Broken Tail Light

Koriko

New member
Hey all,

I was walking to my garage door when my leg brushed my left taillight, causing it to snap. I'm not strong or heavy by any means, so I am actually shocked how fragile it is. Upon further inspection, it looks almost like the entire left light is mounted via a thick PCB instead of anything positively affixing the casing to the scooter like traditional lighting methods. Has anyone taken their rear lights apart yet and can anyone confirm this? I thought I'd ask before I spend this weekend looking into it.

Ideally the lights aren't proprietary to the point where I have to go to the dealer and get a replacement weak taillight. Turning on my scooter immediately brings up a warning that my rear lights are damaged, and my right tail light refuses to light up despite being untouched, which makes me suspect aftermarket parts won't be an option until someone reverse engineers this.
 

Mitleider

Member
Hey all,

I was walking to my garage door when my leg brushed my left taillight, causing it to snap. I'm not strong or heavy by any means, so I am actually shocked how fragile it is. Upon further inspection, it looks almost like the entire left light is mounted via a thick PCB instead of anything positively affixing the casing to the scooter like traditional lighting methods. Has anyone taken their rear lights apart yet and can anyone confirm this? I thought I'd ask before I spend this weekend looking into it.

Ideally the lights aren't proprietary to the point where I have to go to the dealer and get a replacement weak taillight. Turning on my scooter immediately brings up a warning that my rear lights are damaged, and my right tail light refuses to light up despite being untouched, which makes me suspect aftermarket parts won't be an option until someone reverse engineers this.
Hello, I had the very same experience. Does anyone know the OEM part number for the rear red turn signal, mine snapped off. Or better still is there an aftermarket sturdier replacement? If so, manufacturer and model number please?

Many thanks !
 

triangletom

Active member
According to https://www.ascycles.com/bmw/2021/CE04/Lights/Multifunctional turn signals.html#PartsTable it's #63 23 7 924 982 - $119US. AS Cycles is a trustworthy sight for doing these parts lookups within the US.

It's worth noting that the tail lights used by the CE-04 is shared among many newer BMW motorbikes, so allegedly you can also use this protector: https://www.wunderlich.de/shop/en/i...-led-multifunctional-indicator-42841-802.html - attached is a photo of the Wunderlich protector #Part # 42841802) installed on the CE-04, courtesy of one of the French Facebook forums: https://fr-fr.facebook.com/groups/4367141670014011/posts/4966317660096406
 

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triangletom

Active member
I joined the broken rear signal club today!

I mounted a 2x2cycles bicycle rack onto the CE 04 as low down and close to the seat as possible, but the 1" of clearance I gave the signal light wasn't enough once you sat on the bike - as the seat lowers with shock compression. Had I looked at this photo before I continued down the road, I would have noticed that it was touching at this point, and saved my light:

Screenshot 2023-01-08 at 11.16.05 AM.jpg

It severed fairly cleanly, so I can't imagine it will be too difficult to replace:

PXL_20230108_153926423.jpg

The diagram for the replacement lights indicate that there is a plug at the end of a lengthy bit of wire, so it may be a bit of an adventure to figure out where it goes:
Screenshot 2023-01-08 at 11.20.25 AM.png

I'm going to order a replacement and the ugly Wunderlich protector. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
 

Mitleider

Member
I joined the broken rear signal club today!

I mounted a 2x2cycles bicycle rack onto the CE 04 as low down and close to the seat as possible, but the 1" of clearance I gave the signal light wasn't enough once you sat on the bike - as the seat lowers with shock compression. Had I looked at this photo before I continued down the road, I would have noticed that it was touching at this point, and saved my light:

View attachment 3641

It severed fairly cleanly, so I can't imagine it will be too difficult to replace:

View attachment 3642

The diagram for the replacement lights indicate that there is a plug at the end of a lengthy bit of wire, so it may be a bit of an adventure to figure out where it goes:
View attachment 3644

I'm going to order a replacement and the ugly Wunderlich protector. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
A fellow owner posted a step by step instryctuons which started with...."remove rear wheel"....gosh I hope there's a more friendly solution t0 this all to commen problem....suggestions?
 

triangletom

Active member
A fellow owner posted a step by step instryctuons which started with...."remove rear wheel"....gosh I hope there's a more friendly solution t0 this all to commen problem....suggestions?
Wait, what the actual fuck?

I figured that at worst this would be a 45-minute job. If you stumble into those instructions again, I would love to see them!
 

Mitleider

Member
You'll see wiring which leads to the turn signals bundled together, with zip ties, which need to be unbundled, new wiring in g installed bundled. Rear wheel reattached....
 

triangletom

Active member
It's in the Facebook CE-04 website. 5 steps outlined, with pictures. Can't figure out how to send a link or URL...

I was a little confused as I know of at least four Facebook CE 04 groups, so it took a little searching, but I found the instructions at https://www.facebook.com/groups/417926070093644/posts/598112305408352/ - Just in case it disappears later, I'm going to paste the instructions from Guru Shudamundi into this thread, who says the steps are "doable in about an hour. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of steps (and tie wraps), but it saves some money. And,.. good to have the experience because it will definitely happen again."

Step 1: Remove the wheel by unlocking the 5 bolts

321130221_887842029059720_4991738121648163159_n.jpg

With the wheel off, You can now see the turn signal lines running (from the license plate mount toward the center of the wheel)

321057160_1146077946298338_5940475995646478968_n.jpg

Step 2: On the other (belt) side remove this part

321245419_477748794473635_5910453177554382442_n.jpg

Step 3: to get more space (depending on which turn signal is gone), also remove the bolts of this cap. The cap itself does not have to be removed, only the bolts so that it can give you some space to jiggle behind it.

321303115_689010206223991_3711640352604749194_n.jpg

Step 4: Cut all the visible tie wraps (running from the rear light cluster). There are also 3 or 4 on the back of the plate holder.

321216655_673420531141454_1524659018403825068_n.jpg

321258656_1341721379963940_8356816567537037395_n.jpg

Step 5: Unscrew these two bolts, the plate holder will come off. From there, the rest is pretty self-explanatory.

321244966_712809380442102_6571784251211085918_n.jpg
 

triangletom

Active member
I'm about 3 hours into this "1-hour" job, and the steps seem accurate, though somewhat incomplete. You'll need T50 wrenches for the wheel, T25 for most of the body work, though there is a handful of stray T30 bolts.

Notably, it doesn't mention how to get the light wired through the license plate assembly. I ran out of available light before I could figure it out, but I'm fairly sure you also have to disassemble the light bracket to put a new indicator in: it doesn't seem to fit any other way.
 

Mitleider

Member
Thanks for the update, Tom, you're such a great contributor! This task is a bit daunting. It seems to be that many of us are experiencing broken rear turn signals, and to spend $120 in parts plus a need for special tools and significant time to replace is unsettling. I, hopeful you will, when able, post updated photos. With thanks!
 

triangletom

Active member
Little update: altogether, the job requires removal/reinstallation of 24 bolts: T25, T30, and T50 Torx. It took me about 5 hours with copious notes and photos, so consider this a 4-hour job the first time, and maybe 90 minutes if you've done it before. One missing bit of information was the intended torque of the five T50 lug nuts: I opted for 60nm to mirror recommendations for the R1250GS. The German Elektroroller forum mentioned 65-75nm.

PXL_20230113_215225002.jpg


Unfortunately, the Wunderlich indicator light protectors (42841612) does not appear to fit US-spec CE 04 without modification. With the stock BMW cowl in place (unsure of the part number here), it doesn't fit without cutting some of the metal off:


PXL_20230116_212316589(1).jpg

Without the BMW cowl, the bolt isn't long enough, and nothing prevents the indicator from rotating loose.

PXL_20230116_213422696.jpg
 

Mitleider

Member
Thank you for sharing, although my heart goes out to you...a 5 hour (5!) project in the dead of winter! I'm wondering if you had approached your dealer to replace j der warranty?
 

triangletom

Active member
@Mitleider - Nah, I chalk this breakage up to my own stupidity. If the indicator had just "broken by itself", I'd have gotten it replaced under warranty. My dealer is a 3-hour round trip anyways, so getting this fixed would have taken 4-5 hours out of my day either way.
 
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