Headlight change?
Discussion
Had one of my main beams go last night, so need to change the bulb. Any advice/tips gladly recieved. Also, in terms of replacement bulbs (I'll change both whilst I'm at it) are there any recommendations? I fancied upgrading, but heard there are issues with electricity supply to higher wattage bulbs? Cheers.
have a look at www.mod-wise.com and the brighter lights option i used this for my cerbera with the philips vision plus bulbs and wow what a difference.
A fellow Mid-Essex Chim owner told me he changed his headlight bulb last month, and managed to get in without taking off the wheel - just turned steering full lock.
IMHO yes you should seal up the access with mastik, caulking or something to stop water ingress - anything waterproof and sticky really
IMHO yes you should seal up the access with mastik, caulking or something to stop water ingress - anything waterproof and sticky really
Hi chimleic,
I've recently changed the headlight bulbs in my late '97, having looked deep into the eyes of the wee beastie, I though they could be brighter [they were crap].
I replaced them with Xenon bulbs, 40% brighter and less current drawn [so I was told] and the headlight bulbs and sidelight bulbs are seperate, as has been already mentioned.
The headlight bulb is an H4 or 472 model. The sidelight a 233 if I recall, a little 4w bulb.
I used bosch bulbs, as the halfwits ones I've used over the years have blown more frequently than others.
Xenon and non xenon bosch bulbs are available at halfwits, but the sidelights bulbs [in xenon] were not, so I'll get one from BMW I guess.
The access to my bulbs was through the inspection hatch hidden conveniently in front of the front wheel.
Some of the screws were seized so I ended up replacing them having put some silison grease on so that I don't have that problem in the future. As it said in the bible, mastic the inspection hatches back, I used a heavy black rainwater pipe seal [from B&Q] also go over the screw heads..
Also silkaflex bonds like sh*te to a shovel.
In enhancing electrical connection I smeared a thin layer of silicone grease on the new terminals.
Because I do stuff on boats, and am used to water ingression, I also blobbed loads of liquid electrical tape all over the terminals to seal it fully, available at your local yacht chandlery or on line.
Having looked closely there was some considerable dirt inside the headlight itself, which I wanted to clean out, but it looked like taking the front lens off could be too much trouble, and difficult to relocate accurately, tho someone ercently has spoken more about it on another thread. The reason it was dirty was the holes behind the reflector which would have all sorts blown up there, a useful mod would be to cover this better having cleaned inside the lights - but maybe I'll do that another time.
Good luck
J
I've recently changed the headlight bulbs in my late '97, having looked deep into the eyes of the wee beastie, I though they could be brighter [they were crap].
I replaced them with Xenon bulbs, 40% brighter and less current drawn [so I was told] and the headlight bulbs and sidelight bulbs are seperate, as has been already mentioned.
The headlight bulb is an H4 or 472 model. The sidelight a 233 if I recall, a little 4w bulb.
I used bosch bulbs, as the halfwits ones I've used over the years have blown more frequently than others.
Xenon and non xenon bosch bulbs are available at halfwits, but the sidelights bulbs [in xenon] were not, so I'll get one from BMW I guess.
The access to my bulbs was through the inspection hatch hidden conveniently in front of the front wheel.
Some of the screws were seized so I ended up replacing them having put some silison grease on so that I don't have that problem in the future. As it said in the bible, mastic the inspection hatches back, I used a heavy black rainwater pipe seal [from B&Q] also go over the screw heads..
Also silkaflex bonds like sh*te to a shovel.
In enhancing electrical connection I smeared a thin layer of silicone grease on the new terminals.
Because I do stuff on boats, and am used to water ingression, I also blobbed loads of liquid electrical tape all over the terminals to seal it fully, available at your local yacht chandlery or on line.
Having looked closely there was some considerable dirt inside the headlight itself, which I wanted to clean out, but it looked like taking the front lens off could be too much trouble, and difficult to relocate accurately, tho someone ercently has spoken more about it on another thread. The reason it was dirty was the holes behind the reflector which would have all sorts blown up there, a useful mod would be to cover this better having cleaned inside the lights - but maybe I'll do that another time.
Good luck
J
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