I would really appreciate any help or advice!

I just bought a 2003 Mini Cooper S in February and I found that the brake light on the right side doesn't shine. But the same light shines bright when I turn on the headlights. The element will just barely get enough power to make it glow, not shine when I brake. I tried replacing the bulb thinking the element for it had burnt out, but same senario. Just to make sure, I put the bulb from the left side that is working properly, into the right side and still, same senario. The third brake light up top also doesn't work and from what I've read, sounds like a major pain to replace with the spoiler right there.

Unfortunately, since I just bought the car, I don't have a repair manual and no where in town has one in stock. Is the Haynes manual a good one? Since I found one for $25, versus $88 for the Bentley one. Or is it worth the money for the Bentley?

Or is the problem way out of my hands? Should I just take the car in? I live nearly 300 miles from the nearest Mini dealer, so should I trust a local repair shop?

It's really sad to finally have the car of my dreams and have it just sit in the driveway.

Thank you so much!

 

You'll need to check if theres proper voltage to the brake light . It could be theres a bad ground or a damaged wire/socket.

I didn't like the haynes it was very "generic" without allot of info

I prefer the bentley