Elektrik: Innenbeleuchtung

[Beumers]

Hi all.
Lately I noticed the lights in the back off the interior did'nt work.
When I checked the armature near the mirror in the front, I noticed that also the mean light in the middle did'nt work. I was able to repair that unit so in the front all 3 lights are doing what they supposed to do.
1 Switch to inside car position: Lights are working.
2 Switch to middle position: No function.
3 Switch to mirror position: Light on with door handle etc.
I thought the lights in the back of the car would also work when the middle light was in the ON position. Hence, there are no switches to operate the lights in the back. But after the repair they still refuse to do anything.
In the manual and in all the lightplans I looked into, it says you have to switch the lights in the back on with a switch attached to the lights armature. On the lightplans there is in all of them a switch icon nex to the bulb icon.
So since there are no switches in the back of my car, I wonder if sombody knows how I get them to work. The bulbs are fine. The wiring looks like they never seen any daylight. I am quiet sure nobody messed with the wiring in the back. Everything looks original.
In my previous Car e32 '91 and the one before e23 I always had switches in the back.
Does anyone know about the model without switches in the back and how I should operate them in order to get them working again.
My car is a e32 735 dec. 1986. Imported from France. Maybe the French don't want any light in the back of their car's.

Thanks. Henk Beumers. Drive save into 2014.

No need to reply in English.

[Setech]

Die Lampen hinten gibt es in zwei Versionen.
Einmal die normalen einfachen Lampen die analog zum vorderen mittleren Innenraumlicht funktionieren. Also je nach Schalterstellung. Permanent aus. Permanent an. Gesteuert an. (entweder für ein paar Sekunden bei Griff ziehen oder bei offener Tür oder mit Verzögerung nach Schließen der Tür (die Verzögerung wird sofort unterbrochen wenn die Zündung angeht))

Die Lampen hinten gibt es mit Leselicht. Bei Zündung an kann man mittels Schalter eine separate Glühlampe einschalten. Diese kleine Leselampe ist völlig unabhängig von den Türen oder der Stellung des Schalters in der mittleren Lampe.

_____________
The rear lamps are available in two versions.
Once the normal simple lamps that operate analogously to the front main center interior light. It depends on the switch position. permanent, force on, controlled on (by lifting handle for a few seconds, open the door or with a delay after closing the door (the delay is turned off immediately when the ignition is on))

THe rear lamps have an independent reading light. If the ignition is on you can turn on this separate light bulb with a switch. This small reading lamp is completely independent including switch in the middle main front lamp.

[Beumers]

Hi Setech.
So it works like I figured out it should work. The backlights work in coördination with the front light in the middle.
This means somewere there must be a disconnection or faulty cable in the circuit between the front light and the back lights. You would expect them to run over the roofcover against the ceiling. This could be more dificult than I thought.
Thanks. This was the answer I needed.
Greetings Henk.

[Beumers]

Hi again.
In the meantime I tried to learn why there is no current on the connections to the back lnteriour lights. There must be a disconnection somewere between the cables that run to the front and the back lights/lamps. I tried to figure out where the connectors are located in the cableloom in the ETK drawings but it's not clear enough to me.
I wander, does someone have additional drawings to the ETK on which I can see the location of the connectors and the cables responsible for the lights of the interior.

Thanks in advance. Henk.

[Erich]

maybe in the wiring diagrams, ETM
 E32 (1987 to 1993 7 Series) Wiring Diagrams

[Setech]

Ich mache heute mal Fotos…

[Beumers]

Hi all.
Problem solved.
I disassembled the panels in the back of the car and took the armatures out. Again I checked the bulbs very close but there was nothing wrong. I got my multimeter out and checked for current. 12v present. ( Why didn't do that before? My car is almost never parked near the house. )
I checked the bulbs with the MM and they didn't measure through. Faulty!! Because it was too late to buy new ones I soldered the connections on new and bingo, they worked. Never had this on hand before.
I feel a bit silly after this. I will check in the future more thoroughly.
But I already checked the wiring diagrams Erich. They show only that one situation with reading lights and the ones that work when you open the door etc.
No problem. I can read those diagram. What you can't see on them is where the connectors are located and it's also difficult to find out how the wires run trough the car. Also the drawings in the ETK are not that clear on that matter. It would be handy to have a drawing or diagram on which one can find the location of the components. Also the little ones unimportant ones. I know there are foto's with most components and the location but they are not complete enough.

Thanks again Henk.

[Setech]

Das Foto ist leider nicht wirklich aussagekräftig und es macht wenig Sinn es einzustellen.
Die Kabelführung beim E32 ist linksorientiert. Die Schaltpläne geben eine gute Übersicht, wenn man sich ansieht wo die Spleiße liegen.

[Beumers]

Hi all.
A little update to the matter.
In my search on the internet concerning these readinglights in the back, I found lots of photo's. There are two types. One with white connectors and the others with black connectors. As far as I could figure out the black ones are from the e34 and the white ones from an e32.
The shape of these black connectors is different and also there are 4 pins in them instead of 3 so they will never fit.
I didn't saw them all but I think it's good to know that not all parts of the e34 fit to a e32.

Henk.