E86 Pathetic headlights
- Thread starter Zee4Coop
- Start date
North West Surrey
No problem with my HID lamps, suspect they may have lost a little light output due to being 11 years old now. Aiming them properly made a big difference initially so rule that out first if your beam isn’t picking up signs or reaching far down the road.
Wildfire said:
Pretty easy, jack the front end up to give you more room, remove the wheel or put it on full lock so you have lots of access.
Remove the light access panel, remove lamp cover and remove your bulb.
There is 3 or 4 nuts (can't remember exactly from memory) but undo these and remove projector lamp unit.
It's a little fiddly but the first took me about 30 mins to remove whilst I figured out what I needed to do
The second took about 10 mins.
Refitting is the reverse and shouldnt take all that long.
Think total work took me a little over an hour.
I've got aftermarket halogen headlamps in mine which were awful. The beam pattern was all over the place and the output very weak. I changed to the new nightbreaker bulbs and I've now got slightly brighter output all over the place. Can't upgrade to hids as they will melt and can't adjust up as no motor in the headlamps. Any ideas to help? Thanks.
fd3chris said:
HID's don't melt, not if you get a decent set..
I've been running HID's for over 5 years with daily use and they are still running great.
Had the bulbs out recently to clean the inside of the lamp and they are still in one piece.
You can adjust the beam using the adjuster screws in the engine bay above the lamp units. Haven't a picture handy but you should find one online somewhere.
I've been told that the headlamps are not designed for hids and the heat will melt the bulb holders. I will have a look for the height adjusters and see if I can raise the lights a little thanks.
Edit. Just looked and I have no height adjusters on my headlamps as they are after market so looks like I'm buggered.
Edit. Just looked and I have no height adjusters on my headlamps as they are after market so looks like I'm buggered.
I had similar problems with my focus. As others have said some decent +150% bulbs and some adjustment fixed it. I have some night breakers to go in the zed because the bulbs that are in it are like two camdles!
The biggest issue I find is with SUVs with the latest LED search lights they are blinding!
The biggest issue I find is with SUVs with the latest LED search lights they are blinding!
and those wanna-have DRL drivers, who think it's ok to use foglights instead :-xandyf1140 said:
and the Mini Countryman DRLs in general!
-haha -apart from Z4 e85 foglights - cant actually tell when there on - Agree with the Countryman comment -wife has a countryman with the led DRL's and there brighter than the headlights on the Z