Facelift e46 touring headlamp cover replacement

Facelift e46 touring headlamp cover replacement

Author
Discussion

NiceCupOfTea

Original Poster:

25,280 posts

250 months

Tuesday 26th November 2019
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180000 miles have taken their toll on my headlamps and they have a haze on them. They're only halogens so candles in comparison to most of the cars on the road. I know there are kits to clean them up, but it seems there are replacement covers that are cheap enough and relatively easy to fit.

Couple of questions: are any old ebay replacements OK or are there fit/finish issues? Don't want steaming up lights or God forbid the goldfish bowls that my e36 lights turned into with condensation. Haven't priced up genuine BMW...

Also, while fitment looks straightforward, the video I watched he had issues with the headlamp washers and broke the cover. Is this likely to be an issue?

A side question - how practical to retrofit xenon lamps to my car? I've seen kits like this:

https://www.retrofitlab.com/en/car/bmw-3-e46-1998-...

which look pretty comprehensive, but would they pass UK MOT? If I understand it correctly they need auto levelling (seem to remember a sensor needs to be fitted somewhere) and washers (which I have), but also a new LCM (or at least a recode). Not sure I can be bothered with the hassle, but nice to know if it's doable...

helix402

7,832 posts

181 months

Tuesday 26th November 2019
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E46 headlights are easy to remove, here’s one I took out the other day:



To remove, remove indicator lens (1 screw), lever lower headlight trim forward (no need to fully remove), unbolt headlight (8mm bolts).

You’ll lose a bit of screenwash, but nothing should break. The lower bracket which the headlight washer fits into can be left bolted to the car.

Edited by helix402 on Tuesday 26th November 19:05

NiceCupOfTea

Original Poster:

25,280 posts

250 months

Tuesday 26th November 2019
quotequote all
Thanks Helix. Do I have to remove the cover from the washer?

Any preference for replacements, or generic eBay?

helix402

7,832 posts

181 months

Tuesday 26th November 2019
quotequote all
No need to remove the headlight washer cover, pull the lower headlight trim and washer cover and jet forward all together. The washer jet lance will extend (hence leakage) enough to pull the trim forward and remove the headlight.

Re best quality headlight covers, as always gen BMW are best. I did look at non gen recently and the best I saw on EBay were Magneti Marelli from German sellers for £50 ish each.

NiceCupOfTea

Original Poster:

25,280 posts

250 months

Tuesday 26th November 2019
quotequote all
Thanks, very helpful. £50 each is pretty steep, generic are £25 a pair! How much are the BMW ones?

g3org3y

20,606 posts

190 months

Tuesday 26th November 2019
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I'd buy a 3M headlight polishing kit and a set of Osram Nightbreaker Laser bulbs (but I'm tight).

NiceCupOfTea

Original Poster:

25,280 posts

250 months

Tuesday 26th November 2019
quotequote all
g3org3y said:
I'd buy a 3M headlight polishing kit and a set of Osram Nightbreaker Laser bulbs (but I'm tight).
Already got some decent Philips Xtreme bulbs in but I thought at £25 a pop it would be easier to replace lenses than spend a few hours with wet/dry and toothpaste laugh

helix402

7,832 posts

181 months

Wednesday 27th November 2019
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NiceCupOfTea said:
Thanks, very helpful. £50 each is pretty steep, generic are £25 a pair! How much are the BMW ones?
Genuine look to be around £100 each, you can sometimes get a complete Magneti Marelli new non xenon headlight for less than that.

Edited by helix402 on Wednesday 27th November 07:19

NiceCupOfTea

Original Poster:

25,280 posts

250 months

Wednesday 27th November 2019
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Wow - bit rich for my blood. Will try a cleanup kit or cheap lenses first I think...

bucksmanuk

2,311 posts

169 months

Wednesday 27th November 2019
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I have an E46 which had dull lenses. Xenon’s fitted.
I started to polish them and made good progress when I remembered I had a spare pair of new lenses - Doh! and I got them for £23 (?) each from autodoc. They came with a gasket, which I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how it was supposed to fit. It was a much larger section gasket than that which was OEM. So I reused the old ones – bad mistake.
All installed and looking good, but the driver’s side filled with condensation quickly.
I bought some non-setting sealant, which was £27 for 400 ml or £9 (?) for 100 ml. (I have forgotten what it’s called, I’ll update when I get home) took the headlights out again and disassembled them and applied the sealant. All put together again.
So far so good
OE Xenon headlights for mine are £450+ each online, these aren’t from BMW thought. I dread to think how much they are from the dealers.

dhutch

14,198 posts

196 months

Wednesday 4th December 2019
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Need to have a look at this myself, as my drivers side is full of condensation.

I also appear to have a leak somewhere on the screen wash system, which i think is headlight related. Drains away over a few days regardless of use.

Car is a pre-facelift coupe if that makes any difference to removal.



Daniel

bucksmanuk

2,311 posts

169 months

Wednesday 4th December 2019
quotequote all
^^^ reply to this
I fixed mine about 3 months ago
It could well be the headlight washer jet assembly. There is an O-ring between the washer jet hose (surprisingly rigid plastic pipe) and the jet wash thing which comes out of the panel below the headlight. The O-rings suffer over time, and so the fluid leaks out.
It’s a headlight out job, and there is a small fiddly clip keeping the hose onto the washer jet. Don’t lose this! Or break it….
I used an O-ring from a selection pack c/o Aldi, and its been fine ever since.
Take your time with the task, and read the online forums on how to locate the washer jets to stop them being pulled back in. Imaginative use of tie wraps and lollipop sticks worked for me…
Take your time on removing the clips which hold the plastic trim pieces onto the washer jet bodies. They are now brittle and easily broken and are £13 each on eBay and require painting in body colour. Guess how I know this!

Longnose

248 posts

112 months

Thursday 5th December 2019
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The xenon self leveling is a linkage attached to the front right lower control arm. BMW xenons are really expensive. I had a minor collision about 4 years ago needing a new headlamp unit and the repair was delayed while sourcing a new one. £800 when it finally arrived from Germany.

helix402

7,832 posts

181 months

Tuesday 10th December 2019
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This may be of interest to the op, even if you buy it just for the lense: