Tail Light Bulb Replacement – Brake, Turn, Reverse, Center Brake 2012-2019 BMW 3 Series (F30)

August 25, 2023

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Tail Light Bulb Replacement – Brake, Turn, Reverse, Center Brake 2012-2019 BMW 3 Series (F30)

This repair procedure gives step by step instructions on replacing the tail light bulbs on 2012-2019 3 series (F30) vehicles. the bulbs included in this repair are: brake light, turn signal, reverse light, inner tail light and third stop lamp (center brake light).

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Possible Symptoms: Not applicable for this repair.

This repair can be used on the following BMW models:

2011

316d Sedan, 318d Sedan, 320d ed Sedan, 320d Sedan, 320dX Sedan, 320i Sedan, 320iX Sedan, 325d Sedan, 328d Sedan, 328dX Sedan, 328i Sedan, 328iX Sedan, 330d Sedan, 330dX Sedan, 335i Sedan, 335iX Sedan, Hybrid 3 Sedan,

2012

316d Sedan, 316i Sedan, 318d Sedan, 318dX Sedan, 320d ed Sedan, 320d Sedan, 320dX Sedan, 320i ed Sedan, 320i Sedan, 320iX Sedan, 325d Sedan, 328d Sedan, 328dX Sedan, 328i Sedan, 328iX Sedan, 330d Sedan, 330dX Sedan, 335dX Sedan, 335i Sedan, 335iX Sedan, Hybrid 3 Sedan,

2013

2014

2015

316d Sedan, 316i Sedan, 318d Sedan, 318dX Sedan, 318i Sedan, 320d ed Sedan, 320d Sedan, 320dX Sedan, 320i ed Sedan, 320i Sedan, 320iX Sedan, 325d Sedan, 328d Sedan, 328dX Sedan, 328i Sedan, 328iX Sedan, 330d Sedan, 330dX Sedan, 330e Sedan, 330i Sedan, 330iX Sedan, 335dX Sedan, 335i Sedan, 335iX Sedan, 340i Sedan, 340iX Sedan, Hybrid 3 Sedan,

2016

2017

316d Sedan, 318d Sedan, 318dX Sedan, 318i Sedan, 320d ed Sedan, 320d Sedan, 320dX Sedan, 320i Sedan, 320iX Sedan, 325d Sedan, 328d Sedan, 328dX Sedan, 330d Sedan, 330dX Sedan, 330e Sedan, 330i Sedan, 330iX Sedan, 335dX Sedan, 340i Sedan, 340iX Sedan,

2018

Intermediate level repair.

Step 1 - Purchase Parts

You will need the following parts and supplies to perform this repair.

Tail Light Bulb

It has become trendy among some BMW enthusiasts to install aftermarket LED replacement bulbs in their tail lights. We do not condone that here at the Repair Guide for one major reason - aftermarket LED tail light bulbs may look cool, but sooner rather than later they are going to throw a dashboard error message because the vehicle doesn't recognize them. Only use Genuine BMW tail light bulbs in your vehicle...they may not be "cool" but they are street legal and keep the error messages off of your dashboard.

Tail light bulb

This little bulb is commonly used for the reverse light in your BMW's tail light. It is Genuine BMW and guaranteed to give years of hassle free perfomance.

Step 2 - Repair Procedure

Unless otherwise noted, all vehicle repair step images in this article are copyrighted, and used courtesy of BMW of North America, Inc. .

Before replacing the tail light bulbs, you will need to remove the tail light assembly from the trunk lid or the side panel of the vehicle. Please refer to our article Tail Light Removal (Left and Right) – 2012-2019 3 Series (F30) for more information.

1. Replacing the brake light and turn signal in side panel assembly.