[AWDBooSTIn90]

A little information about the problem I’m having…

I have a pre-lci e92 with halogen angel eyes, so I wanted to upgrade the look so I bought a new 40w angel eye kit from HPB. Got the kit and install it no problem. Go to test them and now all of a sudden my DS xenon light is out and I have an adaptive headlight error coming up in the dashboard.

So initially I thought it was coding problem, I have a 2007 e92 (09/2006 build), which I heard are very sensitive to lighting modifications and throwing error codes. So I coded out all hot and cold bulb checks for the front turn signals, angel eyes, adaptive headlights, and I think the headlights themselves also.

I go to test it, no change. I’m going through the errors that I have on the dashboard and now I also have an error for a rear brake light bulb. I go to check it and sure enough its out now too. Very weird loll.. so I change that and that’s all good.

So after searching the forum I find out that condensation in the headlight creates all sorts of problems. I’ve been having some condensation buildup inside the DS headlight, the same light with the xenon out, for about a week now.

I’m trying to figure out what would most likely be the problem. BTW i did swap the stock H8 halogen bulb back into the DS headlight thats having the problem and no change. Is it possible that it just so happened that the xenon bulb is blown now at the same time and maybe opening the headlight cover caused it to go? Its just odd that everything was fine until i did the swap.. Will a blown xenon light cause an adaptive headlight error? Or is that an additional problem I will have to deal with?

Also as far as coding.. how to make the angel eyes not dim when the headlights are turned on? Also I’ve read that it’s possible to increase the voltage going to the angel eyes to make them even brighter, is that true? I would think that they could handle a constant 12volts instead of the 9.5volts I’ve read is what full brightness is stock…

If I do have to get new xenon bulbs should I go with OEM? Upgrade?

How do I go about removing the headlight and re-sealing? Is there a DIY for either?

[E92-Lighting]

Originally Posted by AWDBooSTIn90

A little information about the problem I’m having…

I have a pre-lci e92 with halogen angel eyes, so I wanted to upgrade the look so I bought a new 40w angel eye kit from HPB. Got the kit and install it no problem. Go to test them and now all of a sudden my DS xenon light is out and I have an adaptive headlight error coming up in the dashboard.

So initially I thought it was coding problem, I have a 2007 e92 (09/2006 build), which I heard are very sensitive to lighting modifications and throwing error codes. So I coded out all hot and cold bulb checks for the front turn signals, angel eyes, adaptive headlights, and I think the headlights themselves also.

I go to test it, no change. I’m going through the errors that I have on the dashboard and now I also have an error for a rear brake light bulb. I go to check it and sure enough its out now too. Very weird loll.. so I change that and that’s all good.

So after searching the forum I find out that condensation in the headlight creates all sorts of problems. I’ve been having some condensation buildup inside the DS headlight, the same light with the xenon out, for about a week now.

I’m trying to figure out what would most likely be the problem. BTW i did swap the stock H8 halogen bulb back into the DS headlight thats having the problem and no change. Is it possible that it just so happened that the xenon bulb is blown now at the same time and maybe opening the headlight cover caused it to go? Its just odd that everything was fine until i did the swap.. Will a blown xenon light cause an adaptive headlight error? Or is that an additional problem I will have to deal with?

Also as far as coding.. how to make the angel eyes not dim when the headlights are turned on? Also I’ve read that it’s possible to increase the voltage going to the angel eyes to make them even brighter, is that true? I would think that they could handle a constant 12volts instead of the 9.5volts I’ve read is what full brightness is stock…

If I do have to get new xenon bulbs should I go with OEM? Upgrade?

How do I go about removing the headlight and re-sealing? Is there a DIY for either?

we can glady fix any and all angel eye related issues

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

It's not an angel eye issue, it's purely coincidental and based on the condensation remarks; that is likely the culprit of the headlight failure.

There may be a diy on opening headlight but the jist of the diy is putting the headlight in an oven on low temp and peeling the headlight in 2 and resealing. I'm not being specific in detail for a reason as I don't want any responsibility should you have future problems. Therefore free bump for you.

[rollinstone157]

(Crap my response got erased, let's try that again).

This is a case of confirmation bias and correlation not equaling causation. I take it you've had none of your bulbs replaced? If that's the case, almost 8 years of life on a HID bulb is actually pretty extraordinary. Their rated life is around 2,000 hours of use. And as for your incandescents, it's even less than that. So really, I'm not super shocked that your bulbs are starting to go out on you.

So it's time for some new bulbs--always upgrade your HID (hereon out referred to by their base name, D1S) bulbs in pairs, since they color shift and dim with age. That was best practice with Halogens as well, but the consequence is more noticeable/annoying with HID's.

I'd stick to OEM bulbs, just for the sake of safety. People have ruined ballasts with aftermarket bulbs, and there's no OEM bulb that costs more than aftermarket bulbs + ballast replacement + OEM bulbs + the inconvenience of blowing a ballast.

The Mac Daddy of D1S bulbs, the best and brightest available.
The More Budget-Conscious Option (note: sold individually, see sidebar to purchase from Amazon.com for guaranteed authentic product)

If you have the money, go for the Osram CBI's. They're truly a pure white color, and that is achieved through a modified salt mix rather than tinting the glass blue. After 10 hours of burn in time, they really start to shine. A noticeable difference from the Philips 4300K bulbs.

In regards to coding, I think you need...
(I think it's in FRM, I'm not sitting in my car and it's been a while since I've gone coding so bear w/ me here...)

PWM_RL_BL_1_FKT_SL
Change value to wert_01



OH and in regards to pulling apart and resealing the headlights...don't do that until you've eliminated the other (more likely) culprits--which to be honest is just age.

[B]EDIT: I misread your post, so I was under the impression that you had only heard of condensation causing headlight problems. After re-reading, it's clear that you're also experiencing some issues with condensation. That changes things.[\B]

You're then correct in hypothesizing that water could have damaged the xenon control unit or the ballast. Before going in to what you could possibly do to test that theory and/or fix it, we should examine the root cause of the problem. I'll move from least expensive to most expensive

Dried out, cracked, or missing headlight cover gaskets could be allowing water to get in. If the gasket or cover is missing, that will need to be replaced. Here is a list of OEM part names and numbers.



The parts you should be checking for integrity are part #'s 4 and 5. Part number 5 is the bixenon bulb cover, it seems to be sold as a pair. Part 4 is the cornering bulb cover, and that seems to be sold individually (LINKS likely being the left side and RECHTS likely the right).

If those covers are missing, then add that to your shopping cart. If they're present, are they screwed down? They shouldn't be screwed down so tightly that you feel like you're going to wreck the screwdriver--just a firm hand-tightness will suffice. How do the gaskets feel? Are they cracked or missing? If so, then you should replace the covers (they include the gaskets). If they feel stiff, but are not physically damaged, try Nyoge 760Gl, it's a high-performance silica-enhanced hydrocarbon-based lubricant used in the flashlight community to keep O-Rings supple and threads smooth. Take a little and massage it in to the O-Rings, it will keep the rubber flexible, and help give a better seal. Note that this grease is used in the automotive industry by Ford, GM, and the former DaimlerChrysler group.

Also take special note of part #3, it's on the bottom of the headlight. That's the control unit. It's responsible for providing the adaptive functions to the headlight--the ballast (Part #1) is just the hardware required to light and run the xenon bulb. Visually inspect it. Does it look obviously water damaged? It is at a fair amount of risk because it's at the bottom of the headlight, and gravity is going to want to pull any water down to the control unit. Replace if damaged. If not, continue on.

Anyway, moving on--how to diagnose the problem.

There are only two points of failure remaining--the xenon control unit and the ballast. Let's start with the Xenon Control Unit.

If you swap the xenon control units between headlights, and the error switches sides (i.e. if before it was left adaptive malfunction and it suddenly becomes right adaptive malfunction), it's clear that the part is bad, and should be replaced. Again, that's part #3 on the diagram, part number 63117182396.

Now let's suppose the error doesn't switch sides when that happens--that would imply that the error didn't originate from the xenon control unit, and it's instead coming from the ballast. But it's always best to be doubly sure. To test that, connect your good bulb from the good headlight to the "dead bulb" headlight with the bad ballast. If it doesn't light up, you've isolated your problem! Go ahead and replace the ballast. Part #1 on the diagram, part number 63117182520.

I hope that description wasn't too confusing...I'll make up a little diagram and throw it on imgur. In said diagram, you should interpret all parts in red from the headlight w/ the dead bulb and all in green from the headlight that is currently working fine.

[AWDBooSTIn90]

Thank you everyone for the help, especially rollingstone!! Your post really helped me out yesterday.

So yesterday i had a chance to take everything apart on my DS headlight. So i do have some water in the headlight, condensation mostly. But im having a hard time figuring out where its coming from. I took my wheel off, splash gaurd and got to the back of the headlight.

I took of the back bulb cover, inspected gasket. Looks perfect. I took off the top cover again, under the hood, clips and gaskets looked perfect.

So then i got to the ballast underneath. I take it off and i see where the problems start! Visual signs of water and rust coming out of the ballast. So it would seem like thats most likely whats causing my problems. I have to go back into it later and try and find the adaptive headlight controller becuase i didnt see that yesterday. I originally thought the ballast WAS the AHL control unit when i removed it, but i saw the xenon bulb lead connected to it so i wasnt sure.

Now i have a problem. The headlight in the back is completely sealed off from water and i dont think thats where the waters coming in. I noticed the problem after washing the car and that was me spraying the hose near the hood and kidney grills.. I bought some black silicone and im going to try and run a bead across the top of the headlight to see if i can eliminate the water problem without having to remove the headlights..

The bumper needs to be removed on the E92's to remove the headlights?

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by AWDBooSTIn90

Thank you everyone for the help, especially rollingstone!! Your post really helped me out yesterday.

So yesterday i had a chance to take everything apart on my DS headlight. So i do have some water in the headlight, condensation mostly. But im having a hard time figuring out where its coming from. I took my wheel off, splash gaurd and got to the back of the headlight.

I took of the back bulb cover, inspected gasket. Looks perfect. I took off the top cover again, under the hood, clips and gaskets looked perfect.

So then i got to the ballast underneath. I take it off and i see where the problems start! Visual signs of water and rust coming out of the ballast. So it would seem like thats most likely whats causing my problems. I have to go back into it later and try and find the adaptive headlight controller becuase i didnt see that yesterday. I originally thought the ballast WAS the AHL control unit when i removed it, but i saw the xenon bulb lead connected to it so i wasnt sure.

Now i have a problem. The headlight in the back is completely sealed off from water and i dont think thats where the waters coming in. I noticed the problem after washing the car and that was me spraying the hose near the hood and kidney grills.. I bought some black silicone and im going to try and run a bead across the top of the headlight to see if i can eliminate the water problem without having to remove the headlights..

The bumper needs to be removed on the E92's to remove the headlights?

Yes the bumper will need to be removed.

[AWDBooSTIn90]

So i went to go remove the adaptive headlight controller after i found it and idk if i can get it off with the headlight in the car...

And i was really hoping that the bumper didnt have to come off!

[rollinstone157]

Originally Posted by AWDBooSTIn90

I take it off and i see where the problems start! Visual signs of water and rust coming out of the ballast. So it would seem like thats most likely whats causing my problems.

Yeah, so it would seem

I'd remove the entire headlight and do a nice visual inspection. Clearly the ballast needs to be replaced, but it's possible that the control unit will need to be replaced too.

For the record, the ballast looks something like this and the xenon control unit looks something like this

Removing the bumper is a pain, but it is a necessary evil at this point.

[AWDBooSTIn90]

^LOL... So you mean water and electronics isn't a good thing?

Going to take the bumper off now. I want to make sure everythings ok like you said.

One thing thats worrying me is that now that i look my other headlight projector is pointing up high (passenger side- good light). I noticed it while driving the car the other night and it was way up in the trees. Is it possible that because the Adaptive lights arent working properly that its making it move incorrectly or could it have gotten stuck there?

Im not going to drive the car until i figure it out because between the one bulb out and the other up high i basically have no light besides the fogs!

[AWDBooSTIn90]

Fogged up headlight a few days ago:


Bumper off!



Took me about 30-45 mins to get the bumper off.. But i already had the car jacked up and the DS splash shield out before this. Still its an easy straight-forward process.

Bumper:


I used my Dewalt cordless impact gun. Made it a lot easier!
Tools

[AWDBooSTIn90]

Heres the projector i was talking about earlier. Its pointing up like this all the time. I know for sure i never had this problem in the past and before all this the adaptive headlights worked perfect.

-Bad position:











-How it should look:

[E92-Lighting]

any updates?

[AWDBooSTIn90]

Originally Posted by E92-Lighting

any updates?

Yes. I have the headlight out. I went around the headlight with a thin bead of black silicone sealer. That way if any spots in the original headlight gasket is open, its now sealed.

It came out real good and you cant even tell its there. Its going to be a somewhat temporary fix. I was originally going to open the headlights and reseal them properly, but I'm going to wait.

In the future i will either do an led conversion to the angel eyes or do a lci conversion to get the newer style angel eye look.

Right now I'm just cleaning everything. Cleaning the fender liners. Im going to paint the lower grilles in the bumper. I also want to put in some LED turn signal bulbs.

I have to replace the DS xenon ballast and possibly the adaptive headlight ecu. Both got wet from the headlight condensing and the water running down to the lowest point. This was the cause of my original problem of my xenon bulb going out and the AHL error.

[rollinstone157]

Hmm...that's not so great. Okay, just a test here--on that bad headlight, when you start the car does the projector move down and then back up to that position, or does it not move at all? If it doesn't move, it could definitely be a problem with the adaptive headlight control unit in that headlight. The adjuster screw could simply have come loose while you were fiddling around under the hood, check on that too. Sorry you're having such problems with your lights right now man, that's a huge bummer

Let me know how it goes for you, and if you run in to any problems I'll do the best I can to help you.

[AWDBooSTIn90]

Originally Posted by rollinstone157

Hmm...that's not so great. Okay, just a test here--on that bad headlight, when you start the car does the projector move down and then back up to that position, or does it not move at all? If it doesn't move, it could definitely be a problem with the adaptive headlight control unit in that headlight. The adjuster screw could simply have come loose while you were fiddling around under the hood, check on that too. Sorry you're having such problems with your lights right now man, that's a huge bummer

Let me know how it goes for you, and if you run in to any problems I'll do the best I can to help you.

Thank you for the help so far! Youve really helped me out ALOT.

So that picture is my PS headlight. thats NOT the headlight that is getting water inside. The DS headlight is the one thats getting water inside.

When i go to start the car with the DS head light completely out of the car the PS head light projector does nothing.

My auto light switch is blinking and i get the trouble code for cornering light failure.

I need to plus my DS headlight back in and see what happens.

[simmo1985]

To remove the water in the light try inserting some silicone pouches(the ones you get in box with new shoes etc) into the cover you remove to get to bulbs.

I had fogging of the lights which I think caused one of my angel rings to stop working and i did this and no more fog and ring works again.

Regarding other warnings your getting I can't help.

[AWDBooSTIn90]

Originally Posted by simmo1985

To remove the water in the light try inserting some silicone pouches(the ones you get in box with new shoes etc) into the cover you remove to get to bulbs.

I had fogging of the lights which I think caused one of my angel rings to stop working and i did this and no more fog and ring works again.

Regarding other warnings your getting I can't help.

Good backup plan, thanks. Didn't think of something like that.

That would be great for very light fogging.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Originally Posted by rollinstone157

(Crap my response got erased, let's try that again).

This is a case of confirmation bias and correlation not equaling causation. I take it you've had none of your bulbs replaced? If that's the case, almost 8 years of life on a HID bulb is actually pretty extraordinary. Their rated life is around 2,000 hours of use. And as for your incandescents, it's even less than that. So really, I'm not super shocked that your bulbs are starting to go out on you.

So it's time for some new bulbs--always upgrade your HID (hereon out referred to by their base name, D1S) bulbs in pairs, since they color shift and dim with age. That was best practice with Halogens as well, but the consequence is more noticeable/annoying with HID's.

I'd stick to OEM bulbs, just for the sake of safety. People have ruined ballasts with aftermarket bulbs, and there's no OEM bulb that costs more than aftermarket bulbs + ballast replacement + OEM bulbs + the inconvenience of blowing a ballast.

The Mac Daddy of D1S bulbs, the best and brightest available.
The More Budget-Conscious Option (note: sold individually, see sidebar to purchase from Amazon.com for guaranteed authentic product)

If you have the money, go for the Osram CBI's. They're truly a pure white color, and that is achieved through a modified salt mix rather than tinting the glass blue. After 10 hours of burn in time, they really start to shine. A noticeable difference from the Philips 4300K bulbs.

In regards to coding, I think you need...
(I think it's in FRM, I'm not sitting in my car and it's been a while since I've gone coding so bear w/ me here...)

PWM_RL_BL_1_FKT_SL
Change value to wert_01



OH and in regards to pulling apart and resealing the headlights...don't do that until you've eliminated the other (more likely) culprits--which to be honest is just age.

[B]EDIT: I misread your post, so I was under the impression that you had only heard of condensation causing headlight problems. After re-reading, it's clear that you're also experiencing some issues with condensation. That changes things.[\B]

You're then correct in hypothesizing that water could have damaged the xenon control unit or the ballast. Before going in to what you could possibly do to test that theory and/or fix it, we should examine the root cause of the problem. I'll move from least expensive to most expensive

Dried out, cracked, or missing headlight cover gaskets could be allowing water to get in. If the gasket or cover is missing, that will need to be replaced. Here is a list of OEM part names and numbers.



The parts you should be checking for integrity are part #'s 4 and 5. Part number 5 is the bixenon bulb cover, it seems to be sold as a pair. Part 4 is the cornering bulb cover, and that seems to be sold individually (LINKS likely being the left side and RECHTS likely the right).

If those covers are missing, then add that to your shopping cart. If they're present, are they screwed down? They shouldn't be screwed down so tightly that you feel like you're going to wreck the screwdriver--just a firm hand-tightness will suffice. How do the gaskets feel? Are they cracked or missing? If so, then you should replace the covers (they include the gaskets). If they feel stiff, but are not physically damaged, try Nyoge 760Gl, it's a high-performance silica-enhanced hydrocarbon-based lubricant used in the flashlight community to keep O-Rings supple and threads smooth. Take a little and massage it in to the O-Rings, it will keep the rubber flexible, and help give a better seal. Note that this grease is used in the automotive industry by Ford, GM, and the former DaimlerChrysler group.

Also take special note of part #3, it's on the bottom of the headlight. That's the control unit. It's responsible for providing the adaptive functions to the headlight--the ballast (Part #1) is just the hardware required to light and run the xenon bulb. Visually inspect it. Does it look obviously water damaged? It is at a fair amount of risk because it's at the bottom of the headlight, and gravity is going to want to pull any water down to the control unit. Replace if damaged. If not, continue on.

Anyway, moving on--how to diagnose the problem.

There are only two points of failure remaining--the xenon control unit and the ballast. Let's start with the Xenon Control Unit.

If you swap the xenon control units between headlights, and the error switches sides (i.e. if before it was left adaptive malfunction and it suddenly becomes right adaptive malfunction), it's clear that the part is bad, and should be replaced. Again, that's part #3 on the diagram, part number 63117182396.

Now let's suppose the error doesn't switch sides when that happens--that would imply that the error didn't originate from the xenon control unit, and it's instead coming from the ballast. But it's always best to be doubly sure. To test that, connect your good bulb from the good headlight to the "dead bulb" headlight with the bad ballast. If it doesn't light up, you've isolated your problem! Go ahead and replace the ballast. Part #1 on the diagram, part number 63117182520.

I hope that description wasn't too confusing...I'll make up a little diagram and throw it on imgur. In said diagram, you should interpret all parts in red from the headlight w/ the dead bulb and all in green from the headlight that is currently working fine.

Even better than the Philips Ultinon 6000Ks? Oh man Stone, you're tempting me to swap!

If they're a direct factory replacement, I wonder why the guide mentions "cutting involved." Sounds scary!

I usually have the dealer swap out my xenons, so if you do think they're that much better than the Phillips ultimate 6000k D1S bulbs, I will definitely pull the trigger based on your recommendation!

[simmo1985]

Originally Posted by AWDBooSTIn90

Good backup plan, thanks. Didn't think of something like that.

That would be great for very light fogging.

If theres a lot of moisture take a hairdryer to it, aim it down the inside main bulb holder with bulb out and open other holder to let air leave. Do this for awhile, and also use dryer on front of lights to evaporate water. It takes awhile but should do the trick then stick in a few of the silicone pouches. I did this also to remove water from mine.

Hope this helps.

[AWDBooSTIn90]

Before i took the bumper and head light off i actually did do the hair dryer trick. It came out great!

The next morning it was all wet inside again

So this time with the extra silicone and all the access panels sealed up nicely, I'm hoping it should be perfect. I do want to also add the silicone packets. Can you buy those anywhere? I usually just toss them when i get them.


Interesting note:
My PS head light is an original 2007 bmw headlight. Its perfectly dry

My DS head light is an OEM supplier brand, but no bmw logo on the sticker. Made in 2012! And its leaking already. I believe they're both Lear lighting brand.. It doesnt have the bmw branding on the projector ring.

[AWDBooSTIn90]

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

Even better than the Philips Ultinon 6000Ks? Oh man Stone, you're tempting me to swap!

If they're a direct factory replacement, I wonder why the guide mentions "cutting involved." Sounds scary!

I usually have the dealer swap out my xenons, so if you do think they're that much better than the Phillips ultimate 6000k D1S bulbs, I will definitely pull the trigger based on your recommendation!

Ive been doing a lot of research since he recommended the Osram CBI bulbs. It seems like they're the best bulbs that you can use with stock setup. Once i have the headlights all working good and no condensation inside I'm definitely getting a pair.

One thing I've read also is be very careful of fake bulbs. Theres a guide on determining if they're authentic.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Yea, definitely lots of fakes. I would love to see these side by side with mine! Anyone local to compare with me?