Adaptive lights drooping/pointing downward - E63 M6

[James B]

Hi,

I posted this in my project thread last night but realise I’m more likely to get a better response here.

I have recently bought a 2005 E63 M6.

Believe it or not but since collecting the car I haven’t needed to drive it in the dark out of town and therefore had not noticed that the headlights on low beam seem to project only a few metres beyond the nose of the car.

A friend took me out in it tonight to keep it in regular use while I’m recuperating from a shoulder operation and as soon as we got out of town the issue was evident. It’s downright dangerous really.

So I’ve done all the googling and it appears that this is not an uncommon issue across the range of dynamic lights fitted to BMW’s. Infuriatingly it appears either that it’s a replacement headlight unit (so two for me) or a bit of a botch by dismantling the headlight assembly and effecting a repair.

Given that the car was acquired so recently and that it’s a dangerous issue I may take it up with the supplying dealer as the car has only covered 400 Miles since I first collected it and the issue will likely have been present since collecting and probably for some considerable time prior.

I’ll see how I get on!!

In the meantime does anyone have any experience of this issue and have any advice for me in fixing? I understand that there is a rule of thumb that if the headlights point upward then it’s the adjuster rod for the mechanism that is snapped but if it points down then it’s the upper mounting of the mechanism that is broken.

Thanks in advance.

Project thread is here: link

[ss1977]

Hi James,

Do the headlights go through a sequence of aiming up/down and then centring when you turn them on? If they do, have you tried adjusting the headlight aim using the white plastic screws on the top of the headlight housings to see if this might help? I own a E61 M5 Touring and had the xenon bulbs upgraded recently, which required removal of the whole headlight unit. I was surprised and disappointed with the light output afterwards as it was worse than before (and the bulbs fitted were the latest Philips Xtreme Vision gen2). I then had the car MOT'd at the weekend and the headlight aim was completely off and aiming far too low; the MOT chap adjusted them using the screws and now the headlights are brilliant, much, much better than before. Might be worth a try perhaps if you haven't done this already and ruled it out.

Simon

[James B]

Simon,

Thanks for that response.

I know the make the side to side movement but will check if the do the vertical one too.

I have done some digging elsewhere and have a feeling that it may be the vertical position sensor arm thats broken but i will certainly rule this out first.

Thanks for the tip. I'll report back my findings.

[stumpage]

My Dad had exactly the same problem last week on his 3 series. It was the gear that moves on the shaft for the headlight levelling failing causing the lights to point to the floor.