hi. any on know how to install clear parking lights in a 318i? i just got a pare and cant figure it out! any instructions floating around or anything? thanks!
The side lights have some spring clips at one end, carefully push the lens edge forwards or backwards to figure out which end has the spring clips, and carefully pry out, starting at the spring clip end.
it shouldent be too hard unless you have a skirt with the fogs right underneeth the bumber, but you can reach out back and unscrew the bolt, it should be a 10mm nut its been a while since ive worked on a earlyer 3series model, and the side marker lights can just be easly pryed off and unpluged.
If I am recalling correctly, the lenses in the bumper are simply screwed in place - phillips screws, I think. I didn't take time to mention that, if you look at the lens, it's self-evident how they're removed.
take the lights out? i got the lenses off, but i am wondering how to take the whole light fixture out. i looked through my bentley e30 manual and my 101 performance projects for the 3 series but couldn't find anything on this. the whole fixture seams to be screwed in from the back of the bumper. i cant get to them from under the car or from inside the engine bay. and even if i could i don't think the lights would fit out of the wholes in the front of the bumper.
The whole light fixture is bolted to the back of the bumper assembly, more specifically they are bolted to the inner fiberglass reinforcement. The front bumper comes off very easily. There are two large allen head cap screws that hold the bumper to the bumper shocks. Look underneath the front edge of the bumper on each side of the car for access holes (you may need a flashlight to see the bolts). Once you remove these two bolts the front bumper will slide off towards the front. There are plastic alignment plates mounted to the sides of the fenders and as soon as the bumper clears these it will want to fall so be careful. From this point you can unplug the turn indicator wiring and do what you please. Installation is reverse of removal Good Luck. Matt
got the bumper off! ok i got the bumper off but the lights i got are the euro car lights so they have to bulbs and there fore different wiring. they have a bulb for light and a bulb for blinking. i need to do some rewiring because the plug to the big bulb only has two female plugs and the male end on the car has 3. so cut splice solder. then i need to see if i can splice and add the wires from the small turn signal light to the wires for the side indicator. do you guys think adding those wires to the side indicator wires would work?
You should be able to use the wires for the side indicator to power the smaller bulb in the Euro assembly. Either that or use the "third wire" of the US harness meant for the running light filament (+) and share the ground wire (-) with the turn indicator wire (+). A voltmeter would be really handy to determine which wire is for the running lamp and which wire is for the turn indicator. If you choose to use the side marker wiring, you should know that you can get the Euro bumper trim (the black strip) that eliminates the hole for the lamp. This piece simply snaps out of the bumper and the new piece snaps in its place. It really makes for a clean look and is also available for the rear. Don't forget to adequately protect your splice connections with shrink tubing or liquid electrical tape to avoid corrosion and future electrical gremlins. Matt
thanks mat! thanks a lot! i think i will keap the side markers for now. ill post an update when i finish this. i am planing many other fun things for this car so im sure ill be back with more questions. next up is suspensipon, and im talking the whole nine yards. thanks again guys! jeremy
