BMW Adaptive Xenon Headlight Failure (E60 5 Series)
Discussion
The nearside headlight on my 2008 (LCI) 535D Touring (E61) has failed. When I first noticed it wasn't illuminated at all but it did eventually flicker into life albeit much dimmer than the offside light. I now get a warning about it on the dashboard too.
Googling around it seems it is possible to replace the "bulbs" in the Xenons, the entire headlamp has to come out but it seems it's only held in by three screws so probably not a big deal.
Anyone done it? Was it easy? Is the bulb itself the most likely cause of failure or is there a ballast too that could be at fault or some other bit of electronics? Think it's a D1S bulb.
Thanks.
Googling around it seems it is possible to replace the "bulbs" in the Xenons, the entire headlamp has to come out but it seems it's only held in by three screws so probably not a big deal.
Anyone done it? Was it easy? Is the bulb itself the most likely cause of failure or is there a ballast too that could be at fault or some other bit of electronics? Think it's a D1S bulb.
Thanks.
Edited by C0ffin D0dger on Monday 26th November 11:39
C0ffin D0dger said:
The nearside headlight on my 2008 (LCI) 535D Touring (E61) has failed. When I first noticed it was illuminated at all but it did eventually flicker into life albeit much dimmer than the offside light. I now get a warning about it on the dashboard too.
Googling around it seems it is possible to replace the "bulbs" in the Xenons, the entire headlamp has to come out but it seems it's only held in by three screws so probably not a big deal.
Anyone done it? Was it easy? Is the bulb itself the most likely cause of failure or is there a ballast too that could be at fault or some other bit of electronics? Think it's a D1S bulb.
Thanks.
Looks easy enough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UQK1o9V_PoGoogling around it seems it is possible to replace the "bulbs" in the Xenons, the entire headlamp has to come out but it seems it's only held in by three screws so probably not a big deal.
Anyone done it? Was it easy? Is the bulb itself the most likely cause of failure or is there a ballast too that could be at fault or some other bit of electronics? Think it's a D1S bulb.
Thanks.
I'd highly recommend these as well: https://www.amazon.co.uk/XENARC-INTENSE-discharge-...
They're a solid white light, not stupidly blue and have a great cut off. Have them in my 730D and they really light up the road well, as they should and with no glare...
d_a_n1979 said:
C0ffin D0dger said:
The nearside headlight on my 2008 (LCI) 535D Touring (E61) has failed. When I first noticed it was illuminated at all but it did eventually flicker into life albeit much dimmer than the offside light. I now get a warning about it on the dashboard too.
Googling around it seems it is possible to replace the "bulbs" in the Xenons, the entire headlamp has to come out but it seems it's only held in by three screws so probably not a big deal.
Anyone done it? Was it easy? Is the bulb itself the most likely cause of failure or is there a ballast too that could be at fault or some other bit of electronics? Think it's a D1S bulb.
Thanks.
Looks easy enough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UQK1o9V_PoGoogling around it seems it is possible to replace the "bulbs" in the Xenons, the entire headlamp has to come out but it seems it's only held in by three screws so probably not a big deal.
Anyone done it? Was it easy? Is the bulb itself the most likely cause of failure or is there a ballast too that could be at fault or some other bit of electronics? Think it's a D1S bulb.
Thanks.
I'd highly recommend these as well: https://www.amazon.co.uk/XENARC-INTENSE-discharge-...
They're a solid white light, not stupidly blue and have a great cut off. Have them in my 730D and they really light up the road well, as they should and with no glare...
Thanks all. Seems doable even with my limited spannering skills.
Bought some replacement bulbs off Amazon of all places, £33 each for OEM OSRAM, was expecting them to be much more than that. Was tempted by the upgraded versions but didn't really want to spend anymore with Christmas approaching and two new rear tyres imminent.
Watch this space!
Bought some replacement bulbs off Amazon of all places, £33 each for OEM OSRAM, was expecting them to be much more than that. Was tempted by the upgraded versions but didn't really want to spend anymore with Christmas approaching and two new rear tyres imminent.
Watch this space!
Hashtaggggg said:
Headlight removal takes about 10 minutes
Bit of a fiddle
yes, it is quick to do on an E60, the only issue I had was to have to buy a longer (flexible- if I remember) screw driver to get to the bottom screws...a lot less then BMW wanted to charge me for 3 hours labour just to remove one and replace it with another.Bit of a fiddle
Finally got round to this at the weekend.
Wow, didn't think it would be that easy! Had the nearside headlight out (the one with the duff bulb) within a few minutes of getting the tools out, bulb swap was straight forward, gave it a quick check before fixing it back in, then slotted it back in and did everything up. Feeling confident now I repeated the process on the drivers side unit. All good up to the point of fitting it back in again, last of the torx screws which happened to be one on the fiddly ones behind the headlight when the bit holder fell off my driver followed by a few rattles as it made its way to the under tray. Curses!
Luckily had another set of torx bits so took the headlamp back out again and managed to retrieve the bit holder. Second time lucky. All done in about half an hour!
Back to full illumination now which is a good thing at this time of year!
Wow, didn't think it would be that easy! Had the nearside headlight out (the one with the duff bulb) within a few minutes of getting the tools out, bulb swap was straight forward, gave it a quick check before fixing it back in, then slotted it back in and did everything up. Feeling confident now I repeated the process on the drivers side unit. All good up to the point of fitting it back in again, last of the torx screws which happened to be one on the fiddly ones behind the headlight when the bit holder fell off my driver followed by a few rattles as it made its way to the under tray. Curses!
Luckily had another set of torx bits so took the headlamp back out again and managed to retrieve the bit holder. Second time lucky. All done in about half an hour!
Back to full illumination now which is a good thing at this time of year!
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