A £220 Mistake? Probably.

[Turbo Tony]

Hi all,

Seeing as I had my toolkit removed to fit my brolly holder, I thought it would be a good time to fit my new inner tail lights. As you may recall, when I bought the car, one of the inner lights had a couple of LEDs out and the indicators and brake lights on the inside weren't working. Miraculously, a few days ago, the inside brake lights started working - I noticed them in a reflection when I'd parked against a window.

I switched them today and it took me quite a while to align them to the existing lights and to remove the residue from the sticker on the side. I cleaned the light wells and gave them a little coat of wax to give them a little protection.

I didn't tell you guys, but the inner lights were also quite badly scratched up - as if they'd been gone over with a scourer. It's nothing I don't think I could polish out, had they been working properly, but I didn't bother seeing as I knew I was going to change them.

So, after I plugged in my shiny new lights (at £220 each), I notice that the inside indicator still doesn't work. I'm now wondering whether it's supposed to illuminate at all?

Here's a question for all of you with facelift tail lights - do the indicators light up on the inside lights, or is it just the outside ones?

I needed to change one of my lights because of the LEDs that weren't working but, at the moment, I've paid £220 for another that isn't functionally any different from the one it replaced.

[Delboy]

Only on the outside, annoyingly thats a feature of the D3 lights compared to newer models.

[mannyo]

Follow this guide from the lights sticky and you can wire up the inside indicators.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7026

[Delboy]

I went to all the hassle to find it doesn't work, the conclusions made were the extra wire is for the us market where the brake lights flash as turn signal.

[Turbo Tony]

Humph. That means I've spent (another) £220 I didn't need to.

Oh well. C'est la vie!

Thanks for the confirmation, folks.