Z4 xenons - flipping lights for euro driving.
Discussion
remove flap in wheel arch
remove Bakelite cover from back of bulbs. Bakelite cover is held in by wire spring don't remove cover entirely its a pig to relocate. Just open enough to get your hand to the side of the bulb mount assembly.
Feel for a lever like a screwdriver blade orientated vertically and pointing to the rear of the car at about the 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock position to the side of the bulb mount assembly can't remember which and each side might be different. IIRC they will be in the 'up' position. Slide them down. Job's done. Then reassemble....
All the levers do is blank of the portion of the beam that would illuminate roadsigns and pedestrians on the lhs of the road. They don't flip that bit to the rhs. I was pretty disappointed with the result and on dips/bends you'll loose visibility. Be careful!
remove Bakelite cover from back of bulbs. Bakelite cover is held in by wire spring don't remove cover entirely its a pig to relocate. Just open enough to get your hand to the side of the bulb mount assembly.
Feel for a lever like a screwdriver blade orientated vertically and pointing to the rear of the car at about the 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock position to the side of the bulb mount assembly can't remember which and each side might be different. IIRC they will be in the 'up' position. Slide them down. Job's done. Then reassemble....
All the levers do is blank of the portion of the beam that would illuminate roadsigns and pedestrians on the lhs of the road. They don't flip that bit to the rhs. I was pretty disappointed with the result and on dips/bends you'll loose visibility. Be careful!
Flipping lights indeed!
Tried to do this on my non-xenon car, but the clearance between 18" wheel and lamp even on full lock was minimal. Had visions of not being able to replace cover or damaging lights so do not bother.
Result - risk illegal driving abroad, and avoid driving at night on roads with heavy traffic (no problem in heavy rain)
If it is possible to have electric vertical height adjustment for headlights, surely a "Euro switch" could be fitted for left/right? I wonder if car designers (all marques) actually use a car in "normally", problems like this would not recurr if they did. Rant over!
Tried to do this on my non-xenon car, but the clearance between 18" wheel and lamp even on full lock was minimal. Had visions of not being able to replace cover or damaging lights so do not bother.
Result - risk illegal driving abroad, and avoid driving at night on roads with heavy traffic (no problem in heavy rain)
If it is possible to have electric vertical height adjustment for headlights, surely a "Euro switch" could be fitted for left/right? I wonder if car designers (all marques) actually use a car in "normally", problems like this would not recurr if they did. Rant over!
Sortie 10 said:
Flipping lights indeed!
Tried to do this on my non-xenon car, but the clearance between 18" wheel and lamp even on full lock was minimal. Had visions of not being able to replace cover or damaging lights so do not bother.
Result - risk illegal driving abroad, and avoid driving at night on roads with heavy traffic (no problem in heavy rain)
If it is possible to have electric vertical height adjustment for headlights, surely a "Euro switch" could be fitted for left/right? I wonder if car designers (all marques) actually use a car in "normally", problems like this would not recurr if they did. Rant over!
Yes its a faf but easy enough to do in the chunnel! The only difficult bit is relocating the bakelite cover. Tried to do this on my non-xenon car, but the clearance between 18" wheel and lamp even on full lock was minimal. Had visions of not being able to replace cover or damaging lights so do not bother.
Result - risk illegal driving abroad, and avoid driving at night on roads with heavy traffic (no problem in heavy rain)
If it is possible to have electric vertical height adjustment for headlights, surely a "Euro switch" could be fitted for left/right? I wonder if car designers (all marques) actually use a car in "normally", problems like this would not recurr if they did. Rant over!
Well, I made it there and back.
I got the flaps out from the wheel arch but never did manage to get the bakelite covers off the back of the xenons.
One skinned knuckle and a quote for £68 from my local dealer to flip them made me give up.
The saviour came in the form of a couple of headlamp stickers for £6.99 on the ferry which even had a diagram on how to fit them for the Z4.
As always there's a hard way and an easy way to do things.
Thanks for the advice but I'll be slapping the stickers on again for next time.
I got the flaps out from the wheel arch but never did manage to get the bakelite covers off the back of the xenons.
One skinned knuckle and a quote for £68 from my local dealer to flip them made me give up.
The saviour came in the form of a couple of headlamp stickers for £6.99 on the ferry which even had a diagram on how to fit them for the Z4.
As always there's a hard way and an easy way to do things.
Thanks for the advice but I'll be slapping the stickers on again for next time.
toasty said:
...a quote for £68 from my local dealer to flip them made me give up...
Contemptuous! Why don't BMW get it? Treating customers like this won't lead to a long relationship! I can flip the lights in 10mins tops. Even quicker if I could put the car on a ramp and allow the wheels to drop. what happened to goodwill?FWIW These are the stickers I used.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EUROLITES-Headlamp--Converte...
They're about 2mm thick rubber and come with placement instructions for most car models. They showed no signs of coming away after 3000 miles but peeled off easily when I'd finished with them.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EUROLITES-Headlamp--Converte...
They're about 2mm thick rubber and come with placement instructions for most car models. They showed no signs of coming away after 3000 miles but peeled off easily when I'd finished with them.
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