There are 1 stored owner reports matching the brakes leading-label group for the 2003 BMW X5 in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 1 of 1 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)THE RIGHT REAR BRAKE LIGHT BULB SHORTS OUT. INSTRUMENT WARNING FOR REAR BRAKE / TAIL LIGHTS ACTIVATES. PROBLEM OCCURS MULTIPLE TIMES DUE TO AN APPARENT FLAW IN THE BRAKE LIGHT ASSEMBLY CIRCUIT AND PLASTIC THAT FORMS THE SPLIT CIRCUIT FOR POSITIVE (+) NEGATIVE (-) CONNECTION POINTS TO BULB SOCKET LEADS. TO REPAIR - THE METAL ASSEMBLY NEEDS TO BE BENT OUTWARD (DIRECTION AWAY FROM TAIL LIGHT LENS) TO INCREASE TENSION BETWEEN BULB SOCKET ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS AND METAL PLATE OF TAIL LIGHT ASSEMBLY. PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE CAUSED BY WEAKENED PLASTIC THAT CAUSES THE METAL PLATE IN TAIL LIGHT ASSEMBLE TO LOOSEN CREATING INADEQUATE BACK SPRING TENSION BETWEEN THE PLATE AND SOCKET CONNECTORS. RECALL ON BMW 3 SERIES FOR: NO. 11V-438: LAMPS IN REAR QUARTER PANEL 2002-2005 3 SERIES IS DESCRIBED AS THE EXACT PROBLEM. *JS
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.