PROJEKT36 · WIRING

Lights wiring

The E36 exterior lighting, redrawn with the real wire colours: light switch, headlights, fogs, turn signals, park and tail, brake and reversing. Hover or tap a wire to follow it; tap a part for what it does.

Standard petrol E36, 316i–328i, sedan pin numbers, without the check-control module, from the 1998 BMW wiring manual. On a phone, scroll the diagram sideways.

projekt36.com/wiring/lights/

SW blackRT redGN greenBL blueGE yellowBR brownWS white GN/SW = green with black stripe supply / ground of a part shown elsewhere colour not given in the source

Connector X503

fuse F33 10A fuse F37 10A fuse F22 5A fuse F25 5A 0.75 GR/VI splice X246 0.75 GR/GE splice X245 0.75 GR/SW splice X196 → dimmer N3 0.35 GE splice X1029 → headlight relay 0.5 GE/VI fog light switch S10 ground X173 X503 Light switch light switch S8 5 Feed, left side (30) 11 Feed, right side (30) 8 Feed, fog lights (15) 12 Feed, headlights (15) 6 Left park and tail lights 2 Right park and tail lights 1 Instrument lighting (58) 4 Headlights on 9 Fog light switch feed 7 Ground

How it works

The light switch has three positions: 0 off, 1 parking lights, 2 headlights. Position 1 feeds both sides' parking and tail lights and the instrument lighting; position 2 adds the headlight relay.

Terminal 30 fuses (F33, F37) feed the parking lights, so they work with the key out; terminal 15 fuses (F25, F22) feed the headlight and fog circuits, so those only work with the ignition on.

Redrawn from BMW ETM 6300.0 (05/99), standard petrol E36 (316i–328i); diesel and M3 parts are left out. Not covered: pin 3 (Nordic daytime-light versions).

Headlights (low and high beam)

0.35 GE0.5 GE X1029 fuse F23 5A (15) · X32 pin 9 0.35 WS X32 · 5 term 30 · X45 pin 6 term 30 · X43 pin 6 0.35 BR X173 1 GE/SW rear fog feed 2.5 WS/BL1 GE/GN1 GE/BL X10035 · 1 X10016 · 2 X10016 · 4 2.5 RT/WS1 WS/GN1 WS/BL X10036 · 1 X10017 · 18 X10017 · 20 X165 X165 X165 X165 S8 Light switch position 2: headlights 4 S7 Turn indicator / beam stalk 7 normal · 8 flash · 9 high beam 9 4 5 A2w Cluster high beam indicator X16·1 K48 Headlight relay connector X45, front power box 30 86 87b 87 85 K46 High beam relay connector X43, front power box 86 30 85 87 P90 Fuses F11 / F12 7.5A terminal 56b, low beam F11 F12 P90 Fuses F29 / F30 7.5A terminal 56a, high beam F29 F30 E13 Left low beam 3 1 E14 Right low beam 3 1 E11 Left high beam 4 1 E12 Right high beam 4 1

How it works

In position 2 the light switch feeds the headlight relay coil. The relay switches battery power through fuses F11 and F12 to the two low beams.

Pushing the stalk to high beam (or pulling it to flash) feeds the high beam relay coil, which powers the high beams through fuses F29 and F30 and lights the indicator in the cluster. The flash works without the light switch because the stalk has its own feed from F23.

Each beam has its own fuse, so one blown fuse takes out one lamp, not the whole side.

Check on your car

  • Drawn without the check-control module. Cars with it route each low beam through the module (left X1074 pins 8→12, right 15→13), with different wire colours on the way in.

Redrawn from BMW ETM 6312.0-00 and 6312.0-03 (05/99), standard petrol E36 (316i–328i); diesel and M3 parts are left out. Not covered: Nordic daytime-light versions (N/S); crash alarm sensor variant (DWA).

Front and rear fog lights

0.5 GE/VI 0.5 GE/GR term 30 · X44 pin 6 X173 1 RT/GE0.75 GE/BR X1152 X10016 · 9 X165 X165 1 GE/SW X1027 headlight relay 87b X10016 · 13 0.5 GE/WS X1214 X13 · 5 X13006 S8 Light switch fed by F22 5A (15) 9 S10 Fog light switch connector X504 4 3 K47 Fog light relay connector X44, front power box 86 30 85 87 87 F15 Fuse 15A E26 Left fog light 2 1 E27 Right fog light 2 1 A2w Cluster fog indicator X17·8 F17 Fuse 10A 7.5A with check control S82 Rear fog light switch connector X504 2 1 H26 Left rear fog light in the left rear lid light 1 4 A2w Cluster rear fog indicator X271·5

How it works

The front fog lights work with the light switch in position 1 or 2 and the ignition on (F22). The fog light switch pulls in the fog light relay, which powers both fogs through fuse F15 and lights the cluster indicator.

The rear fog light is fed from either the fog light relay or the headlight relay (87b), so it can only be switched on with the front fogs or the headlights on. It runs through fuse F17 and its own switch, and has one lamp, on the left.

Redrawn from BMW ETM 6312.0-00 and 6312.0-02 (05/99), standard petrol E36 (316i–328i); diesel and M3 parts are left out. Not covered: Korea and Nordic versions; trailer socket feed.

Turn signals and hazard lights

fuse F34 15A (30) · X10018 pin 8 fuse F23 5A (15) · X32 pin 9 X32 · 3 X32 · 6 X173 1 BL/GN0.5 BL/GN0.75 BL/GN X184 1 BL/BR0.5 BL/BR0.75 BL/BR X185 0.5 WS/RT 0.5 BR/BL X10012 S7 Turn indicator stalk 1/2 left · 4/5 right(1 and 4 = touch) 9 L R K16 Hazard flasher relay connector X64 30 LE RE LA 31 WB CS RA H7 Front left flasher 2 H9 Left side repeater 2 H6 Rear left flasher 2 H4 Front right flasher 2 H8 Right side repeater 2 H5 Rear right flasher 2 A2w Cluster left · trailer · right indicators X16·4 X17·1 X16·3 S18 Hazard switch 5 3 2

How it works

The flasher relay K16 has battery power at all times (F34). The stalk, fed from F23 with the ignition on, tells the relay which side to flash (LE or RE); the relay then pulses that side's output (LA or RA), lighting the front flasher, the side repeater, the rear flasher and the cluster arrow together.

The hazard switch grounds the relay's WB input, so both sides flash, even with the key out.

Redrawn from BMW ETM 6313.0-00 to 6313.0-03 (05/99), standard petrol E36 (316i–328i); diesel and M3 parts are left out. Not covered: M3 trailer-indicator wire; crash alarm sensor (DWA) variant; trailer socket wiring.

Parking and tail lights

0.75 GR/VI0.5 GR/VI1 GR/VI X246 X13 · 7 0.75 GR/GE0.5 GR/GE1 GR/GE X245 X13 · 8 F33 10A via ignition switch (key off) X165 X165 X13006 X13006 S8 Light switch positions 1 and 2 6 2 S7 Stalk (parking lights) key out: park left or right 2 7 E15 Left parking light in the left headlight 2 1 H25 · H37 Left tail lights left rear lid light 3 4 H30 · H39 Right tail lights right rear lid light 7 8 E19 Right parking light in the right headlight 2 1

How it works

With the light switch in position 1 or 2, pins 6 and 2 feed the left and right sides: each side lights its front parking light and both tail lamps in the rear lid light.

With the key out, the stalk can light one side only (parking lights for kerbside parking). That feed comes from F33 through the ignition switch, so it only works with the ignition off.

Check on your car

  • Drawn without the check-control module. With it, each side's tail lights are fed through the module (left X1074 pin 10 → X1075 pins 6 and 12, right pin 11 → pins 4 and 10).

Redrawn from BMW ETM 6314.0-00 and 6314.0-01 (05/99), standard petrol E36 (316i–328i); diesel and M3 parts are left out. Not covered: Nordic daytime-light versions (N/S); trailer socket wiring.

Brake and reversing lights

fuse F46 15A (R) · X10018 pin 32 1.5 BL/RT1 BL/RT X181 X13 · 6 X13 · 27 signal to DME, cruise, ABS, OBC, EGS X13006 fuse F26 10A (15) · X10017 pin 12 1 BL/GE0.75 BL/GE X20 · 10 X428 X13006 S29 Brake light switch connector X116, closes on the pedal 1 2 H24 Left brake light 8 4 H31 Right brake light 4 8 H34 Raised brake light 2 1 S8511 Reversing light switch on the gearbox (manual) 1 2 H27 Left reverse 6 4 H28 Right reverse 2 8

How it works

The brake light switch is fed from F46 (radio position and on) and closes when the pedal is pressed. Its output lights the two brake lights and the raised brake light, and the same line tells the DME, cruise control, ABS and on-board computer that the brakes are on.

The reversing light switch on the gearbox is fed from F26 (ignition on) and closes in reverse. On automatics the gear selector switch S3 does the same job.

Check on your car

  • Drawn without the check-control module (which uses a two-circuit brake light switch S30). Two-door pin numbers on the rear lid lights are in the steps.

Redrawn from BMW ETM 6325.0-02 and 6322.0-00 (05/99), standard petrol E36 (316i–328i); diesel and M3 parts are left out. Not covered: trailer socket and parking-aid wiring; brake light signal pins on the individual control units (they vary by model and production date).

Reading the wire codes

BMW labels every wire with its size and colour, for example 2.5 SW/GE: 2.5 mm², black (schwarz) with a yellow (gelb) stripe. Connectors are numbered X…, followed by the pin. The wires in these diagrams are drawn at relative thickness, so the 25 mm² battery cable stands out from a 0.35 mm² signal wire.

Codes used here: SW = black, RT = red, GN = green, BL = blue, GE = yellow, BR = brown, WS = white.