BMW LHD/RHD headlight switch
Discussion
My 7 series from 2017 has the LHD/RHD headlight switch as part of the dashboard computer settings. However, trying to re-register for RHD drive, BMW informs me that the RHD setting does not qualify for anything and that new headlights at 8,000 pounds are necessary + a lot of other work. Effectively rendering the car scrap worthy in my situation.
Has anyone tried using the RHD function in a BMW? If it doesn't qualify for RHD, what's the point? Isn't this misrepresentation?
Has anyone tried using the RHD function in a BMW? If it doesn't qualify for RHD, what's the point? Isn't this misrepresentation?
It allows you to drive temporarily in a region with different driving sides, it doesn't make the vehicle lighting homologated for that market. To achieve that it might be modifying the beam to the bare minimum for example and not the exact shape, reach etc of a proper set of RHD headlights, a bit like the stick-on templates. What does your manual say?
Well, if you've tasked them with converting your car to RHD, they'll go for the official route which is changing the headlights, configuration etc. Can you not either get the lights yourself (used obv) and get a coder to match the config, or see if it passes a test with the RHD setting? Do you have the CoC?
I have the CoC from when I bought the car from new. Trouble is that BMW are not shouldering their product at all. They are totally focused on selling new headlights at 8,000 and not ashamed to admit that their dashboard setting is pointless. Just went thru the same issue with a Bentley and E63, no problems as the dashboard setting is a true LHD or RHD in both. So I guess no more BMWs for me.
That I had BMW take the car for inspection and they somehow managed to mess it up, telling me afterwards that things will be fine if I just buy the 8,000 pounds worth of new headlights, adding that I can't really use the LHD/RHD selector for much. However, I'm disappointed in BMW product commitment as one in my opinion would have a decent expectation that the LHD/RHD selector actually works.
My old E39 has the mechanical shutter that cuts of the top left hand corner of the beam. I live in France where they are quite happy to pass the car with it's resulting flat topped beam. I don't know what beam pattern your car throws but if it's flat topped I'd suggest you just submit the car for it's MoT and see what happens. The requirement in both countries is simply not to dazzle oncoming traffic and if it does that it's hard to see how it could be failed.
My understanding is, the headlights are configured at the factory for the market that the car has been ordered for (LHD or RHD), setting the base beam pattern.
The LHD/RHD switch doesn't convert the light pattern to a genuine "opposite" light pattern, it simply modifies the base beam pattern, to make it less blinding to oncoming cars, when the vehicle is being driven on the opposite side of the road.
With LED adaptive headlights, this will be done by disarming certain parts of the lights, and disconnecting certain functions, because the LED sections with have been manufactured to point to the left or right, depending on the light unit being LHD or RHD (in the same way that the headlight lense used to set the light direction with halogen headlights).
That means, as it always has, if you want to swap a cars headlights from LHD to RHD, or visa versa, and have a proper light pattern (and keep all the adaptive functions with LED lights), you have to replace the entire headlight assembly - Which as the OP has found out, is not cheap with LED adaptive headlights!
(In the future, a lot of cars are going to be written off by insurance companies due to comparatively light frontal damage, purely due to the cost of replacing LED adaptive headlights!)
The LHD/RHD switch doesn't convert the light pattern to a genuine "opposite" light pattern, it simply modifies the base beam pattern, to make it less blinding to oncoming cars, when the vehicle is being driven on the opposite side of the road.
With LED adaptive headlights, this will be done by disarming certain parts of the lights, and disconnecting certain functions, because the LED sections with have been manufactured to point to the left or right, depending on the light unit being LHD or RHD (in the same way that the headlight lense used to set the light direction with halogen headlights).
That means, as it always has, if you want to swap a cars headlights from LHD to RHD, or visa versa, and have a proper light pattern (and keep all the adaptive functions with LED lights), you have to replace the entire headlight assembly - Which as the OP has found out, is not cheap with LED adaptive headlights!
(In the future, a lot of cars are going to be written off by insurance companies due to comparatively light frontal damage, purely due to the cost of replacing LED adaptive headlights!)
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