headlight wiring insulaion fell off 2006 z4

[raptor_demon]

So the drivers side headlight blew the other day and when i moved the wire for the headlight bulb about 1-2 inches of the wire insulation just fell off.

while installing the bulb more fell off and cracked.

20130924_222920 by raptordemon, on Flickr

i insulated the wire as a temporary solution, but has anyone else run into this issue? if so what was your fix.

this is a 2006 z4 3.0i USA spec.

 

[bcworkz]

Whoa! That's disconcerting. I've only seen insulation that brittle in very old wiring. You obviously need to replace the wire. It must have come off a bad batch of wire to be that brittle so early. Usually there's a way to replace just the wire in connectors, but in this case it does not appear to be possible. You may need to replace the socket and wire back to the next connector.

Not ideal, but you could splice in a replacement wire, taking out as much of the old as is reasonably possible, leaving enough of the old bare wire to splice onto. The splices need to be properly soldered. Cover the splices with heat shrunk tubing. Seal the end of the heat shrink at the socket with a bit of silicone sealant.

 

[raptor_demon]

Whoa! That's disconcerting. I've only seen insulation that brittle in very old wiring. You obviously need to replace the wire. It must have come off a bad batch of wire to be that brittle so early. Usually there's a way to replace just the wire in connectors, but in this case it does not appear to be possible. You may need to replace the socket and wire back to the next connector.

Not ideal, but you could splice in a replacement wire, taking out as much of the old as is reasonably possible, leaving enough of the old bare wire to splice onto. The splices need to be properly soldered. Cover the splices with heat shrunk tubing. Seal the end of the heat shrink at the socket with a bit of silicone sealant.

Yea, i am pretty worried about this, as now i am concerned if the same batch was used on the whole loom.

my plan is to remove the headlights and take a proper look then either replace or repair the wire.
both the local dealer and BMW NA basically said no recall no free fix, which bothers me as this could be a fire hazard.

Raptor

 

[bcworkz]

Yes, they would say that. No matter what, report it to NHTSA (https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/). If similar reports come in, they will investigate if it appears to be a safety issue. Chances are slim, but it could lead to a recall.

 

[raptor_demon]

Yes, they would say that. No matter what, report it to NHTSA (https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/). If similar reports come in, they will investigate if it appears to be a safety issue. Chances are slim, but it could lead to a recall.

Good point,

added a complaint to that site!

will update with what steps i take soon.