BMW: how to replace brake light switch?

I just spend some frustrating time getting hot and cut up trying to
replace that friggin' brake light switch on my 97 M3. Is there a
trick to it? Couldn't figure out how to get those tabs pushed in.

I know this is a common problem/question. I googled and found lots of
suggestions to replace the switch but couldn't figure out the magic
keywords to tell me how to do it ...

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Michael Bain

Thanks, guys, for the suggestions. I'm not used to fixing vehicles by
breaking things off; the bracket did bend, but I got it back close to
original. Should be ok. There must be a better way but at least it
now works!
 

Tim> Make sure you slide the red collar out (towards the pedal) first,
Tim> otherwise you'll never get those tabs pushed in. Also, be careful
Tim> that you don't bend the hell out of the bracket while pulling on
Tim> that thing. Channel locks seem to work best for me...
 


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Michael Bain