CE-04 Taillight Solution

I just ordered this (see BMWELECTRICMOTORRAD at Etsy). Seems like a nicely done, very solid solution.

I'll be curious to find out if they fit the US-spec CE 04. AFAIK, the blinker assembly is subtly different from the international version. 🍿

I'll be sure to let you guys know. It'll be here sometime in March as it's being shipped from the Netherlands.

Unfortunately, it looks like this guy's life on Etsy was short-lived. I do have a shipment confirmation, but I was subsequently notified by Etsy that he's no longer selling on their site. So, I hope this turns out to be a good purchase. If not, I'll be out $120.

rongrimes said:

Unfortunately, it looks like this guy's life on Etsy was short-lived. I do have a shipment confirmation, but I was subsequently notified by Etsy that he's no longer selling on their site. So, I hope this turns out to be a good purchase. If not, I'll be out $120.

Click to expand...

The person you are looking for, here his facebook page it's a garage in Turkey they do mods and sell different accessories.

Cheers
Yves

So, it came in, but it looks like I have to remove the collar currently on the light to attach the new piece. My trouble is, I have no idea what to use to remove the current screw/bolt. None of my hex heads (metric or otherwise) seems to fit). I tried to take a picture of it. Hopefully, someone here can tell what kind of strange wrench and size this requires.


see black inset screw


new parts

rongrimes said:

So, it came in, but it looks like I have to remove the collar currently on the light to attach the new piece. My trouble is, I have no idea what to use to remove the current screw/bolt. None of my hex heads (metric or otherwise) seems to fit). I tried to take a picture of it. Hopefully, someone here can tell what kind of strange wrench and size this requires.


see black inset screw
View attachment 4516

new parts

Click to expand...

Looks like a Torx screw to me (and it looks slightly butchered, perhaps by an Allen key or something), same as the shiny one beneath it.

BMW uses Torx screws and bolts almost exclusively on the models that I'm familiar with -- they comprise almost all of the bodywork screws, the bolts that hold the passenger grab rails, and so on and so forth on my C 400. And same thing with my buddy's 12-year-old RT.

Shortly after getting my C 400 GT two years ago, I bought two socket-ratchet-driven sets from Harbor Freight; see:


And, more recently, this long-shaft set from Amazon:


Question for you: haven't you taken any panels, handrails, etc., off your CE-04 yet? If you have, then I'm guessing that you have a set of Torx bits/sockets/whatever, and I might be wrong about my assessment of that screw head. If you haven't, then my other guess is that the CE-04 has a multitude of Torx fasteners, and you really should get some of those sockets.

On, by the way, in the bare-bones toolkit that came with my bike, there was a small screwdriver-like handle with some bits, one of which was a Torx.

Good luck.

Edit Addition:

For the rest of you readers, I've saved that photo, and then done some HDR and exposure enhancements, to get a better look at it. Here's my tweaked photo:

wspollack said:

Looks like a Torx screw to me (and it looks slightly butchered, perhaps by an Allen key or something), same as the shiny one beneath it.

BMW uses Torx screws and bolts almost exclusively on the models that I'm familiar with

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. And no, I haven't needed to take off any panels or such so far. I'll order the torx as you suggest.

rongrimes said:

Thanks for the info. And no, I haven't needed to take off any panels or such so far. I'll order the torx as you suggest.

Click to expand...

Sometimes I forget that not everyone takes bikes apart right away, to add lights, sockets, etc. I've taken pretty much all the bodywork off of two C 400 GTs now -- my '22 and its '23 replacement; see my gallery https://billanddot.com/C400GT/ if you're interested.

In any case, I just went out to the garage and took a pic of my Torx collection, all acquired after getting that first '22. Here are the two sets I got from Harbor Freight -- there's some duplication between those two sets, but I wanted to get all the sizes that I encountered -- along with the long-shaft set I cited from Amazon (and I find that long-shaft sets are often handy or just more convenient -- I have long-shafts of Allen sockets, too, acquired for other bikes):



And I also remembered that I got another set from Amazon since getting the C 400 GT. I keep this one on the bike (along with an air pump and assorted stuff):


You can't have too many tools, right? And this group is cheap enough.

rongrimes- I just went out to the garage to verify. The fastener is a T30 Torx.

wspollack said:

Sometimes I forget that not everyone takes bikes apart right away, to add lights, sockets, etc. I've taken pretty much all the bodywork off of two C 400 GTs now -- my '22 and its '23 replacement; see my gallery https://billanddot.com/C400GT/ if you're interested.

In any case, I just went out to the garage and took a pic of my Torx collection, all acquired after getting that first '22. Here are the two sets I got from Harbor Freight

Click to expand...

Turns out I did have a torx bit set in my DeWalt set of tools. Just never used them before - except maybe when I replaced my windscreen. That's about the extent of my mechanical abilities. I'm a software engineer, not a hardward guy.

rongrimes said:

Turns out I did have a torx bit set in my DeWalt set of tools. Just never used them before - except maybe when I replaced my windscreen. That's about the extent of my mechanical abilities. I'm a software engineer, not a hardward guy.

Click to expand...

Reminds me of a joke (which you probably heard) from back in my geek days (I was a DBA, but have been retired for more than 20 years).

Q: How many computer programmers does it take to change a light bulb?

A: None -- that's a hardware problem.

wspollack said:

Reminds me of a joke (which you probably heard) from back in my geek days (I was a DBA, but have been retired for more than 20 years).

Q: How many computer programmers does it take to change a light bulb?

A: None -- that's a hardware problem.

Click to expand...

Interesting! I'm current a front-end developer for a DB company, FairCom. You've probably never heard of it, but we're in the most critical high-volume transaction environments. All stock market transactions, airline flights, 911 calls go through our database.