Failed WOF on missing Tail light ?

[325_driver 422]

Hi Guys,

e46 330ci NZ New

wondering if any of you have had this issue in the past, my BMW is a stock standard NZ new, and the Rear left, "stop" light under the reverse light bulb was diagnosed "not working" by the warrant of fitness people. So i did some digging and to my surprise there is no socket under the reverse light bulb on the left hand side. Did some more digging and no-surprise, this is pretty stock standard on a few versions of the model.

So what should i advise them ? that they should ring up BMW and get told that this is the factory setting on this ?

Jonathan

[BMW012 1]

At a quick guess...

Did you have your rear fog lights on during WOF?

Rick

[dr_kahu 8]

I'm not exactly up to speed on WOF regulations etc but if it was failed on the basis it had no rear left fog, you are quite right. I'd just show them exactly what is going on (two sockets on one, one on the other), although if you need to do this to a WOF outfit I would be a little concerned.... but still it's maybe not well known.... anyway, good luck and let us know what you do and how it went.

James

[325_driver 422]

The WOF paper stated "rear left stop" so whether they were trying to mistake the brake light for a fog or not is my guess. I dont even recall seeing them turn on the rear fog lights on.

Will let you know how i go, its my understanding that only certain face lift models in europe have them. Infact i took the boot lining off, and there is a obviously a fog light wire for the right hand side ( 3 pin clip, 2 power wires, 1ground, 2 bulb sockets in the holder ) but not the left ( 1 power, 1 earth, 1 socket, and the other socket is stock sealed over. )

worst case scenario i will tell them that i will put reflectors over top of them, and that is what they can be.

I might post some photos up to explain what is going on, as im certain others might face the same problem later

Jonathan

Edited December 6, 2011 by 325_driver

[Shady 0]

Well it obviously passed the VIN test when imported so is obviously legal. Can you print out some kind of proof from a website explaining this part of the car and show them? They cany deny evidence.

Kind of like reverse lights, mine never worked (on my E30) so I put black tape over them. Have never failed a WOF (lost count how many I;ve done since owning it) and never had it "noted" down either. NZTA say if its visible it must work - so its nots visible, so doesnt have too work.

Same should apply for your light, cover it up & they cant fail it?

[325_driver 422]

Well it obviously passed the VIN test when imported so is obviously legal. Can you print out some kind of proof from a website explaining this part of the car and show them? They cany deny evidence.

Kind of like reverse lights, mine never worked (on my E30) so I put black tape over them. Have never failed a WOF (lost count how many I;ve done since owning it) and never had it "noted" down either. NZTA say if its visible it must work - so its nots visible, so doesnt have too work.

Same should apply for your light, cover it up & they cant fail it?

Yeah we had that disussion, and they said "because its on the car, then it has to work" so now they have failed it, and seen it, i would have to go else where for a warrant of fitness along that track.

Really i need some LTSA law stating on the factory setting of the car, or BMW stating that it is a factory setting for that particular model.

Not to mention i purchased some stock bulbs for the front head lights, and they failed it for "headlights have incorrect beam patterns" thats another dilemma im battling through. If that were the case then they should fail every single car that purchases bulbs from partmaster / repco.

They said, oh .. you better just go to BMW and buy genuine, or get the dealer to fix them, its a bulb ... what the ## are they going to fix, the filament ? haha what a nightmare

Jonathan

[hotwire 352]

Yeah we had that disussion, and they said "because its on the car, then it has to work" so now they have failed it, and seen it, i would have to go else where for a warrant of fitness along that track.

Really i need some LTSA law stating on the factory setting of the car, or BMW stating that it is a factory setting for that particular model.

Not to mention i purchased some stock bulbs for the front head lights, and they failed it for "headlights have incorrect beam patterns" thats another dilemma im battling through. If that were the case then they should fail every single car that purchases bulbs from partmaster / repco.

They said, oh .. you better just go to BMW and buy genuine, or get the dealer to fix them, its a bulb ... what the ## are they going to fix, the filament ? haha what a nightmare

Jonathan

Can't recall offhand the E46 rear lamp layout but...

If it has no bulb holder (& has the same brake light going on each side) then it will be a fog lamp provision.

In some cases there are fog lamps on each side of the car, often though, there will only be one on the outside (road centre) of the vehicle. meaning RHD car will have one on RHS - opposite for LHD. Most older Euro vehicles were set up like this.

Turn the rear fog light/s on & compare position of working R/H lamp to the vacant position on L/H side - this will confirm the above.

Rule is - if a lamp is fitted - it must operate. This rule would have no bearing on the above setup as there is no bulb holder present from factory.

Regards headlights - if you have installed (& correctly) the correct version bulb, then providing they are correctly aligned - the pattern should be correct. Genuine bulbs - BOLLICKS - BMW don't even produce bulbs

[Lubed 55]

The incorrect headlight pattern is most likely due to incorrectly fitted bulbs,check the light pattern on a wall and if you do not see a sharp defined light cut off then remove the bulbs and rotate them 180 then recheck.

[elmarco 56]

Yeah, as others have said, rotate the bulbs 180 degrees in the socket. The filament position is super critical with free form reflectors (which is also why they go to sh*t when someone puts an HID burner in them).

Aren't the reverse lamps in the boot?

[325_driver 422]

Yeah, as others have said, rotate the bulbs 180 degrees in the socket. The filament position is super critical with free form reflectors (which is also why they go to sh*t when someone puts an HID burner in them).

Aren't the reverse lamps in the boot?

the boot light arrangement in the trunk lid

Left handside, 1 Reverse holder,

Righ handside 1 Reverse holder, 1 fog light holder

apparently it varies

[*Glenn* 854]

Most euro cars only have one rear fog light. However... you are allowed two. The AVI's at the testing stations should know this. On a R/H drive vehicle it is the R/H one that should work and on a L/H drive it is the L/H side . This is to prevent people thinking that they are driving with there brake lights on, they are braking etc. It also shows up better in the fog when the vehicle is approached from the rear, you can determine the vehicle's position a little easier.

BTW: I hate rear fog lights. I turned mine into extra brake lights in the rear of the Ti. I would rather be seen braking with the extra lights

Edited December 8, 2011 by *Glenn*

[antil33t 90]

Mine have magically stopped working at all.. the dash light doesn't even come on to indicate they are switched on... Dunno why, don't care haha.

[325_driver 422]

So ... i take it back into the VTNZ, and i watch them recheck it, and they dont even check any of the lights on the rear ... For the sake of getting a wof i dont bother asking about what their talking about, but i guess ill never know what the hell they were on about.

How ever i like Glens idea of converting them into brake lights

lets see what the next WOF brings up.

[hotwire 352]

^^^^ Would have been interesting to know what they were on about though. If nothing was wrong with the lights then they can't fail.

Did you check /confirm the lamp setup was as was suggested above?

What was the outcome of the headlights?

[jcerecke 2]

Yeah we had that disussion, and they said "because its on the car, then it has to work" so now they have failed it, and seen it, i would have to go else where for a warrant of fitness along that track.

Haha I just had this same discussion with my mechanic. Had spot lights on the e30 which came on with high beams but weren't able to be switched off independently. Had it this way for about 6 WOF's at the same place, but only just got picked up. So naturally I can't be assed wiring in switch so just use the fuse holder as the switch haha. And then they get grumpy at me because now they're on the car but don't work. So then I got smart to him and asked him if the speakers I left in the car after taking out HU had to work.

[huff3r 347]

Haha I just had this same discussion with my mechanic. Had spot lights on the e30 which came on with high beams but weren't able to be switched off independently. Had it this way for about 6 WOF's at the same place, but only just got picked up. So naturally I can't be assed wiring in switch so just use the fuse holder as the switch haha. And then they get grumpy at me because now they're on the car but don't work. So then I got smart to him and asked him if the speakers I left in the car after taking out HU had to work.

It is law that any lights fitted to a vehicle must work, and must be in good condition, otherwise they gotta be removed. So he was actually right...

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

In your case jcerecke, you can only have a maximum of 8 forward facing lights. You have to have two parks and two normal beams, and then you can have a pair of fogs or spots and then another pair of fogs or spots and thats it. So if you have four spots you cant have any fogs etc. at least thats what vtnz told me after i did this anyways

[hotwire 352]

In your case jcerecke, you can only have a maximum of 8 forward facing lights. You have to have two parks and two normal beams, and then you can have a pair of fogs or spots and then another pair of fogs or spots and thats it. So if you have four spots you cant have any fogs etc. at least thats what vtnz told me after i did this anyways

Rules regarding front lights have changed several times over the years (fogs specifically)

Years ago, when fogs were on, you had to lose main & dip beams lights - meaning only park & fog.

Then, in the late 80's with the influx of Jap imports having front fogs that could go anytime - the rules were changed in that if factory fitted they were fine BUT if retrofitted fogs had to comply with above rule - this is not applicable now. Fogs can go at any time. They are termed a "permanently dipped" lamp - as per low beam head.

Depending on the OE lamp setup dictates what extra lights can be fitted. You can only have 4 high beam lights on at once, meaning if vehicle has twin headlights & the outers are H4 (high/low) then you cannot fit spot (driving) lights as this makes 6 lamps. Park lights don't count & in most cases cannot be seen with headlights on.

If like an E30 (& many modern cars) where the outer headlight is a single filament bulb (H1 etc) then it is a permanently dipped light & does not change from dip to high - so cannot be regarded as a high beam lamp.

Thus you can fit extra "driving" (spot) lamps as per your pic - assuming those Hella lamps are driving lamp inserts. If the outer "smilies" were high & low beam (they are not) - then you couldn't - without losing one pair of lamps while the Hella's were on.

To my knowledge - this rule is still the case.

[jcerecke 2]

It is law that any lights fitted to a vehicle must work, and must be in good condition, otherwise they gotta be removed. So he was actually right...

Oh yeah I fully accept that he was right, I just like to argue because I thought it was stupid. It's like if you have seatbelts you have to have a seat! I can understand it being the other way round, but that is just plain retarded.