[TSpence]

I have Xenon HIDs - 2006 330i. The driver’s side is very dim - esp on rainy nights - almost like there is no headlight at all. I’ve attached a photo of the headlight pattern. The driver’s side does seem dimmer and a bit higher. Is this normal? FYI - I tried adjusting the beam up and down but the adjustment screw seems to be stripped. I’ve also attached 2 photos of the pattern that the lights make on the inside of the lens dome. The driver’s side is just a small point while the passenger side spreads out wider. Is this an issue? Thanks all.

[nsjames]

ever replaced the bulbs?

they do dim over time.

[TSpence]

Yes; I have had the car for approx 2.5 years and have replaced a couple of times. I am wondering if that is the issue - old bulb that has dimmed.

[nsjames]

I would suspect that, or it has somehow come out of the projector so it's not being focused properly.

or your active headlight linkage is broken.

[Clammy]

Originally Posted by TSpence

Yes; I have had the car for approx 2.5 years and have replaced a couple of times. I am wondering if that is the issue - old bulb that has dimmed.

You've replaced the HID bulbs a couple of times in 2.5 years??? They should last at least 5 - 8 years before noticeably dimming dim, and when they do dim, you won't really notice it, all of a sudden, because it's a very gradual process. When you do change a dim one out, THEN you notice the difference.

But, if you've had to change the HID bulbs out that frequently, you have something else going on. Unfortunately, I have no idea what might cause that.

Best of luck.

Cheers!

[e90yyc]

First things first, something is very off with the cutoff on the D/S headlight. It should look like your passenger side beam: fairly flat on either side with a step up in the middle. It almost looks like a halogen light cutoff... (Please correct me if I’m wrong on this. I’ve never seen a xenon cutoff like this before.) Did you replace the bulbs because of the light output issue, or were they actually failing on you?

Your projector lens is likely hazy on the inside (and probably the outside). I’m referring to the lens itself inside the headlight housing. I had this same issue and that was the cause. As for the root of the problem, it could be a few things... I’ve heard that burnt wire insulation or a bulb breaking inside the headlight could cause hazing on the lens, but I don’t think either of those are common occurrences.

In my case I suspect it was due to the rear dust cover being only partially secured for what I imagine was many years (previous owner). Others might have a better idea of what caused this. I’m not positive.

Trying to fix it was a major thorn in my balls... Even after going at it for some time it’s still not perfect. I had to remove the xenon bulb and snake a tool in there with the tip wrapped in a soft lint-free pad. I think I used a coat hanger. It had to be flexible but also rigid enough to allow me to apply pressure and clean off the residue. It was easier to clean the inside of the lens; I’m pretty sure I gave up on trying to get the front side clean. You have to be very careful not to damage the high-beam shutter too.

Hope this helps.

[TSpence]

nsjames - I'll check the seating of the bulb thanks. By active headlight linkage do you mean adaptive headlight? My car does not have that - thanks.

Clammy - I've had to change both bulbs at least once - not sure why they don't last.

e90yyc - yes it's a xenon and I replaced because it failed completely - not because of dimming. Thanks for the info - I think I'll try replacing and see what happens. BTW, both lens covers are slightly foggy and both to the same extent. So that would not account for one being dimmer than the other. Appreciate the info.

[type-dRew]

Originally Posted by TSpence

nsjames - I'll check the seating of the bulb thanks. By active headlight linkage do you mean adaptive headlight? My car does not have that - thanks.

Clammy - I've had to change both bulbs at least once - not sure why they don't last.

e90yyc - yes it's a xenon and I replaced because it failed completely - not because of dimming. Thanks for the info - I think I'll try replacing and see what happens. BTW, both lens covers are slightly foggy and both to the same extent. So that would not account for one being dimmer than the other. Appreciate the info.

What are you replacing them with?

They are like $250 for a set of bulbs and it sounds like thats a drop in the bucket for you. If I had put $500 worth of bulbs in my headlights in 2 years id lose my shit

If you replaced the bulbs recently, they arent dim from that, its something else

These are known to fog over inside the projector lens, you need to clean it as well as polish the headlight housing itself

That said, you may have other issues as well, but keep us posted

[e90yyc]

Originally Posted by TSpence

nsjames - I'll check the seating of the bulb thanks. By active headlight linkage do you mean adaptive headlight? My car does not have that - thanks.

Clammy - I've had to change both bulbs at least once - not sure why they don't last.

e90yyc - yes it's a xenon and I replaced because it failed completely - not because of dimming. Thanks for the info - I think I'll try replacing and see what happens. BTW, both lens covers are slightly foggy and both to the same extent. So that would not account for one being dimmer than the other. Appreciate the info.

Thanks for the additional info! Sounds like something else is wrong...

When you say lens covers, are you referring to the exterior of the headlight? I ask because I’m referring to the glass lens itself, so I wanted to double check.

[TSpence]

type-dRew - I think I have replaced 2 or 3 single at a time - $99 each. Thanks.

e90yyc - Yes - I mean the glass lens itself. Definitely a bit foggy.

[e90yyc]

Originally Posted by TSpence

type-dRew - I think I have replaced 2 or 3 single at a time - $99 each. Thanks.

e90yyc - Yes - I mean the glass lens itself. Definitely a bit foggy.

Thanks for clarifying.

If they’re both hazy to about the same degree, then your issue definitely lies elsewhere. I’m still confused by the cutoff for your D/S beam... It’s definitely possible that something is out of alignment or has been damaged inside the projector. The strange cutoff would support this, but I don’t know for sure.

I’d swap bulbs etc and start troubleshooting the basics. Inspect inside projectors and ensure both ballasts are working correctly.

Good luck!

[TSpence]

"Inspect inside projectors and ensure both ballasts are working correctly."

Could you elaborate a bit on these steps please? I have not done either of these - thank you.

[e90yyc]

Originally Posted by TSpence

"Inspect inside projectors and ensure both ballasts are working correctly."

Could you elaborate a bit on these steps please? I have not done either of these - thank you.

For sure, I'll do my best. This is really just a starting point too. It looks like something may be physically wrong with the cutoff shield in your projector.

What I would do is remove the wheel and wheel well liner on both sides. Use good practices like jackstands, level ground, etc... Having changed your bulbs before I'm sure you're familiar! I'd then remove the rear covers on both headlights and visually inspect everything to look for anything unusual. Assuming nothing sticks out, I'd then swap the passenger- and driver-side bulbs to confirm that the issue is not the bulb itself. I highly doubt it is, but you'll want to check.

Once you've done that, I'd remove the bulb on your D/S and try to look into the projector through the hole. Use the P/S as reference if you're not familiar with how things should look. Does the cutoff shield/shutter look okay? Was the bulb you removed correctly seated?

You'll also want to see just how bad the hazing on the lens is. Compare it to the P/S. I say this just because if it's substantially worse on the one side, that could absolutely impact the light output.

At this point you should have an idea of whether the bulb itself is okay and whether there is anything physically wrong with the projector. I assume you have adaptive lights, so check linkages and make sure nothing is broken or out of place. I don't have AHL so there may be other tests you should perform that I'm not aware of.

It's possible there is an issue with your ballast, but I kind of doubt it. Unfortunately I have never tested a ballast so I don't have any specific advice to offer here. There are probably threads on this subject though. Swapping the two out with each other should confirm if there's an issue, but I'm sure it's an awful lot of work. There's probably a better way.

Hope this is making sense. I'm not sure what your level of knowledge or comfort with these things are, so apologies if I've either gone overboard or omitted things. I'm pretty sure there is a physical issue with your D/S projector, so I'd be focusing on that before anything else.

Good luck man

[TSpence]

e90yyc - thanks for the info. I've never removed the wheels and well liners to do the bulbs so I'll give that a try - thanks.

[Captain Buumer]

I've had aftermarket HID bulbs that burn out reflecting material in projectors.

Cheaper ones don't have UV coating and gradually make the reflective chrome like material converted into black crisp.

Cheaper bulbs were about 30$ each. Never again i cheap out on those things!!!

Only genuine Osram/Philips definitely have UV coating. They last at least 10 years.

From the images it looks like left side headlight is not producing proper spotlight. It's all evenly spread out.

The plastic lens have haze and absorb some light but the difference is extreme.

I suspect left side bulb is not correctly seated. Probably during installation the notch (i think it was at 12 o'clock position) was not aligned and now the bulb is facing about 10 degrees down from the correct horizontal position resulting much weaker output with no spotlight.

If ballast is bad then it shouldn't output 35Kv and won't energize bulb enough for them to produce plasma which emits light.

Here's image how burnt out reflector bowl looks like:
LINK

[MightyMouseTech]

Look at the aiming on left headlight, it is way off compared to the right. Either the aiming is way off, the bulb is improperly installed, or the up/down motor is no longer connected in the headlight. When you start the car with the headlights in "auto", does it do it's proper up/down sweep?

[TSpence]

Captain Buumer - good info thanks. Appreciate the tip on aftermarket bulbs - was not aware.

[TSpence]

MightyMouseTech - I'll check - thanks. By "up/down sweep" - mine are not the adaptive lights - so would this still apply?

[e90yyc]

Originally Posted by TSpence

MightyMouseTech - I'll check - thanks. By "up/down sweep" - mine are not the adaptive lights - so would this still apply?

Yes. All E90 HID headlights have auto-leveling (up/down aka pitch). AHL (Adaptive HeadLights) was an option, and means your lights swivel left or right (yaw) when cornering. I thought all 2006's had AHL but I see I'm mistaken.

Make sure your light switch is set to Auto or On and then turn on/start your car. You should see the lights dip down and then rise back up. The sound of the motors is similar to an inkjet printer.

I'm glad to see I'm not alone in wondering WTH is going on with the aim on your right light. To me, it looks like it's not only off vertically, but there's also something seriously funky going on with the cutoff. See how it juts up diagonally to the right? That's not normal.

[TSpence]

The up/down sweep seems to be working. I’ll take apart and see what’s going on - thanks.