Dash quot;bulb outquot; warning, rear light

tom

I spent a chunk of the last hour searching and skimming but either I'm just hitting all the wrong search terms or this isn't a big problem for the E39.

My coworker has an E39, and swears his brake and turn lights all work just fine, but has a permanent "bulb out" indicator on his dash for the rear. As he loves his car and won't ever get rid of it, I'd like to apply my electrical experience to try and solve the problem.

I'd like to help him with this and get it fixed up. Anyone have tips for what to look for? I'm going to inspect the cable harnesses for his rear lights, the center and side lights, to check for melted wires or loose connections. If all of those are clean, I dunno where to look next.

Thanks for any advice!

PS -- he also has the "dead rows of pixels" problems on his radio, I know we'd have to replace the radio... any advice on where to secure a replacement? Or homebrew tips on fixing it ourselves? I admit I haven't searched on THIS subject yet.  
Did you check rear middle brake light?!!  
im glad im not the only one with this issue.. my rear right tailight bulb shows it out on my display but then again i've had LED for over 2 years..I read somewhere to use 917 sylvania bulbs but cant find them anywhere...Light just came on about a month ago and my brake light just came on this morning 3 times while driving strange huh...
This my sound unsafe but i did unplug my LEDs for a day and connected my old taillights from inside my trunk and drove my car for a day..not drove it all day but but did runned a couple of errands to see if my car recognize my old tailights and wiped that bulb out display..NO LUCK WITH THAT..Conclusion even with old taillights in and all bulb working still display bulb out...dont know what to do know...
Unless it has to do with airbag light ON , some kind of electrical issue along with that cuz that has been on for over a year...lol  

Originally Posted by 5erBlCkBiMm...connected my old taillights from inside my trunk and drove my car for a day.....NO LUCK WITH THAT..Conclusion even with old taillights in and all bulb working still display bulb out...dont know what to do know...

Just askin cause you didn't say...but did you check the high mount (3rd) brake light on the rear parcel shelf?

If you have the graphic display on your instrument cluster...and the upper rear tail light is illuminated on the display...it means that there's an issue with either your 3rd brake light on the rear parcel shelf...or it could be a rear tail light.  Since you and the OP mention only the rear tail light...maybe it could be this 3rd brake light that's out.  

Again, its only being mentioned because neither posters with the illuminated light has indicated that they've already ruled out the 3rd brake light.

I know this was an old post, I'm just getting around to checking this thread. Sorry if this is stale!Originally Posted by wolf888Did you check rear middle brake light?!!

I did not myself -- just going on what my coworker said. If and when I do get with him this is one thing I'll check for sure.Originally Posted by 5erBlCkBiMmim glad im not the only one with this issue.. my rear right tailight bulb shows it out on my display but then again i've had LED for over 2 years..

I suspect you need a drop-down resistor to increase the resistance of the circuit to that which the incandescent (non-LED) bulbs would generate, since this is how the computer determines whether or not a bulb is burnt out.

Thanks to everyone who has replied! One day, I will get with my buddy and we'll work on this together.