Very nice writeup! Thanks.

Fred

 

good job, L. thank you! {stickied}

 

Excellent tip on the female quick connectors! Really made the job very easy. I was trying to trace the wires back and couldn't get deep enough to see where the original connectors would have been. Maybe it was designed to be spliced as you described anyway. Got my pesky Lamp Defective/Check Lamps warning light turned off. Thank you!

 

Hi,

A few days ago, I did the same project but more steps further to replace (I believe it is better to use thicker size high temperature wire) by soldering the whole wire harness. Unfortunately, I got check lamp defective but all bulbs are light normally.

Since the plastic covering the copper wire are cracked and old, I use "Heat Shrinking Tube" by cutting and soldering for whole set of harness. Now, while starting engine, turn to parking light, check lamp defective which is frustrating.

Is it due to the set of wiring must be same spec (resistance Ohm) w OEM? Using thicker and longer wire can cause these error message? I trust it is the parking light issue, else Xenon Low Beam and H7 High Beam should be okay.

I'm searching for any supplier selling these set of OEM wiring harness or buying a Canbus Resistor (Philips 5W Canbus Canceller) can help?

Any Advise, please and thanks.

R

 

Hi,

A few days ago, I did the same project but more steps further to replace (I believe it is better to use thicker size high temperature wire) by soldering the whole wire harness. Unfortunately, I got check lamp defective but all bulbs are light normally.

Since the plastic covering the copper wire are cracked and old, I use "Heat Shrinking Tube" by cutting and soldering for whole set of harness. Now, while starting engine, turn to parking light, check lamp defective which is frustrating.

Is it due to the set of wiring must be same spec (resistance Ohm) w OEM? Using thicker and longer wire can cause these error message? I trust it is the parking light issue, else Xenon Low Beam and H7 High Beam should be okay.

I'm searching for any supplier selling these set of OEM wiring harness or buying a Canbus Resistor (Philips 5W Canbus Canceller) can help?

Any Advise, please and thanks.

R

Please complete your BW registration profile so members may better assist you.
Goto your ===> user CP profile====> click on your icon----> click on Account Settings----> goto Account Details----> add vehicle details---->
ADD your make model YEAR into your Profile ----> click save.

 

Inline resistor.

 

Thanks - I see... I cut this thing and believe direct soldering between wiring is the best connectivity.
I think adding a resistor can resolve the problem.
Yesterday I ordered this item "Philips Canbus 5W cancellor"

Amazon.com

 

This resistor is for the LED replacement for the 6W halogen bulb. Will not solve your problem unless you replace the bulb with a suitable LED equivalent.

No idea why these are called CANbus resistors. The defective light detection circuit has nothing to do with the CAN bus.

 

I have this pair of LED w Canbus handling.

BAX9S H6W 433 LED CANBUS 14 SMD CREE BRIGHT WHITE CAR INTERIOR SIDE LIGHT BULBS | eBay

Type - BAX9S H6W 433. - 100% CanBus Safe - No Errors. CANBUS SUPERCHIP INSIDE. - CANBUS - Yes (Without error on dashboard). LEDs are polarity sensitive. If at first they do not illuminate simply remove, turn through 180° and refit.

www.ebay.co.uk

Prior to this project, I used this pair of item for parking light and no "checklamp" issue for years.
Yesterday, I tried this again and it popped me this error message. Therefore, I was frustrated what's going on? Due to thinker wire cause resistor lessor? How come Low/High Beam has no such issue, guess both are 35W. Parking light is just 6 Watt. Should I add more resistance to the parking light issue can solve it? Now I think so.

FYI, my taillight changed to LED a few years ago. The Yellow turn signal installed OSRAM LED but required resistance or something. I bought some aftermarket "Gold color, China made" but trash them right away. It was super hot and distrust China stuff. Then I bought the Philips "21W" Canbus item and looks fine, it is just slight warm. I think it is also a kind of resistor but not hot?

In short, my front parking light issue is due to the circuit with lower resistance (b/c I cut the inline fuse w resistance and used thicker copper wiring.)
Adding resistance (this Philips item 5w, Halogen Bulb 6W, total 11W) should be suffice to clear the "CheckLamp Defective" issue, right?

 

You also need to make sure that you used the correct bulb for replacement (H6W).

Amazon.com: Osram (for select 96-03 models) Clearance Bulb at Headlamp (x2 bulbs) : Automotive

Buy Osram (for select 96-03 models) Clearance Bulb at Headlamp (x2 bulbs): Headlight Bulbs - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

The above LED lights are rated at 10W. That is why you are having warning, as the circuit expects a 6W bulb.

 

Yes, I see it claimed 10W, but don't know if it is accurate for eBay seller. May be I articulate simpler,

Before this project, the wiring harness was terrible, cracked plastic everywhere, could see copper and felt bad for risk of short circuit some days later. After all, I used this LED lights "10W" and no Canbus error.

After this project, I tried this LED lights again, but unfortunately, it popped me up error, regardless using this 10W LED lights or normal 6W Halogen Bosch bulb.

 

If you eliminated the inline fuse/resistor with your wiring replacement, use the replacement lamp receptacle with pigtail (and inline fuse) from OEM (MB). You could get it from Amazon or EBay. Then let us know if you still have problems.

I had to replace wiring too for the above circuit, but I kept the inline fuse in the wiring change. I had no problems with the warning.

 

Thanks, the socket has been replaced by OEM which I bought from eBay previously. So both the parking light socket are brand new. However, I cut the inline fuse/resistor for some reasons:

• direct soldering is better connected
• the old/broken sockets don't have this inline fuse/resistor and it is direct wired, how come it doesn't have the problem?
• after all, if I knew this resistor must keep, I definitely won't cut them out.

The vehicle is still jacked up and the front bumper is release. I ordered the Philips 5W Canbus Resistor and see if it can fix the issue. I don't want to remove the headlamp and pick out the whole set of wiring for soldering again. This time, I prepared some wiring clip for testing/simplicity.

Show know the result a few days later, thanks again.

 

Hello my friends,

After 2 weeks, the problem is finally fixed today. Prior to getting the details, let's drop a few points in a nutshell.

For the Front Parking Light,
1) can use thicker wire, no issue ( e.g. I use Korean high temperature 200c, 14-18 AWG, wire)
2) no tricking or complex issue for the canbus - what they are looking for is the circut is completed or incompleted.
3) for completed circuit, it should have sufficient resistance and power. (e.g. this light OEM spec: H6W, BAX9S socket, 6W)
4) If using LED canbus, even thicker wire, can still by-pass the "Checklamp defective".

So, what's is my problem? Coincidence is Coincidence, if not due to so many coincidence coming up together, Donald Trump still being the president of the USA. Never China Joe Biden. My problem is due to China, huh.

It's my tail light (attached the photo), in previous years, I bought the set of taillight for better and prompt response from eBay/Amazon etc. I asked the seller where's made, I was told Taiwan. In the end, when I recieved the item, it's China.

These set of items, though not so high quality, could still function normally. The Canbus have a Black stuff (x4) for [(left, right), (parking, brake)] respectively. Today, I found 1 of them was broken, lots of black stuff made the housing dirty.

Exactly, I cleaned and replaced them by the original OEM bulb taillight housing the problem is immediatley solved.

Skipping long story telling, I did lot of research and recalled the high-school physics, P = VI, V=IR, total resistance for serial/parallel connection. What I would say something value-added: The Philips 5W canbus adapter, operate about 60c (by IR temparature detecter), has 100 ohm resistance, by the forumla, P = VV/R at V =14.2v, it should be equivalent to 2W, 100 ohm resistance. So, no need to spend 10 bucks for this set if you find it is useful. Or before buying, you may try carbon resistance 1 bucks for 10 stick, the result should be the same. In addition, the resistance should be connected parallel w the bulb, never serial.

 

Who would have thought a small bulb like that would create such problems, eh? About 10 yrs back when I was retrofitting my headlight to HID (from E55) I used the opportunity to swap out the city bulb socket for a wedge bulb... the same as used by the front bumper clearance light. That way, I needn't have to stock a one-of bulb in my supply. The bulb I used is an LED with canbus friendly design and I've not had any bulb malfunction warnings. The 5W (vs H6W) differential wasn't apparent to me in a practical sense (or viewing) so I left it as the ºK was closely matched to the D2S HID bulb (before v after)

 

Can't agree more. Indeed, replacing the set of wiring harness by thicker wire which is not only more safe and I cab see the headlamp are also brighter.
While doing this small socket replacement, I also do the list of DIY jobs in this two months.

• HID water spray nozzle repair and replacement
• left side under AC pump, there's a transmission oil cooler pipe which has been leaking for years. Previously done by my mechanics, I believe I do a better job and the leak is resolved.
• transmission mount replacement. Previously, after long term driving, I found shifting D to R for parking, the vibration was apparent and noise. Now, no such thing.
• Differential Oil Change. I used Japan Mitasu 75w90, about 1.1 to 1.3L. The old oil is extremely black and sting. Now I found the gas consumption is lessor.
• Oil filter replacement, I used Hengst filter as an alternative to the OEM in 2004 (17 years). Previously, I have come across long crank or even can't start the engine. I replaced pair of crank position sensors, full set of Bosch spark plugs, new Bosch Battery. This can solve "can't start' problem but yet the sometime "long crank" issue. Replacing new filter can remove this issue.
• Sway Bar and bushing replacment, both front and rear.
• Copper grease to Brake Pad (of course outside, metal-to-metal frictional areas) to remove the squeaking noise
• 3M sillicon spray lubricant (wet type) to ball joing, plastic cover, pipe., etc.
• AC regulator resistor/heat sink. Recently, I found an issue that turning off the engine can't turn off the AC. I cannot found OEM Hella but have concern for aftermarket quality. Fortunately, I found VEMO which is excellent and no more issue by far.

Now the car looks like brand new performance.