[samburton2020]

Greetings from Western PA. I recently picked up a 2010 E90 (328i XDrive sedan). I went over it before purchasing and nothing was amiss until I drove it at night. The stock headlight assemblies were replaced by one of the previous owners, and the low beams were pointed about ten feet in front of the car, rendering them useless. There is one brass vertical adjusting screw/bolt (8mm head) on the back, which appeared to be backed out quite far. I turned them in, and the beam moved up, at least while in the garage. Took it out on the road, and they were aimed even more down than before. Never saw anything like that before.

Also:

1. The lows seem dim regardless of aim.

2. After adjusting, the left side blinker is fast even though front, side, and back are
all lighting up and flashing. It was ok before.

3. There appears to be an extra connector and boot/seal just dangling.

4. There is a large light bulb symbol on the dash, intermittent, along with a small
exclamation mark that is on all the time.

5. Is it possible to just replace the assemblies with halogens? The ones that are on
there appear to be some sort of projector.

6. Is there any way to figure out what the original lights were, and is there a
reasonably priced replacement?

I did search for threads with this particular issue but didn't see any.

My electrical skills are good, and I was an ASE tech, but haven't worked as a tech for several years... more like twenty years.

In advance, I very much appreciate your responses

[Serf27]

If the beam aimed lower after adjusting, why not adjust the opposite way?
Not sure what’s up with the fast flashing signal, a friend had those headlights, new, and the corner leds started failing about 4 months later.

I’ve never found aftermarket to be as bright as oem, they’re close but not 100%.

The extra plastic cover should go over the inner bulb access hole of the light. (Inner bulbs are the ones closest to the bumper kidney grills)

The light bulb symbol is an error warning for an exterior light bulb.
To check, when ign/engine is on, use the dial on the turn signal stalk to scroll until the option “check control” appears on the cluster, push the BC button on the stock and with will show some errors.
Long press the BC button to see the error codes.
Error codes can be any of these.

https://www.endtuning.com/ccidcodes.html

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=658265

The small Triangle exclamation symbol will be on as long as there is some type of error. Oddly, a check engine light won’t trigger the light!

You can replace them with whatever, some module coding may be required, depending on what the car was set up for from the factory.

You can find out what headlights came with the car originally by inputting your vin no. Into this.

https://bimmer.work/

If it came with xenons, you can purchase 2009-2011 xenons, but they’re not cheap.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/09-11-BMW-3...-127632-2357-0

You can also purchase 2006-2008 xenons, (they’re bright too) but I can’t remember if coding is required, I’m not a fan of the orange amber corner on them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/06-08-BMW-E...-127632-2357-0

Best headlights for lighting, cost, and design would be the 2009-2011 halogen OEM headlights, fitted with LED bulbs.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mint-OEM-20...-127632-2357-0

You can find any of those cheaper, just a reference to show the design.

[samburton2020]

Originally Posted by Serf27

If the beam aimed lower after adjusting, why not adjust the opposite way?
Not sure what’s up with the fast flashing signal, a friend had those headlights, new, and the corner leds started failing about 4 months later.

I’ve never found aftermarket to be as bright as oem, they’re close but not 100%.

The extra plastic cover should go over the inner bulb access hole of the light. (Inner bulbs are the ones closest to the bumper kidney grills)

The light bulb symbol is an error warning for an exterior light bulb.
To check, when ign/engine is on, use the dial on the turn signal stalk to scroll until the option “check control” appears on the cluster, push the BC button on the stock and with will show some errors.
Long press the BC button to see the error codes.
Error codes can be any of these.

https://www.endtuning.com/ccidcodes.html

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=658265

The small Triangle exclamation symbol will be on as long as there is some type of error. Oddly, a check engine light won’t trigger the light!

You can replace them with whatever, some module coding may be required, depending on what the car was set up for from the factory.

You can find out what headlights came with the car originally by inputting your vin no. Into this.

https://bimmer.work/

If it came with xenons, you can purchase 2009-2011 xenons, but they’re not cheap.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/09-11-BMW-3...-127632-2357-0

You can also purchase 2006-2008 xenons, (they’re bright too) but I can’t remember if coding is required, I’m not a fan of the orange amber corner on them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/06-08-BMW-E...-127632-2357-0

Best headlights for lighting, cost, and design would be the 2009-2011 halogen OEM headlights, fitted with LED bulbs.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mint-OEM-20...-127632-2357-0

You can find any of those cheaper, just a reference to show the design.

Thanks Serf! The screw was backed out so far that it looked and felt like it was ready to fall out. I'll try it before ordering anything.

I figured out the error code last night.

This is what I was looking at: https://www.ebay.com/itm/231770803287

Can you recommend a decent LED H7 for low beam and is it an H7 for high beam as well? Getting mixed results on the bulb search for high beam. Looks like there are many choices for these, some good, some not so much.

The only thing listed for lights on bimmerwork was 563, lights package, and 520, fog lights.

Thanks very much!

[Serf27]

You’re welcome!

563 is halogen, so the lights you linked would work.

Both inner and outter lights on them are H7.

There are so many brands, that I didn’t even know what to buy.
I choose these, cost effective and worked great.
(2 sets for inner and outer)
H7 LED Bulb, CAR ROVER 50W 10000Lumens Extremely Bright 6000K CSP Chips Conversion Kit, Halogen Replacement https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HQBWR5F...ing=UTF8&psc=1

LED lights will trigger warning on the cluster and you’ll get the light bulb symbol.
You can code out those errors with bimmergeeks protools app.

For different color halo rings, you can order something like this if you don’t want the oem yellow.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-E90-E91-...-127632-2357-0

This set up, I used the led bulbs I linked and some eBay angel eye bulbs on oem halogens.

[samburton2020]

Originally Posted by Serf27

You’re welcome!

563 is halogen, so the lights you linked would work.

Both inner and outter lights on them are H7.

There are so many brands, that I didn’t even know what to buy.
I choose these, cost effective and worked great.
(2 sets for inner and outer)
H7 LED Bulb, CAR ROVER 50W 10000Lumens Extremely Bright 6000K CSP Chips Conversion Kit, Halogen Replacement https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HQBWR5F...ing=UTF8&psc=1

LED lights will trigger warning on the cluster and you’ll get the light bulb symbol.
You can code out those errors with bimmergeeks protools app.

For different color halo rings, you can order something like this if you don’t want the oem yellow.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-E90-E91-...-127632-2357-0

This set up, I used the led bulbs I linked and some eBay angel eye bulbs on oem halogens.

Serf! Finally got it all done, two housings and eight bulbs later! Haven't been out at night yet, but they're bright as hell in the garage. The corners may be too bright, I guess I'll find out later. Got the Geeks stuff coming to code out the errors. Just wanted to say thanks for all of your help, I appreciate it! Take good care out there.

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by samburton2020

Serf! Finally got it all done, two housings and eight bulbs later! Haven't been out at night yet, but they're bright as hell in the garage. The corners may be too bright, I guess I'll find out later. Got the Geeks stuff coming to code out the errors. Just wanted to say thanks for all of your help, I appreciate it! Take good care out there.

Awesome!
You can turn down the voltage to the corner lights with the protools app, if they are too bright.