E90 LCI Halogen headlight condensation

[AllyBassman]

Hi all,

my E90 LCI has developed pretty bad condensation in the offside headlight (halogen), I think I know what the issue is (I changed dipped beam bulbs two weeks ago and I guess I didn't seal the cover back on properly. I'm going to resolve this tomorrow but the question I want to ask is, what is the best way to remove the condensation/water droplets in the headlight? I guess I can't just seal it it and hope for the best as the damp air will have nowhere to go?

I'm thinking of using a hair dryer on a low heat setting to blow air into the headlight via the halo ring bulb hole?

[Mr Whippy]

I had this on my Z4 years back.

The rubber seals had gone dry/hard and been crimped after a previous bulb change before I had it.

I dried with hairdryer which worked fine but it came back quickly. Took about 20mins per side.

New covers for about £25 and no time to dry out when I did them, but they self cleared within days.

[Monty Python]

I'd remove the bulb, then heat the front of the headlight so the condensation can escape through the hole where the bulb goes - because it's sealed, blowing air in through the bulb hole won't achieve much.

[Matt_N]

My E90 OS has condensation too, when I bought it I quickly swapped the (naff) bulbs out for some Osrams, the cover had previously been badly fitted and was letting moisture in.

My plan is to remove the rear bulb cover, turn the lights on and cover them with a towel to heat them up a bit. Tried and tested method.

[AllyBassman]

Ahh some great ideas, cheers chaps!

[stevesuk]

The drivers side headlight (xenons) on mine did this last winter... possibly after I replaced the indicator bulb, and then did a 200 mile motorway journey in heavy rain.

I tried using a hairdryer to evaporate the moisture, but it made little to no difference.

Someone else told me to leave all the lights on for a while to see if the heat from the bulbs helped - but that also made no difference.

Eventually, when the warmer weather arrived in Spring, it dried out by itself after being stood in the sun for a day or two and (touch wood!) it hasn't come back yet this year.

[Monty Python]

Unless there's some way for the water to escape, you won't get rid of it. Leaving the lights on simply evaporates the water into the headlight unit since there's no way for it to escape.

[AllyBassman]

i'm going to take the cover off and then use a hair dryer/heat gun on the front of the headlight to heat it up/ remove the moisture. Then reseal it and hope for the best!

[stevesuk]

Monty Python said:

Unless there's some way for the water to escape, you won't get rid of it. Leaving the lights on simply evaporates the water into the headlight unit since there's no way for it to escape.

I removed the indicator bulb holder to give the moisture somewhere to escape, and tried leaving the lights on full beam for a while. That didn't work,. so I tried warming the front of the lamp cover with a hair dryer for what seemed like ages - and it didn't make any appreciable difference. There was a lot of moisture though.

I was certain that I'd need to replace the lamp unit - but then when the better weather arrived, it dried out completely and the problem hasn't returned (yet!)