Two problems related to brake light on have been reported for the 2008 BMW X5. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The rear brake lights mounted in the tailgate failed. This is due to a known fault on the e70 model, where the poor quality sealant and method used to prevent the ingress of water into the lamp housing fails. This leads to corrosion of the connector housings and the failure of the unit which must be replaced in its entirity at great cost. As BMW are aware of this happening (indeed they issued a service bulletin admitting same ) si b 63 11 10 and the item is a safety component, I feel the cars should be recalled and the work undertaken at the cost of BMW and not the unfortunate owners. They should at the very least, replace the seals with the updated item (a neoprene gasket rather than something resembling bathroom caulk) at the next sheduled service before the driver finds themselves with two failed brake light units?.
My brake lights were out. BMW has indicated that both sockets have melted to the point that they can't remove anything without breaking things. I did some research online and found that people have had this same thing and fires have started. Worth investigating!.