Tail light wattage ? What wattage are you using ?

[Zeuk in Oz]

This reminds me of the old Goons joke : "What, what, what, what what - five whats, thats not very bright !"

I was driving behind my '94 525ix yesterday and noted that the tail light globes were different strengths so pulled them out and saw that one was 5W and the other was 10W.

I checked the owner's manual and it recommended 10W - bought some globes and problem fixed.

I then seemed to recall that my '88 525i had only 5W globes in it so checked the owners manual for it and sure enough 5W are recommended.

I have always felt that 5W was a little dim and quite frankly didn't know that 10W globes of the same small size were available. Have now fitted 10W globes to my '88 525i.

Is this a change in BMW's thinking or does it depend on the market or the density of the lens etc etc.

Any thoughts ?

[BigKriss]

I thought the tailights are 5w, and then the blinkers and rear fog lights are 10w. I have to remove them to make sure though.

[Zeuk in Oz]

I thought the tailights are 5w, and then the blinkers and rear fog lights are 10w. I have to remove them to make sure though.

I think you'll find that the others are 21W.

[Paul in NZ]

i think the tails are 5 w,i alwys replace as a pair,i hate uneqal tail light brightness....

[LunatiC]

I have 10W globes for tails, 21W for everything else on the rear.

Sidenote -- how many rear fog lights have you got? There's the capacity to have 2, but I only have one installed (or maybe there's 2 installed and one has blown).

[BigKriss]

i'll check tomorrow - I have two rear fog lights running

[Zeuk in Oz]

Sidenote -- how many rear fog lights have you got? There's the capacity to have 2, but I only have one installed (or maybe there's 2 installed and one has blown).

I have 2.

[LunatiC]

Sweet, I might pull my boot trim this weekend and have a gander then.