What is it with German Tailights in the US

A little to much Fartfunoogon the night before they built the car maybe???

If the bulbs are the same, there could be only one explanation. More resistance in the 12 feed lines or grounds.

Bob

Bad grounds is a credible explanation; that was a constant fight on my old 535i. Also most German taillights use the same base bulbs throughout (Ba15s? I think?), with varying wattages - 5W, 10W or 21W. So it's very easy to shove the wrong bulbs in the wrong space if you don't actually exercise some care in replacing bulbs.

nate

If what you're seeing is brake lamp intensity on the left side and taillamp intensity on the right side, even when the driver isn't applying the brakes, it's mostly because idiot US drivers don't know when to use (and when NOT to use) their rear fog lamp. So, seeing a switch with an indicator light, they turn it on, reasoning "I don't know what this is, but I must've paid for it, so I'm gonna use it! Ahyuck!" Same reasoning gets applied to front fog lamps, which get left in the "on" position all the time. Since the rear fog switch is usually daisychained to the front fog switch, you see lots of German vehicles (plus Jaguars, plus Range Reauvahs, plus last-generation Olds Auroras, plus Volvos and some Saabs) running around with front and rear fogs ablaze full time. Some of these (e.g. Jag, Olds, Reauvah) have *dual* rear fogs, left and right. Looks like the driver's riding the brake.

If what you're seeing is random (sometimes brighter on the left, sometimes on the right), then it's probably just bulb misapplication. There are still European-vehicle dealers (not to mention the aftermarket) selling brass-base American-type bulbs such as 1157, 67, 97, etc. where European-type nickelplate-base bulbs such as P21/5W, R5W, R10W etc. are called for. The US-type bulbs cause eventual problems in sockets intended for the European-type bulbs. Also, some European vehicles specify an R10W taillamp bulb, but an R5W (which is considerably dimmer) fits the same socket and looks identical, so misapplication is easy. The reverse of this situation (R5W called for, R10W installed) is equally possible.

The most likely explanation is the rear-fog one.

DS

You have to slam U.S. every where you can? Where do you live? Canada? You are posting through university of michigan, so the U.S. education is ok? but everything else is stupid and idiotic? Walking hypocrisy.

And to answer the OP question, the rear taillights on newer imports (and some domestics) are LED. Depending on how you look at the LED (your viewing angle to the LED), it can look brighter or dimmer.

It's the same situation in Canada, so my comments apply equally to bubbleheaded Canadian drivers. There, happy?

Yes, LEDs' angular intensity gradient is higher than that of most filament lamp-equipped bulbs, but no, that is not the effect the OP is noticing. From any angle at which both left and right taillamps are visible, even LED taillamps' intensity will not appear significantly different.

I'd be right there with you if 95% of the cars I encounter on the road didn't have their damn fog lights on.

With a poorly tuned diesel, soot will coat one of the tail lights (on the exhaust side) changing the relative brightness.

Ahhhh. I bet you are right, especially if the rear fog lights come on with the front ones. It seems to me that most BMW owners (and SUV owners and....owners) fell the need to announce their presence by turning on as many lights as possible.

Thanks.

Ed

I think the bright rear light you are seeing is a rear fog lamp. Some cars have two rear fog lamps, but many only have one. Not sure the reasoning for that.

------------- Alex

Are you going to try to deny the piss poor US lighting regs and the fact there are tons of morons driving around with fog lamps on?

I have noticed the same thing as the OP. However, I've learned enough to tell what is what on these cars and daniel is correct, it's rear fogs and obvious bulb misapplication.

Of course my favorite was the SUV I saw with Amber _brake_ signals and red _turn_ signals.

Dual rear fogs mimic the appearance of brake lamps, thereby making the brake lamps less conspicuous. Single rear fog lamp (on driver's side) doesn't have that problem.

Proponents of dual rear fogs argue that they supply distance information not available from a single rear fog. That, however, would only be true if dual rear fogs were always mounted at the outer extremities of the rear of the vehicle, and they almost never are.

So sorry to offend your delicate little sensibilities. Here, let me make it allllll better for you:

AMERICA! AMERICA! RAH-RAH-RAH! YEAH, WOOOOOO! YEAH! YOO-ESS-AYY! YOO-ESS-AYY! WE'RE NUMBER ONE! WOOOOO! YEAH! WE'RE RIGHT AND THE STUPID REST OF THE WORLD IS WRONG! PAX AMERICANA! YOO-ESS-AYY! FOUR MORE YEARS! WOOOOOOOOOO!

DS

I think the most likely issue is the use of the improper bulb, the correct european style (7506, 7528) part numbers are a couple of bucks more than the incorrect (1156, 1157) part numbers, and it never ceases to amaze me how stupidly cheap people get when confronted with a choice.

Bernard

Mais au moins ils ne sont pas français ;)

C'est vrai! Les voitures françaises sont encore plus mauvaises que l'Américain ceux. :)

nate

Amen. *clink*

Could it have had rear crash damage incompetently repaired?

There have, of course, been a great many hopelessly crappy American car designs. No debate there. Thing is, there are also a great many hopelessly awful German car designs, a great many hopelessly awful Japanese car designs, etc. The German junk stays in the German home market. The Japanese junk stays in the Japanese home market. Likewise, the American junk rains down upon the American market. (Proof: Virtually nobody outside France and Benelux buys French cars.)

DS

Oops, minor nit: your 7506 and 7528 aren't bulb type numbers, they're Osram's reference numbers. 7506 = type P21W. 7528 = type P21/5W. 1156 and

Sometimes they're not even given a choice! One of the main reasons why '90s Jettas seemed to have so many problems with faulty rear lamps was that VW *dealers* were selling 97s instead of R10Ws, 1156s instead of P21Ws and 1157s instead of P21/5Ws. It wasn't helped by the *entire* North American aftermarket listed the American types, and our '90 (made in Germany) listed the American types in the owner's manual. Those cars, like most European cars, really need the European nickel-plated bases and crescent-shaped base contacts.