Looking for any tips I can get before having to resort to the dealer.
My wife has a 2011 Mini Cooper S. The dash signaled a brake light was out. I got a bulb and was surprised to see how relatively easy the change would be.
The access to the back of the taillight was easy and the design of the bulb mounts was simple - twist out the plastic socket that holds the bulb (nice no wires attached, no connectors to unclip), replace the bulb, put the socket back, twist and done!
Here's the problem. There are three of these twist-out sockets. The bottom two twist right out easily. The top one however (and naturally the one that I have to replace), will NOT budge. It twists about an eighth of an inch and that's it. It's stuck or something and will not move despite many,many attempts, a fair bit of colorful language, prayer, and frustration.
Help me please!
John

 

These Twist out sockets, do they have rubber seal on them? If so they might be adhering to the plastic on the back of the tail light. Squirt a little WD40 on the offending socket and start twisting it back and forth. No WD try a little vegetable or olive oil That is the only thing I can think of.

 

I am experiencing the EXACT same issue with the top brake light. The middle and bottom housings are easy to turn and pull out. The top just won't budge. What worked for you? Were you able to resolve on your own?
Thanks in advance!

 

Hi.
you will find the problem is,the thin metal around the base of the bulb has to cope with all the heat generated from the bulb,the case it mounts into also is a thin metal and they tend to fuse,easy fix,wd40 with the straw attachment,spray into the small space at the base of the bulb and casing,leave for about 10 minutes.gently wiggle the bulb around and it should then be easy to remove.

 

If I recall correctly, what had happened was the plastic surrounding the bulb was melted. Apparently, they are made out of chocolate. Service Dept. gave me some song and dance about "power surges" or some nonsense. Net result? Had to replace the whole assembly. I think it was somewhere in the $400 - $500 range.

 

Same issue exactly, I am not able to remove the top bulb on the passenger side brake light assembly, and it is the one that needs to be replaced. Funny that I checked all five other bulbs in both brake light assemblies, including the top bulb on the driver's side, and I can remove all of them easily! Will try WD40, otherwise I may need to replace the whole assembly.

 

Had the same issue , easiest way for me was to take out the assembly , remove the outer chrome part and disconnect the cluster from the inside. There are arrows on the bulb holder to line up id say whoever did it has bent the spade or jammed it in. I fixed it in 2 minutes with it out as you need arms like a 7 year old to get in at it

 

my daughter and I just fixed this on her 2009 2-door base model (her pride and joy!). We removed the entire light fixture and I was able to carefully “pop” the melted plastic and push the socket out. We used a craft knife to trim away all the melted plastic from the metal and that was obstructing the socket hole. The socket turned in and out nicely, we put it all back together and it worked great. Fun times.

 

We had to scrape at the melted bit and pryed it up and down to release it. We had to gently use some pliers finallly and then it came out! Below is the picture of the burnt bulb to the right (you can see the scrap’n) and the left is a photo of the middle light which was fine. Good luck!