my R53 has, or rather had the bulb in the top of the taillight....it's there for the factory fog lights, which my car doesn't have.

I did basically the same thing and wired that top bulb into my brake light circuits I did cut the wire at the harness connector for the Fog system. The upper bulb that worked for me was the single filament 1156 bulb, it's the same wattage as the brake light filament in the lower section. A 5w bulb will be too dim

Bryan

 

mine didn't look melted .....

they replaced under warranty

the 'back plate' is a $25 part . . . .

 

Hello!
I finally got to work on my brake lights.
So I ended up going with the original idea. Just soldered a bridge on the conductors and removed the extra wire so voltage wouldnt go back to the FRM module through pin 3. By lifting the platic tab on the plug, I was able to pull the pin 3 cable out. I used heat shrink tubing to conseal the metal tip to prevent any shorts. In the future I can easly revert it back if needed. I did the same process on both sides.
Also replaced the bulbs by LED bulbs so the current draw was lower since both lights are getting juice from only one cable , pin 1. I was able to stop the flickering of the bulbs using Bimmercode and turning off all checks. I tried different methods and different combinations, I dont really know what made it stop but see the screenshot of the current configuration.

 

I am having intermittent outage of the top stop light. As a Mini mechanic explained to me and showed me, the metal on bulb socket board (congratulations mini for another absurd design) is damaged by heat and the contact by the metal ears and the board fails. If I move the bulb holder a little so the ears contact a different part of the board, the light starts working again for a time.

Anyone done a repair of the board? I really don't wanna spend $45.

 

You will need a new socket and just clean the board so the new contact make a good connection with the metal on the board. Changing the socket will give you need pins but since the board is already dirty from all the burnt failed connections of the old socket it will damage the new one. Just use a piece of sand paper to clean the burned spots and then use a bit of dielectric grease for protection.

 

Where do you get just the sockets? I only see the entire assembly with sockets,

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/63212756179/

 

This was the first result on google, you can search more if you want. Use key words "r56 rear bulb socket"

https://parts.seattlemini.com/p/MINI...RoCDVcQAvD_BwE

 

You can always solder it from the inside. Thats what I did with mine when it went bad.

 

hmmmm wonder why ECS didn't turn up that result. Thanks.

Im gonna try to solder it and or clean up the contacts again...thanks gents.

 

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/63212756177/ yep thats the part. We see the contacts on those early R56 taillights arc the electricals and melt the taillights, so make sure they are tight on the contacts and a little dialectical grease does not hurt.

 

ahhhh leave it to Mini to screw up a light bulb connection, like only Mini can. How do they come up with this stuff?

 

Hi!

first of all I’d like to thank every person who takes time to help solve issues.
I’ve noticed that I had the same issue on my R56 and I found this thread. So after fixing the issue I wanted to share the fix so it might help someone in the future.

Solution:
After checking the bulbs, I decided to recode my FRM module using an Autel scan tool and it fixed the problem right away. I did not need to brodge the upper brake light with the bottom one because I suck at soldering 😂 unlike my brother @asainz320. Hope this will help 😊

Regards,

 

So it has a lower voltage? Or change pinout? Autel does not really code. It just reads and programs some keys? Unless you found a hack?

 

@ECSTuning Autel does code/Key programming/ diagnostic… it depends on what Autel you have, if tou have the IM806 which I have it does it all.
I solved the issue with coding the FRM this morning.
Regards,

 

What did you reprogram it to do?

 

Hi!
have you used Autel before for coding? If not you can check on youtube how to code FRM usibg Autel and you will see it’s easy all you do is follow the steps showing on the Autel. It’s straight forward. Autel downloads the files from the server for your FRM based on your VIN, it’s kinda FACTORY RESET. Hope this make sense

 

Yep, looks like it will connect. We carry the autel higher models (dealer level), i never seen them talk about this for FRM BMW/MINI. Looks like its the dealer level ones that do this.

So it might just be a stored fault in the FRM, because when the FRM go bad you will need a new one and flash it. Most of the time they get corrosion and water damage so no matter what you do you will have to get a new one and flash it.

 

Hi,
That is correct it has Advanced coding that’s the one I have. The thing is when I scanned the car the FRM was clear (No faults) and it didn’t have any corrosion nor water damage. For some reason just stopeed working and I did not notice it until yesterday when I went to test the brake light bulbs. It’s like if there was a communication issue or corrupted codes on the FRM.

 

Ok, that makes more sense.