information on the web
    17 years
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I find it to be remarkably bad nowadays, as if the internet is like driving in Phila--the wild wild west.
Yesterday, as my son and I were leaving the ice rink, a yellow symbol illuminates on my dash. I know I've seen this before but forget what it means (German cars are like hieroglyphics at times).
Oh, a bulb is out, whew. So we drive and I decide to pull into a strip mall. My trick is to back up towards a store front, and look at my reflection namely tails. Because turning on headlights, and flashers, and walking around, no bulbs are out.
Ah, OK, looks like 1/2 brake lights are out on the right side, no worries I may even have the bulb (car is a 2007 the markers for the parking lamps are LED, but not the actual turn, reverse, backup, or DRLs).
I opened the trunk and exposed the housing, but it's not obvious how to get to the bulbs.
The first YouTube I found on the road? The kid had the entire lense off the car (you know like if a body shop were redoing the 1/4 panel), and didn't replace the bulb (921, I always use LL), he purchased a new carrier that has all the bulbs. Online, that's $40-$50. I was thinking I have to spend all this time and $40+, for a brake light?
So you can visualize, this is the part he bought:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-bulb-socket-rear-light-...
The turn signal is amber and in the lower outside, so the part pictured is mine, the right side. The bulb that's burned up is at 6 o'clock, or the top outer if this were oriented properly.
It took < 10 secs to separate this carrier from the lense, literally. Then the bulbs simply pull out.
I had the 921LL in the basement, but I ordered a 10 pack for $14.xx on amazon.
With my wife's Buick Enclave, when one does bulbs, one does all of them, because the inner hatch has to be removed to expose the backup and parking lamps. But this is literally 10 sec, so I left the other 2 921's alone. They will go shortly, that's usually how it works.
Also I get it, most people don't deal with this anymore as their cars are full LED. Pretty sure the 2025 that we'll be getting soon is all LED (it was not 2021-2024). It's scheduled for production a week from tomorrow. I hope UAW local 276 has a good week and does a good job!
At any rate, I find so much misinformation these days online, I always feel the need to fact check.
Yes
I too find it annoying that you can't just pop out a burnt-out bulb and pop in a replacement without dissembling many vehicles. It's like the Ferrari that needs the chassis dropped from the body to replace the spark plugs or the oil changed, something that is supposed to be done at a ridiculously frequent interval. It's like they're designing vehicles to be expensive to service and far more difficult to DIY. But on the other hand, you're right, we don't have to replace bulbs nearly as frequently as we once did.
"141 could draw faster than he, but Irving was looking for 143..."
poor progression
I owned a 1975 BMW 2002, then a 1987 BMW 325i, then a 2002 Audi A4.In that sequence there was a steep deterioratin in the way that the design facilitated user access to the lightbulbs and in the utility of the owner's manual.
The 1975 2002 all the rear lightbulbs were in a simple fixture you could get at with no more than a couple of fasteners to undo to get to an obvious socket arrangement. The owner's manual was written as though the owner was expected to have slight mechanical competence and an actual interest in taking care of the car. So, for example it had over a dozen torque specifications on various fasteners, specs for light bulbs, and so on.
By the time I got to the 2002 year Audi A4 the light fixtures were buried in odd ways. I had to find an Internet video just to figure out where the screw was hidden to get at the tail light fixture. The owner's manual had descended to the point where regarding lightbulbs replacement it just said "don't try this at home". I literally bought a service manual for the car just to find out what grade of steering wheel fluid it required and where the reservoir was. They didn't think that was worth telling you in the owner's manual.
When I traded in the Audi on a Tesla I left in the back foot well two shop manuals, several dozen lightbulbs, and a print out from the Internet which lightbulbs went in which socket. I suspect the people prepping the car for sale simply threw it all in the nearest dumpster but I was sure it would prove useful if the right person brought the car.
personal GPS user since 1992
old school
I owned a 1975 BMW 2002, then a 1987 BMW 325i, then a 2002 Audi A4.In that sequence there was a steep deterioratin in the way that the design facilitated user access to the lightbulbs and in the utility of the owner's manual.
The 1975 2002 all the rear lightbulbs were in a simple fixture you could get at with no more than a couple of fasteners to undo to get to an obvious socket arrangement. The owner's manual was written as though the owner was expected to have slight mechanical competence and an actual interest in taking care of the car. So, for example it had over a dozen torque specifications on various fasteners, specs for light bulbs, and so on.
By the time I got to the 2002 year Audi A4 the light fixtures were buried in odd ways. I had to find an Internet video just to figure out where the screw was hidden to get at the tail light fixture. The owner's manual had descended to the point where regarding lightbulbs replacement it just said "don't try this at home". I literally bought a service manual for the car just to find out what grade of steering wheel fluid it required and where the reservoir was. They didn't think that was worth telling you in the owner's manual.
When I traded in the Audi on a Tesla I left in the back foot well two shop manuals, several dozen lightbulbs, and a print out from the Internet which lightbulbs went in which socket. I suspect the people prepping the car for sale simply threw it all in the nearest dumpster but I was sure it would prove useful if the right person brought the car.
You sound very old school, like why not, those things weren't going to do you any good, so why not take a chance that it would do someone else some good. What I suspect? As you say, the dealer takes it out, and someone from the dealer, puts them on their eBay storefront. Speaking of which I need to list all the Buick Enclave parts I have, maybe most won't sell, but just to have the possibility. Or, I should buy a low priced one and hope I can drive it one year (they're all going to have the issues leading to ours being a total loss, right off the bat though, problems passing emissions in PA).
I bought a Lexus LS430 used, 10 years old, in 2016. What I found with the ones I looked at? Every single one including those being sold by new car dealers, was missing its tool kit in the trunk. Not wanting to have a big hole (it has a slot for it), I found it was about $400+ at the dealer. Luckily, I found one on eBay for $45. Never used of course, and even the batteries for the flashlight were never unwrapped. Someone online joked, you probably purchased your own.
I recently posted on a forum if anyone has a build sheet for their car (yep, that's me, if you're also on that forum), and the responses were very interesting. One guy has one for a 1972 Pontiac....H78-15 WW tires?! That's a hoot! I thought of it because I got the one for our car from the dealer. We haven't gotten the car yet, but it's been shipped as it was built a week ago.