Headlight problem

[rawpilot]

Hello all,

I noticed straight away that my new-to-me Z4 did not have great lights and I do realise that poor lights are a common problem for the E85.

Trying to figure out what may be wrong, I found that when standing in front of the car, the offside headlight has a uniform hazy appearance over the lens, but the nearside light looks very different with most of the light clearly at the bottom of the lens (looking at both bulbs from a similar height & angle).

I have checked that the nearside euro blanking plate is not up and took the halogen bulb out. It appears to be a good quality one and is fitted correctly. When I point the headlights at a wall, there does not appear to be anything unusual to my untrained eye i.e. the beam pattern is not all over the place.

Could something (a reflector maybe?) have broken off inside the light housing to produce this strange difference, or could it be somehow normal ?

Please could someone tell me if their lights look more like one or the other of mine?

Thanks,
Robbie.

OFFSIDE



NEARSIDE

 

[Chris_D]

Looks like the coating of your headlight projector has dulled, or the internal lens has gone cloudy, or both.
Time to disassemble for a spring clean methinks.
There's a couple of how-to's on here but it's going to be a bumper off job to get the headlights out. invest in a couple of spare bumper brackets before you crack on as they're very fragile and break easily.

 

[rawpilot]

Thanks Chris.
So which one of the two above photos is more "normal" ?
If I need to get new headlight units, is there a favoured aftermarket make with angel eyes ?

 

[bg1]

Looks like the coating of your headlight projector has dulled, or the internal lens has gone cloudy, or both.
Time to disassemble for a spring clean methinks.
There's a couple of how-to's on here but it's going to be a bumper off job to get the headlights out. invest in a couple of spare bumper brackets before you crack on as they're very fragile and break easily.

I don't think you need to remove the bumper to get the projector out?

 

[Reamesy]

If you need to work inside the lights properly you will need the lights off the car. You do need the bumper off as Chris_D has informed.

 

[kis]

I wouldn’t say you need to... but you should. Will stop any dust and dirt getting inside the headlight. Also will make your life 100x easier just removing it.

 

[rawpilot]

OK. Thanks chaps.
But please could you tell me, which of the photos looks like your headlights - the one with uniform hazy light over the lens (offside), or the one with a clearer lens but with the light emitting noticeably from one point (nearside).

 

[ph001]

When I point the headlights at a wall, there does not appear to be anything unusual to my untrained eye i.e. the beam pattern is not all over the place.

Surely this is the key point? If both beam patterns look the same then I'm not sure looking at them by standing in front is particularly valid? Maybe disconnect one bulb at a time and then shine against a wall / garage door to really tell if there is a dramatic between one side and the other.

 

[Lynchy]

It looks like your main beam light on your passenger side isn’t sitting properly or at least it doesn’t look the same as the drivers side. The actual lens looks nice and clear to me

 

[rawpilot]

When I point the headlights at a wall, there does not appear to be anything unusual to my untrained eye i.e. the beam pattern is not all over the place.

Surely this is the key point? If both beam patterns look the same then I'm not sure looking at them by standing in front is particularly valid? Maybe disconnect one bulb at a time and then shine against a wall / garage door to really tell if there is a dramatic between one side and the other.

I agree.
I did cover one headlight then the other and the patterns did not appear to be too different over a few feet (but maybe over a few hundred yards the beams will spread differently.). I'm mainly confused as to why they should look SO different to the eye.

It looks like your main beam light on your passenger side isn’t sitting properly or at least it doesn’t look the same as the drivers side. The actual lens looks nice and clear to me

That's what I initially thought, but the bulb is fitting snugly and correctly into its holder and, as you say, the lens is clear.

When it gets drier and warmer I'll investigate more.

 

[rawpilot]

Another question please:

When the lights are first switched on they move down and up. (Note they are halogens).

Is this movement just exercising the motors for the manual height control wheel on the dashboard, or does the car have level sensors which adjust the lights as you drive along ? (I know xenons need this feature).

 

[kis]

I'm mainly confused as to why they should look SO different to the eye.

What do you mean when you say they look different? Is the lense cloudy on one? From the photos they look about as clear as eachother? Theres nothing wrong with them from the photo IMO - and as you've said there is nothing wrong with the beam pattern... Perhaps a closer photo with the lights off?

 

[rawpilot]

What do you mean when you say they look different? Is the lense cloudy on one? From the photos they look about as clear as eachother? Theres nothing wrong with them from the photo IMO - and as you've said there is nothing wrong with the beam pattern... Perhaps a closer photo with the lights off?

It may not show as well on the photos as in real life, but the offside dipped beam lens has the light uniformly spead over it, whereas the nearside lens almost has a point of light......

However today I've been very busy. I managed to get the dipped beam units out of the wheel arch hole, without too much difficulty and I found that one lens (offside) had a fine film of grime over it, whereas the other (nearside) was clean.

I polished them both up and now they both look the same

 

[rawpilot]

For info, in the last two photos, you can see the black lever for setting the lamp for European (wrong side of the road 8) ) driving.
Surprisingly, it only moves the blanking plate about 5mm.

 

[bg1]

What do you mean when you say they look different? Is the lense cloudy on one? From the photos they look about as clear as eachother? Theres nothing wrong with them from the photo IMO - and as you've said there is nothing wrong with the beam pattern... Perhaps a closer photo with the lights off?

It may not show as well on the photos as in real life, but the offside dipped beam lens has the light uniformly spead over it, whereas the nearside lens almost has a point of light......

However today I've been very busy. I managed to get the dipped beam units out of the wheel arch hole, without too much difficulty and I found that one lens (offside) had a fine film of grime over it, whereas the other (nearside) was clean.

I polished them both up and now they both look the same

20210309_101901[1].jpg

20210309_112405[1].jpg

20210309_111407[1].jpg

As I said...

 

[rawpilot]

As I said...