[Imperial328i]

Hey guys,

I was having issues with my left turn signal on my depo angel eye headlights. It would intermittently be inoperable. If I hit the headlight it would come back on, leading me to investigate the contacts in the bulb holder. I bent the contacts so they would make a better connection, and that worked. I did however find some interesting melting on the bulb contact (see pic) so I went ahead and replaced both sides with Osrams. Just wanted to add this experience to the archives of F30 post. Oh, also I believe Kies Motorsports has a video about bending these contacts, I don't know if it's the same as what I did, I didn't watch it. I'm an aircraft electrician by trade so I just dived in lol. Hit me up if you have any questions! Thanks for reading!

[JD320iRVA]

I have the exact same issue, only on the right side. I also went and bent all the prongs, and threw some bulb grease on the actual bulb connections in the socket but no luck. Do the Osram bulbs get a better connection? If that's the case I'll snag some on amazon and hopefully call it a day...it's driving me nuts though.

[Imperial328i]

Originally Posted by JD320iRVA

I have the exact same issue, only on the right side. I also went and bent all the prongs, and threw some bulb grease on the actual bulb connections in the socket but no luck. Do the Osram bulbs get a better connection? If that's the case I'll snag some on amazon and hopefully call it a day...it's driving me nuts though.

Ummm, I don't know if the Osrams have better contact. They might. The bulbs that Depo shipped with the lights seem really cheap. They had a weird number on them that didn't correlate with the actual bulb number you look for on the shelf. I will say I've had zero problems since bending the contacts and replacing bulbs. Someone mentioned somewhere to try and put the OEM bulb housing into the light. Good luck let me know!

[JD320iRVA]

I might have figured this thing out. I was looking at the OEM socket and noticed how tight the bulb was in there. When I pulled the socket out of the depo, it was kinda loose. I moved the middle contact up and it was pretty tight when I threw it back in. I guess I'll find out on the ride to work tomorrow

[Imperial328i]

Update: I had the same left turn signal malfunction come back yesterday. The new bulb I put in was showing the same wear/melting as the original bulb. I bent the contact up in the socket and problem went away. Looks like these DEPO sockets are a weak point. Oh well, just wanted to add to the cumulative experience of the forums.

[Bruceking07]

my depo right turn signal also malfunction. Bend the tabs on the headlight socket and the metal ones inside the headlight but no luck. Tried using the halogen OEM bulb socket and new bulbs and that also didnt work.

[MONSTAR]

I also had the right turn signal malfunction. I tried bending the tabs but it didnt work. I bought a new headlight from USR and it didn't fix the problem either. I plugged the driver's side harness into the passenger side's headlight and the turn signal worked just fine (even on the old headlight, also).

I think my malfunction is somewhere in the wiring but I am definitely not skilled enough to fix that. (Edit to add: I dont have much of my fender liners left after going to bigger wheels/tires and my tires rubbed a little bit of the wiring harness for the DRIVER'S side headlight but not the passenger side (where the malfunction is) which is what leads me to believe its in the wiring).

I ended up coding off the corner lights so that both sides look even when the lights are on. I can deal with no front right turn signal for another year or two until I get a new car.

[Billfitz]

The melting of the bulb end indicates poor contact with the socket, which indicates a cheap socket. It might be worthwhile to consider replacing the socket with better quality.

[Imperial328i]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

The melting of the bulb end indicates poor contact with the socket, which indicates a cheap socket. It might be worthwhile to consider replacing the socket with better quality.

Yeah I heard somewhere the OEM ones will fit. I've yet to try though.

[Imperial328i]

Originally Posted by MONSTAR

I also had the right turn signal malfunction. I tried bending the tabs but it didnt work. I bought a new headlight from USR and it didn't fix the problem either. I plugged the driver's side harness into the passenger side's headlight and the turn signal worked just fine (even on the old headlight, also).

I think my malfunction is somewhere in the wiring but I am definitely not skilled enough to fix that. (Edit to add: I dont have much of my fender liners left after going to bigger wheels/tires and my tires rubbed a little bit of the wiring harness for the DRIVER'S side headlight but not the passenger side (where the malfunction is) which is what leads me to believe its in the wiring).

I ended up coding off the corner lights so that both sides look even when the lights are on. I can deal with no front right turn signal for another year or two until I get a new car.

If you're near San Diego I can help with that. I'm an aircraft electrician.

[jodyc256]

As several of you, I was also experiencing a turn signal malfunction, for both the left and right front turn signals. I also encountered a lighting system failure error that occurred almost at once. Never had an issue with this until about a week after I added a 400W powered JL enclosed subwoofer in my trunk. Am guessing that I actually vibrated my front turn signal sockets loose, as the error messages and the rapid blinking/inability to turn on my high beams and or fog lights, became frequent directly after a particularly load elongated the listening session. Attempted the fix of bending the contacts out on the bulbs and fixture per instruction's of Kies M.S.'s video.. However, unfortunately this was only a temporary fix and helped for approx a day. After that, the error messages became near constant. I inquired to @JD320iRVA, if his solution of replacing the depot turn signal bulbs/sockets with the turn signal bulbs/sockets from the factory headlights (simple plug-n-play) worked out for him. Suffice to say, it had, and after ~1 month of headaches, doing this cleared up both my left & right turn signal malfunctions, as well as the lighting system failure messages. Hopefully this fix can be of some assistance to anyone in a similar situation.
Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread as it has saved me a lot of time and frustration, JC