Brake lights stay on

[kaburke]

Anyone out there familiar with having their rear brake lights stay on all the time (this happened suddenly last week)?

My parking lights work fine (only come on I when I turn the exterior light dial), but as soon as I start my car, the brake lights just stay on....regardless of pressing the brake pedal. It's driving me crazy. The "3rd light" on the back window also stays lit, as expected since I assume they're on the same circuit.

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out if I can try this one myself, take it to a side BMW shop, or make an appointment at the dealership (which I'm sure would be the most expensive). I'm at 55k, so I'm outside of warranty. Any suggestions? In the mean time, I've taken the brake light bulbs out of the sockets in the rear. I figure since my parking lights work properly, they'll at least be visible at night. Problem is, no one knows when I'm braking! ...Unless of course they figure out the problem of my 3rd light constantly being lit.

 

[mankiks323i]

i think there is a brake switch by the brake pedel these are known to go bad and cause brake lights to stay on. I think previos models they had problems with this switch

 

[JTravick]

Well you can always hold your left arm up outside the window like motorcycles do... But seriously...Do your regular tail lights work? I don't know if I would recommend taking your bulbs out -- can't you get pulled over for not having tail or brake lights?

 

[wood_e]

The brake on/off switch is known to fail in some cars. They are a cheap and easy replacement.

 

[kaburke]

Well...the reason I took them out is because they were EXTREMELY hot after constantly being on. Much hotter than the tail lights, but maybe that's not really a big deal. Anyway, I've got an appointment at the dealership on Monday. Hopefully it's a simple fix. You're probably right though. It might be better to just have the brake lights "on" all the time (while car is running). I guess it's better for other cars to think I'm always braking, opposed to not braking at all. Just a few more days of this annoyance...