328IC brake light problem

[mpomiki]

I have recently purchased a 1994 328IC which I liked so much,except for a few problems which I am trying to resolve, that I now bought a 1998 328IC. The car is in pristine condition except for some minor problems. Actually 2 minor problems. It has asc + T which seems to work according to the indicator light but I cannot disable it. It should disable when the button is depressed and the indicator light should come on but it doesn't. Since the light on the dash does come on when the car is first turned on I am assuming that the bulb is good . I think it may just be a bad switch. Is there something else that it could be?
More importantly is the other problem. The check control light indicates that there is a brake light circuit failure but the brake lights are working. If I turn the car off and restart it a couple of times the check control light goes out. What I can't figure out is which lights are actually the brake lights. I know that all the lights on the trunk lid are brake lights but the ones on the body(taillights) are the only ones that have double filament bulbs but they don't work as brake lights on either my 94 325 or the 98 328. The 98 is the only one that gives me a check control brake light failure. Could it be that the brake lights are not working properly on either car but that only one is giving me a failure warning. Please help. It seems like such a simple question but not even the dealer new the answer.
Just to simplify my question, which lights are the brake lights?

Mike

[Wayne 962]

If you take the bulbs out and have an assistant press on the brake pedal - that doesn't work?

I'm not familiar with the ASC + T technology, although I found this handy link:

http://www.bmwworld.com/technology/asct.htm

-Wayne

[mpomiki]

It such a simple thing but I seem unable to explain it. The problem is that I don't know what I'm looking for because I don't know which lights are the brake lights. I know that there are at least three sets of lights which are the brake lights which are all on the trunk lid. There is the row of lights that are in the middle of the trunk. There is also one light in left corner of the trunk lid and another in the right corner of the trunk lid. In other words if you open the trunk you are raising all of the brake lights with it. They are all single filament bulbs and as far as I can tell that is all of the brake lights. The remaining lights are on the body of the car. The taillights,rear turn signals and the back-up lights. But in the taillights there are two bulbs. One small single filament bulb and one double filament bulb that looks like a standard 1157 bulb but it's not. In every other car that I have ever seen where there is a double filament bulb in the taillight, one filament is for the taillight and the other filament( which is brighter) is for the brake lights. Is this the case with a BMW? If it isn't I have no idea why they would use a double filament bulb there. It would serve no purpose. What I believe to be the case is that the taillight is also supposed to be a brake light(ie... the second filament should light when you apply the brakes) but it isn't which would explain the "brake light circuit failure" message that displays.
Again to ask the question simply, are the three lights that are on the trunk lid the only brake lights or are the taillights also brake lights.
I hope I haven't totally confused everybody.

Mike

[Larry F.]

Hi, Mike.

It sounds like your brake lights themselves are working. Have an "assistant" step on the brakes with the key on and you in back of the car, and check out the pattern. Can't help you with the double filament question.

The error message you are getting might well be from a defective brake switch - the one under the dash that is released when you step on the brake pedal. I have had that switch die and produce exactly that message on both E36's and E34's. The switch is slightly annoying to replace - when you have gotten through all the kick panel and heater duct stuff, you have to do a contortionist bit to get all three hands on the switch. I would recommend picking up the replacement switch and looking at it before you remove the existing one. When it is in *front* of you, it is easy to see the red plastic color that you have to slide toward the front of the car before you can depress the fingers on each side of the switch that hold it in the square mounting hole.

Have fun!