<Original Msg Snipped for brevity>
.... The dashboard computer kept signaling one of the taillights was out. ...
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Hi,
This is a very common problem on BMWs. I have had it on all 4 of the E36s
I have owned. If you do a Google search you will find a LOT of info on it.
Here's the 'skinny' as far as I have read... The 'on board computer'
monitors the resistance of the bulb citcuit to figure out if the bulbs are
burnt. The metal rings in the tail light housings (which the bulb modules
mount into) will corrode and/or deteroriate from minute electrical arching.
This increases the impedance in the circuit leading the 'on board computer'
to think you have a burnt bulb.
It's seriously a pain. Bad design and all that. A few sites said to try
dielectric bulb grease; however, that trick didn't work for me on any of my
cars. I just bought replacement housings on eBay. Worked like a charm.


See you on the highway,
Wayne K.