The E46 Coupe received a
facelift in 2003, one of the more noticeable items it received
were LED rear lights. These incorporate an inner and outer ring of
LED's, which allows users behind to see how hard you're
braking. While this isn't activated on the Irish cars yet, its
still a bit of hassle to get the lights up and running - a new
light control module is needed, as well as reprogramming by BMW -
and unless you have friends in the right places, that's €140 per
hour you're looking at.
FK Automotive produce a set of rear lights which are visually
identical to the OEM BMW ones, but which are plug and play. Its
quite a simple process - described below.
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What you'll need:
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The main work in fitting these lights is the
removal of the old set. If you're used to doing this, the whole
process should only take 20 minutes. |
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Start by removing the backing to the rear light cluster. This is
done by pressing the clip circled in the picture to the right,
and pulling the unit outwards. |
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This will leave you with the lighting unit, held in place by the
wiring loom. Unclip the wiring loom, and remove the unit - it's
not needed for the FK Automotive units.
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The Light Clusters themselves are held in by three nuts - the
one on the right is the only awkward one, as its located behind
the boot carpet.
If you're able to get your hands in, you can hold the carpet
back wile you loosen the nut. Otherwise you can just remove the
carpet and give yourself more space. (Probably recommended as
its quite easy for the nut to drop down into one of the panels) |
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The cluster can just be pulled out once you've undone the three
nuts. However, you need to retain the covering which sits flush
with the boot. This stops water from running down off the boot
and into the lighting area.
If you'd prefer to just buy new ones, the part numbers are
63218382359 and 63218382360. Double check with your dealer
before ordering though.
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The covering pulls off the light in the direction show to the
right. It was very stiff on my car, and resulted in my taking
three neat slices out of my thumb when its finally did move. |
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Fitting the LED's is literally the reverse of what you've just
done. Slide the covering onto the new light, bolt it in place
and plug back in the wiring loom.
Once you've done this, do the other side and admire your
handiwork. |
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