There is another way to do it.

You will need flexible fingers though, but it's entirely possible to swap out the 3rd brake light from the trunk only.

When i replaced mine, i did it from the trunk. Didn't take long to do, but i needed a creative mix of tools and hand positions ot do so.

 

What creative mix of tools did you come up with? I am planning on doing this in a few weekends.

 

I can't really remember as this was 2+ years ago.

If i recall, short stubby screwdrivers with magnetic tips?


Getting it out was easy, putting it back in and lining the screws up was the tough part

 

honestly, I bought an $11 led strip from autozone, drilled a 3/8" hole from the trunk to right under the 3rd light, pulled out the old one, put in the new one and was done in 20 minutes.

much easier than i thought.

 

Just a quick note if you are using this post to remove 2008 and later M series rear seats. The bracket posts that secure the top of the seats are a bit tricky when removing and installing the seat back. The best way is to stand outside the car on one side, and tilt the seat almost horizontally and catch the bracket lip. Then do the same on the other side from outside the car. Once you have the bracket lip caught on both sides, you need some leverage or weight to "seat" the brackets by pushing down on the top of the seat back.

I'm sorry, I had to do this by myself and was unable to take and supporting photos.