Why is lic.plate light showing in my instrument cluster?

[Bimminator]

Hi all, haven't been on the board lately, to busy with teachers college, was taking advantage of the 7 degrees temp to play around with the 535i, the display has been indicating that the lic. plate light is out for about a week now. Checked it and they are both working fine. Took them apart and cleaned, new bulbs still indicating that they are out. Could something else be triggering the sensor? I also noticed smething else. Should the inside tail lights mounted on the trunk lid work? They don't seem to light up when the ignition is on or when the brake peddle is deperessed. I did do a search and found a response from shogun pertaining to parking lights and how you have to move direction indicator lever farther than normal to the right or left to turn on the corrasponding light, I will go try this now to see if these are infact "parking lights". Yes I did check to see if the bulbs weren't blown and they seem to be good. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, Shawn.

[jybute]

i cant tell you too much about the warning that your plate light is out, accept that one time i got a warning that my 1 brake light was out. it wasnt, but i changed the bulbs, yes both they came in a pair so I figured why not.and i havnt had the message since.
as far as the inside lights, (on the trunk lid) I think those are for rear fogs, you have to add a euro foglight switch to turn them on.

[Bimminator]

i cant tell you too much about the warning that your plate light is out, accept that one time i got a warning that my 1 brake light was out. it wasnt, but i changed the bulbs, yes both they came in a pair so I figured why not.
as far as the inside lights, (on the trunk lid) I think those are for rear fogs, you have to add a euro foglight switch to turn them on.

Just had a closer look, I know the clear portion of the light is reverse light, thought red portion should light up too but I guess it is just a reflector. However I discovered that I have some soldering to do tomorrow. I noticed the inside tunk lights were not turning on so I wiggled the wires a bit and they flickered, so I inspected them a little closer and followed them back to the trunk hinge and it seems they got pinched somehow and two or three wires have been severed. I have over loaded the trunk a few times in the last month so I probably pushed them into the hinge. That'll learn me!

I suppose that is what is triggering the sensor for the lic. plate light even though there is power to them. I'll post my results after the repair incase there are any dumbasses out there like me who like to put too much crap in the trunk just because it can accomodate three or four bodies.

Cheers, Shawn

[Paul in NZ]

you didnt pinch the wires thats a classic e34 fault.The constant bending at the end of the plastic sheath that covers the wires on the hinge itself breaks the wires and damages the insulation.Its likely the cause of your false warning too

[gt90]

Do your reverse lights work?
I have the same message in my display, but it only comes on when I have my lights on and put the car in reverse. Both of my license plate lights work fine btw.

[Bimminator]

Do your reverse lights work?
I have the same message in my display, but it only comes on when I have my lights on and put the car in reverse. Both of my license plate lights work fine btw.

That is zactly the issue. The brake lights do not work and the message is only triggered when I put it in reverse. I only realized today that the reverse lights were out. Like I said, there are about three wires that need to be soldered back together.