[C5 X7] Front lighter pinout at loom (3-pin connector)?

[the-termin8r]

Hi everyone,

The orange ring-light on my front lighter doesn't seem to be working (bulb is fine) and I want to see whether some part of the socket has failed (main lighter socket works just fine) or if the issue is buried somewhere in the car. Does anyone know what the pinout of the 3-pin connector on the loom is? Obviously one will be 12V and the other is GND, but what can I expect to measure on the last pin, is it a second GND or another Vcc? Additionally, what operating conditions does the light turn on under? Is it igntion on? Engine on? Engine + lights? Engine + lights + dark enough for ambient lights to turn on? Or something else?

This isn't a big issue, I don't smoke and hardly use the socket, but it's driving my OCD up the wall. Thanks for any help.

[GiveMeABreak]

Pin 3 is the Earth
Pin 1 is the BSI Control / Light
Pin 2 is the Power from the BSI Fuse F9 Accessories

[Paul-R]

The wiring diagram is showed here. Item 8100.

viewtopic.php?p=759045#p759045

[the-termin8r]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Do you know what voltage I should be reading on pin 1? I'm used to working with regular circuit schems as opposed to automotive ones, so I'm probably misunderstanding, but why is pin 3 rated at 3V when it's GND? Likewise, shouldn't pin 2 be 12V not 16?

[Paul-R]

3V NR means it's a black 3 pin plug.
16V NR at the other end of the two wires means it's a 16 pin black plug.

I don't know for sure but I imagine pin 1 is at 12v so that the lamp in the lighter socket is illuminated.

[the-termin8r]

Just an update for those who stumble on this in the future.

Got it working, I think the issue in my case was an iffy LED socket / contacts. The voltages for the pins were ~14VDC for the thick red, 0V for GND obviously, and ~12VDC for the remaining pin (purple-ish thinner wire if I recall). The thick cables are for the lighter as they need to carry the higher current. The thinner one is for the LED.

A couple of things to note though. First is that for some reason I had to have the lighter socket plugged into the cable (without the lighter itself plugged into the socket) to get a voltage reading. I suspect my probe tips were just too big to get into the connector on the loom. Secondly, the LED only comes on when the headlights are on. So you need to turn on your side lights or dipped beam, it won't work with just DRLs. I can't confirm this as I was testing in broad daylight, but it might work with the lights in auto in the dark as well.