We have classified the 4 complaints from 2004 BMW X3 about EXTERIOR LIGHTING into the following categories.
Insulation on wiring inside the headlight assembly is cracking and falling off wiring harness causing a short and blown fuse while driving on city street.
The lamps in the rear tail light assembly do not work. the connection is corroded. similar item was under a recall for 2002-05 3 series sedans (bmw recall campaign 11v-438) and this x3 shares many components with the sedan. the lighting assembly/connector is suspected to be one of them.
On january 23, 2012 after a whole weekend of downpour rain, i get into my x3 to notice water on the center console (near my cup holder) i look up and notice the water is dripping from the top middle console (where the moon roof control, air bag button and sos call button are located). not only was it dripping water but the whole area around but it was soaked and wet. after reading about this on-line that other people have and are experiencing this water leak problem, i realized i need to check the other areas people mention they had water leaks. that's when i checked the floor on both the driver and passenger side and to my surprise the driver side had more water than what i could ever imagine, it was drenched. so now that i have all this water in my car it looks like it has caused some problems with my sos button. without me touching it, it tries to calls and doesn't get a connection. it reads bmw phone inactive and it keeps making a noise that comes through the speakers. i've also noticed that light from the middle top console is not working correctly. i am sure i'm going to end up with a lot more electrical, lighting problems than just these few. this is a problem that needs to be looked into and fix by bmw. *tr
While i am driving the instrument cluster light turn off, all digital display on cluster disappeared about 10 seconds and turn back on. it seem like all headlight and tail light also turn off. it seem like happened 1 or 2 times a year. *tr
The driver side low beam headlight is not accessible for changing by the owner. the dealer has told me that the entire headlight assembly must be removed to change the low beam light.
Blinded by high intensity headlamps. almost lost control of vehicle. first, let me thank you for closing down the distribution of after-market hi devices made by amtex in dayton, tx. the after-market ones are particularly dangerous because they are placed in headlights not designed for the hi intensity lamps. these headlamps are a continuing problem, especially the blue-white lamps. some are so intense as to cause pain - like looking into a welder's electric arc. these lamps may be ok on the autobahn, but they have no place in urban crowded freeways. not only are the direct beams distracting and dangerous, but even reflected (from other vehicles and wet roadways) light causes problems. this is a very serious problem, and one that is admitedly hard to quantify - who can say how many accidents have been caused by drivers blinded by these lights. notable offenders are bmw-late models, honda - especially accord & acura, lexus, and audi. many of the high-end, expensive foreign-made vehicles tend to have these obnoxious lamps as standard equipment. enough is enough! it's time to get these dangerous irritants off the road!*ak