E86 Pathetic headlights

Z

Zee4Coop

Member
 North Yorkshire
After 3 months of blissful ownership the clocks went back and for the first time I drove on unlit country lanes. Truly shocked by the performance of the headlights! They are pathetic to the point of being dangerous on dipped beam - if there's another vehicle coming the other way it's "aim for the black void to the left of their headlights" and not much better on main beam. This was an unwelcome surprise because they are Xenons and I expected much better. Suggestions appreciated!
 
Agreed, BMW Xenons of this era don’t seem to be nearly as good a more modern car headlights, however there are a few things to check / consider:
1) are the lights aimed correctly (I.e. as high as legally allowed)?
2) are the levelling motors working correctly?
3) how cloudy are the external headlight lenses? You can have them polished and/or lacquered to restore clarity
4) how dirty are the lenses of the internal projector units? You can remove these through the back of the light via the wheel arch to clean them.

Beyond that, you could consider replacing the Xenon bulbs with new ones as that may boost output, or a few members on the form have upgraded the projector unit to a more modern design with positive results.

Chris
 
Also the bulbs can get "burnt" with the glass going a bit black - probably due to the bulb glass being held with fingers while being fitted.
 
My car has xenons also and found that lining the car up straight against a white garage door / wall and then adjusting the beams up a few degrees made a MASSIVE difference, and still went through the MOT just fine.

They are very easy to adjust.
 
Thanks for all your suggestions guys. It looks like everything is as it should be regarding the state of the lenses, the appearance of the headlight units, bulbs etc. is nothing short of immaculate which is why I was so surprised about the performance. I have heard that Xenons deteriorate over time though. rally-chris and ph001 I don't know the answer regarding the aim and self-levelling so I'll check it out thanks.
Silverzedtom halogens OMG and I thought I was in the dark. Good luck there mate!
 
Yep unfortunately I am in agreement, the light from the car is awful even with the xenons, halogens must be like having candles on the front of the car :headbang:

I have found myself having to briefly flash my beams to get a snapshot of the road ahead at night when people are coming towards me its a nightmare
 
I thought the Xenons on my 1st one were brilliant! :exitright:

Certainly way better than the Halogens on my current one. :(

But they're OK - maybe starting driving with 45W non-Halogen bulbs means I don't have very high expectations! :lol:
 
You could fit d2s morimoto’s. Someone on here has already done it (on phone at the moment so no access to link... but quick search should bring it up). Best thing in my opinion.
 
So any advances on making things a bit better?
Currently the options (aside from putting Nightbreakers in which are a little better):

Halogen 100w - May melt the housings?
HID’s - MOT issues aside, my last pair melted
LED’s - don’t fancy cutting the lights

Upgrade the whole units, pretty pricey.

What do people think?
 
I must be the only person here who thinks the Xenons are excellent, they are on my 2003 e85 anyway. A powerful white light.
 
I had the same issue with the hopeless halogens. Mine now have 80w Osram blue tinted lamps and I actually feel like I can see a little further ahead now.

I've also adjusted the aim a little higher to get the beam further down the road and polished the headlamps. Taking the headlights out to clean the projectors is a pain, but if I am still not happy, that's the next step.

The fog lights are about as much use as indicators on an Audi. Why did they even bother fitting them??
 
I guessed my way home in the dark and rain the other week, didn't enjoy that at all
Halogens are shocking
 
As already mentioned, adjusting the beam up slightly is the key to getting anything remotely useful out of them. Just make sure it’s not too high as to dazzle oncoming drivers.
 
How easy is it to clean the projectors from the wheel well? I don’t fancy stripping the front of the car.
 
LordOxygen said:
I must be the only person here who thinks the Xenons are excellent, they are on my 2003 e85 anyway. A powerful white light.
Click to expand...
No your not. I find them really good. :thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom