One tail light stays on even with key off

[cparker]

So I just got to work and when I got out of the car the driver's side taillight is stuck on, not the entire light but the left and right columns (brake lights?). I had to unplug the light to get it to turn off.

Has anyone encountered this? I did a quick google search and found that many have had brake switch problems that cause both lights to stay on, but not just one...

I'm leaving on a road trip after work tomorrow, so I could really use some help on this!

10188

[brettbimmer]

It may be unrelated, but have you checked that the tail light plug is not burned, and that the ground connection is good? (This was the recall that they finally issued for our cars about two years ago). I was just thinking that if two wires inside the melted plug were touching, perhaps this could be the issue.

[LivesNearCostco]

make sure turn signal stalk is neutral and not clicked over to indicate a left turn

[cparker]

I was really hoping the turn signal trick was the issue... but I check and that's not it. I also just checked the wiring while I was out there and I don't see anything wrong. Tonight when I get home I'm going to pull the other tail light and plug it into this tail-light's plug to see if maybe it's just the tail light. I hope not, because it's only 3 months old from ECS. :(

In the mean time though, if anyone has any other ideas I'd be very appreciative.

[Johnmadd]

Look at post #22 in this link

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?3232-tail-lamp-wiring-faults-was-there-ever-a-recall-for-this/page3&highlight=tail+light+recall

[cparker]

Does that same trick apply to both LED and incandescent tail lights? That looks like an incandescent light, mine are LED.

[Johnmadd]

I believe so.

[mimalmo]

I knew it was an LED tail even before I clicked the link. The LED lights have far more issues than the regular ones.

Try swapping the housings from L to R to see if the problem follows the housing.

[Dave1027]

I don't see how it can be caused by the tail light itself. It's got to be whatever turns is on.

[mimalmo]

Not true.

There is always energy going to the light bulb - just not enough to illuminate it; unless you have LED's which use less voltage and have a lower resistance. LED's need very little energy to illuminate. The small amount of voltage that is in the line to check for bulb-out warnings is enough to light up an LED.

[wsmeyer]

I was under the impression that the ground problem would cause both brake lights and the dash warning light to stay on

[danewilson77]

I was under the impression that the ground problem would cause both brake lights and the dash warning light to stay on

Well.... Neither of my lights stayed on and I had light on dash. My plug up was melted pretty thoroughly.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4

[BRGcoopahS]

I know this is off topic, but why is it that BMW adopted LED tail lights as early as 2004 and still dont have LED headlights?

[alexandre]

I know this is off topic, but why is it that BMW adopted LED tail lights as early as 2004 and still dont have LED headlights?

They have them :)

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/5series/sedan/2013/showroom/design/adaptive_lights.html
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/4series/coupe/2013/showroom/design/led_headlights.html
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/6series/coupe/2011/showroom/exterior_design/adaptive_led_headlights.html