I got to take a stab at this..... the light started working again! I'm not complaining but now I am thinking this car is haunted. One of the front turn signals is acting funky too. Turn signal works but it's otherwise dark while the driver's side is working normally.

 

I wanted to post my experience in replacing the rear side marker light on my 2006 Mini Cooper base (R50).

If you have done this replacement before then I think you may be able to pull it off with out removing the entire wheel well plastic flap guard and simply unbolting half of it and pulling it back enough to get in there. However I needed to replace the entire side marker reflector part NOT just the bulb so it proved a little more difficult. So this is what I did to allow my self the freedom of inspection and understanding of exactly how this part is installed.

1) Loosen the tire lug nuts and jack up the rear tire on the side you need to replace the side marker reflector.

2) remove the tire.

3) the wheel well plastic flap is held on at 6 points, 2 directly behind the tire, 2 in front of the tire closer to the exterior of the car up in the wheel well, and 1 on the left side of the tire and 1 on the right side of the tire. The 2 up in the wheel well are removed with a 10mm hex wrench the 2 behind the tire are not really screws but have a phillips head, you have to pry those out with a flat head while twisting(twisting may not be necessary). the ones at the left and right of the tire are plastic screws, phillips head. Once all 6 tak points are removed you can finagle the piece out. This will expose the side marker lights mount point. DISCLAIMER, there may be more but my mini was missing a few plastic force screws so i dunno if its only 6 could be 7 or 8 you will just have to inspect yours

4) A quarter turn will allow you to remove the light bulb from the reflector. there is also an easy disconnect wire clip to remove.

5) the side marker reflector is held on by what looks like a screw nut, 10mm in size. What this piece actually is is a self threading screw nut cap(that's what I'm calling it cause I have never seen one of these before). The replacement part I bought did not come with this so I had to reuse the old one.

6) once those are removed the part easily comes out and can be replaced. The new one slides back in...

This is where things got tricky. The self threading nut when removed did not create threads when trying to put it on the replacement part. It was two bent and not griping enough into the plastic. I put the nut on the pavement and tapped it with a flat hammer. BE CAREFUL HERE. The first one I did I flatten to much and then it would not fit on the peg to secure the reflector. I had to re bend the damn thing back a bit to get it right. Then screwing this back on was a pain in the *** cause it required an extreme amount of force to self thread and make progress towards tightening it in. This experience made doing the second one easier but not a breeze. These self threading nuts are essential because with out them an the reflector would easily fall out.

I don't know if you can get these at a hardware store or not or the part is suppose to come with them, but I had to reuse the spent ones and try to make them work. I got it in there good and snug enough to feel confident that it won't pop out while driving, but it was a pain.

After that just put everything back in the way you found it.

I hope this helps any one trying to save some cash by avoiding the dealer. All in all it was worth the effort took me an hour tops but that's because I like to inspect and take my time.

Part Number: 63147165872
ebay part listing: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...7165872&_rdc=1
realoem.com break out: http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...=63&fg=10&hl=5

bought mine for 12 bucks to my door.