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BMW M3 Car Repair Questions and Answers

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Question: 1995 BMW M3 mileage: 110,000. My left front turn signal/parking light is considerably "dimmer" than the right. I have cleaned the contact points and replaced the duel filament bulbs in both, but the problem persists. The rears appear normal, but I've replaced them as well (just to be sure). From time to time when applying the left hand signal I get a "Fast Tempo" signal (indicating the bulb is burned), however, the bulb is NOT burned, it just is not very BRIGHT! When I test the hazards (with the parking lights on), I either get the left light/ signal dimmer than the right, OR I get a 'Left- Right- Left- right' Strobe effect in the front signals, instead of 'Both on- both off- both on- etc.' I'm guessing its a relay, but in my maintenance manuals (I have Hayes and Chilton) I don't see a relay labeled "Flashers" or anything similar. Any thoughts?

Answer: First check to make sure you have the proper bulbs in the sockets. Then, with the bulbs removed, check for 12 volts and proper ground to the socket. It sounds as if you have an intermittent ground problem somewhere.

Question: 1999 BMW M3 mileage: 91,000. This is embarrassing. When I went to jumpstart my wife's car, I accidentally hooked up the battery cable wrong. This resulted in cross polarity, which melted the negative battery terminal right off the "bad" battery. I've had a new battery and battery terminal installed and the car seems to be running fine. However, the radio no longer works. I've checked the radio fuse in the fuse box, and it is fine. Is there anything else I can check or did I fry my radio during the cross polarity?

Answer: Don't be embarrassed. You aren't the only one who has made this mistake. It is possible that you did "fry" it. However, it is more likely that your radio has an anti-theft devise built into it. When a battery is disconnected, the dealer must reset the radio.

Question: 2002 BMW M3 mileage: 52,000. The lights on my dashboard and radio went out. There are several fuses marked for the instrument panel but none that say lights. I have replaced three fuses to no avail. I tried reading the wire diagram to determine which fuse I should replace but no luck there either.

Answer: The problem could be a faulty headlight switch or the dimmer switch for the dash lights.

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