Public Service Announcement: License Plate Light Bulbs

When I was detailing the car, I pulled the complete license plate assembly off the hatch.  To my surprise I found that both of the license plate bulb assemblies had cracked on both sides of the bulb.  The plastic looked like it had been heat cycled and cooked.

I pulled the assemblies off the S54 and found no cracks, but they were starting to brown a little in the same locations.

The stock bulbs are 5 watt type 194s.  I fixed the cracks with epoxy and I am replacing the bulbs with lower-wattage 3.35 watt 194s I found on Amazon.  The other route to go here would be replace the bulbs with LED, either complete assemblies from BMW or with LED bulbs.  They certainly will generate less heat.  But, I like to keep the car period-correct so I am using incandescent.  As always, feel free to do it your way.

Type 194 bulbs, 3.35 watts each, 10 pack $9.99r

Total price of this mod = $2.00r
Total investment in vehicle to date = $694.29

Cracked.

Cracked.

Fixed with epoxy and 3.3 watt 194 bulbs?  Let's hope so.

S54 at about 30k miles showing early signs of burns