rear light and turn signal...

[forstephan]

Has anyboby had failure of the rear signal?
I had my turn signal fail. But we cannot change the bulb or neon. I had to change the whole light that cost $2500.
For the future we should find someone who could overhaul the rear light of the Z8?
Kind regards.
Stephane:confused:

[Z8Mania]

I believe this is the unfortunate downside of the decision by BMW to use this lighting technology. Apparently over time everyone will experience this. You might want to call BMW NA and see if they could help out a little on the price which seems a bit steep.

[macfly]

This is where the Z8 Club can be a very formidable force for us all, as we'll need to have these unit made up again and again over time. You can't stock pile them, the inert gas leaks at a constant rate, regardless of use. With the weight of the Z8 Club behind us getting large batches produced every five years or might be a better solution for this issue. I think that 5-8 years is about as long as our neon lamps can keep their charge, but maybe Jürgen can confirm this.

[Juergen Wunderlich]

This is a common problem on the Z8 and we are looking for a solution. You should know that since approx. 09/2001 there was a modification to the rear indicator lights due to lack of tight fit. The modified indicator lights can be recognised on their black surface which is in contrast to the original chrome surface. The old ones are not available anymore. Also keep an eye on the expiry date of the light unit. There is a sticker inside the box containing the light unit with " do not use after..." on it. In our experience sometimes even new light units do not work properly because of the long time of storrage without function. The good news is that there are a lot of these units available at BMW and we consider them responsible for the supply of these light units. So we are in touch with BMW on this issue. Please take a look at the technical releases of the BMW Z8 Club e.V. on this website (Z8 Club information), there you will find these things too...
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[forstephan]

Thank you very much for your help.
Kind regards.
Stephane:3gears:

[2001bmwz8]

Speaking of tail lights - I noticed today that there is mositure, not fogging, but moisture on the inside of the lens. Now that I have viewed the discussion, I should wait till the light goes out to replace it or can I disect the light to remove the moisture.

[macfly]

I just noticed mine has the same too, which is pretty odd as my car lives in a bubble in a dry garage in a desert climate! I'll take some shots of the markings when I next break the car out for our April drive.

[ROBERTSZ]

So at this point in time, has there been any progress with BMW regarding replacing the neon. My right turn signal is now blinking very fast but not all the time and I suspect it is gettng ready to die. However, I am not excited about spending $2,500 for a new signal.

Bob Adler

[Norcal]

Don't use them so much, they'll last longer!

[rwwinsz8]

I have now just had my right tail light changed.....left one done three months ago. Paid about half price and was treated very well by the dealer.....helps that I have bought 15 BMW's from same place since 1977. Lights should work great for Monterey trip. 2001 w/22.5k miles

[Krautster]

I finally got my passenger brake light working on my Euro. My friend Jerry is hands down the best mechanic I have ever worked with in my life. Here is the story:

My right Brake light was not working so I went online through some parts locator services to find another light. I was told by BMW that the entire unit needs to be replaced. (the neon bulbs were not replaceable). I have a Euro model and the taillight are Amber / Red not Red / Red like the american model. We pulled the entire rear bumper off the car and attempted to install 2 American version taillights. I was only able to buy the American version here in the US. Upon installation we found that the Drivers side taillight did not work. With the entire car appart I said to Jerry, maybe we can try to open the taillight up and combine parts between the passenger euro taillight and the american taillight. He was able to get the lens covers off without breaking them but we found differences between the american version and the Euro version. On the american version when the lights are turned on both the top and bottom bulb light up, on the euro version only the bottom lights up. The top is only used for the turn indicator. Also, the Euro version actually has a yellow neon bulb. It is not just the lens cover that makes it light up amber. He was able to open the case of the light, re-wire the internals and change the bulb. I am now back to origional.

This was all done in about 4 hours. If he were simply replacing the entire unit he would have had it done in about 1 hour. I hope we never have to go through this again. I just thought the information may be valuable.

Regards

Krautster