Help! 420 auto gear change indicating lamp.

[BookerME]

Hiya, on my 420 auto, the lamp that illuminates which position the gear lever is in isn’t working. I noticed this while driving at night.

I removed the covers around the gear lever to get inside thinking it was probably a blown bulb, or that it had become loose.
When I got the covers off I found there’s THREE small bulbs behind the lever!

Has anyone got any idea what the 3 different bulbs are for please?
I’ve trawled through the workshop manual and the parts catalogue and can’t find any details.
I've also looked through the wiring diagram and can't see anything obvious.
Pictures below.

There's 6 positions the lever can actually be in L, D1, D2, N, R or P, so are the 3 bulbs to indicate a particular engaged function?
This does seem a bit OTT to me when all that was needed was to illuminate the actual position of the indicator on the lever but perhaps I'm missing something?

BTW, I tested all 3 bulbs with a multi-meter and they all appear to be functional, so I’m guessing the problem is something else.
Any help, advice or info will be much appreciated.

Cheers, Mac.

[340jag]

The 2 outside bulbs are directional indicators , the arrow will light up to indicate left or right , only the middle one is the gearbox position indicator !
Looking at your picture the middle one looks very black , that normally indicates it has blown !

[BookerME]

Ah, of course, the indicators! I'm so stupid sometimes, I'd forgotten they were there there!

Thanks.

Mac

[340jag]

" I'd forgotten they were there " , normally that's BMW drivers

[BookerME]

Sorted! - once I worked out which ‘direction’ I was going!

Some info that may or may not be of interest if you have to go down this route:-

1. You only need to remove the 2 bolts nearest the steering wheel to gain access, as the top cover will come off exposing the lamps.
The other 3 shorter bolts hold the complete unit to the steering column.
2. The bulb is a standard fitting available from Halfords, or in my case, eBay.
I used a Lucas 12v 2w BA7S LLB281. It has slot bayonet fittings rather than pins.
3. The light requires the ignition to be on to illuminate and is independent of the lighting switch.

Cheers, Mac.