I am trying to replace the brake light switch on my car but are unable to actually get the switch removed.

I have removed the panel under the steering wheel, also removed the air vent tube that blocks the switch from view.

I can see the brake light switch, but my understanding is that you are meant to rotate the switch anti clockwise by 90 degrees or so, however when i try to turn the switch it just doesnt budge at all.

I have tried rotating both ways but it does not seem to move in either direction.

Also unable to remove the cable from the switch. I was expecting a to push in a pair of ears on either side to remove the cable, but cannot see anthing particular that would cause the wiring harness to be removed.

The replacment part i have bought is "4f0945459b".

Any help on how to actually remove this and any fitting instructions would be greatly appreciated, especially with regards to what the purple part of the brake switch is for, it seems to rotate and lock into a position.

 

The reason i am trying to replace the switch in the first place, is because there seems to be a slight delay (2-3 second) for the clutch to sometimes engage when setting off. It happens when you are at a standstill, as you lightly press the accelarator, the engine revs increase but the clutch does not seem to fully engage, there is a slight delay of around 3 seconds, and when it does eventually engage the car jerks especially if the revs become too high as you wait. I ready a previous post that it could be due to a faulty brake light switch that is causing the transmission to think that the brake is still depressed and therefore not engage the clutch. This is therefore the reason why i am trying to replace the switch to see if it does the trick or not.

 

Attaching image of the brake light switch.

17 minutes ago, Ketan said:

Attaching image of the brake light switch.

Hi never changed one myself but looking at it have you tried pulling the two purple tags out, its just the have a couple of things like this on the car in the engine bay and they pull out to release before you can rotate the unit.

Steve.

Thanks Steve.

The purple tags do not pull out, they actually rotate round. My assumption is that once the new part has been fitted, whilst the brake pedal is in its resting position, i need to rotate the purple tags to lock some sort of internal mechansim in place. I assume its some sort of calibration to determine where the plunger sits whilst the brake pedal is at rest.

Either way, i did try to rotate the purple dial and tried removing also, but no luck with that approach either.

I have tried to give this some welly and rotate it anti clockwise but it just does not want to budge. Bit scared that i end up breaking something in the process. I have also tried to de-press the brake pedal and then also rotate, but no luck with that either.

19 minutes ago, Ketan said:

Thanks Steve.

The purple tags do not pull out, they actually rotate round. My assumption is that once the new part has been fitted, whilst the brake pedal is in its resting position, i need to rotate the purple tags to lock some sort of internal mechansim in place. I assume its some sort of calibration to determine where the plunger sits whilst the brake pedal is at rest.

Either way, i did try to rotate the purple dial and tried removing also, but no luck with that approach either.

I have tried to give this some welly and rotate it anti clockwise but it just does not want to budge. Bit scared that i end up breaking something in the process. I have also tried to de-press the brake pedal and then also rotate, but no luck with that either.

Hi interesting, I can see where its going with the rotation of the purple bit as you say thats probably the adjustment for contact with the pedal, only other thing I can suggest is removing the clip on the left side which is holding the wiring and see if the whole unit moves down.

Steve.

Hello from US. I am having the same issue. Were you ever able to figure this out?  For the life of me I can’t seem to get this to budge and do not want to break it. 

Welcome Chris,

Ketan hasn’t been on here since June 2024. It’s probably best to try sending him a PM.

Please let us know how you get on. 
Regards,

Gareth. 

TY

Hi Chris,
No i didnt manage to get this off.
In the end i had asked the service garage to replace it for me whilst it was already in for a service.

However, this did not fix my oroginal issue with the Car jerking at takeoff.

Hope it works out for you.

I only did this on a BMW E36 and in the end had to cut the old switch off with some side cutters until I was able to remove the entire switch. 

I wound up breaking the switch off and replacing it with an OEM piece. In the end after replacing the master, booster, and bleeding the lines three times I was still unable to get a hard pedal. It is in the local shop as we speak. Hoping wiser minds can figure it out. I will post upon diagnosis..