Misted Headlight - Warranty repair?

A

Andrew_Morris

Member
 Herefordshire
Hi

I got to work this morning and noticed that my driver's side headlight is completely misted up and full of water vapour. :headbang:

After a few minutes under the wheel arch I found the culprit - The cover retaining clip has broken allowing water/ damp air to enter the light fitting. :thumbsdown:

We've had a lot of hard frosts over the last couple of days and the car hasn't been used.

My car is 2 years old and still under warranty - Should I be able to claim this under warranty? Does anyone have any similar issue that i could use as a precident?


Thanks in advance.
 
Had the misting issue, but not because of a broken clip, mine just leaked.

Hae you had to change the bulbs, or have you put in brighter bulbs etc. If so I would put back to standard and then return to dealer, you dont want to give them any ammo.
 
srhutch said:
Had the misting issue, but not because of a broken clip, mine just leaked.

Hae you had to change the bulbs, or have you put in brighter bulbs etc. If so I would put back to standard and then return to dealer, you dont want to give them any ammo.
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No, not changed the bulbs, just the standard "can't see anything bulbs" - perhaps I should ask them to put some brighter ones in at the same time!
 
Better off getting them to raise towards top limit, this has more effect than brighter bulbs.
 
cj10jeeper said:
Dealer should fix a broken clip. If they refuse let me know. I have some spares lying around
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If they replace the clip will the light dry out by itself or will it corrode? Should I demand a replacement light unit?
 
Andrew_Morris said:
cj10jeeper said:
Dealer should fix a broken clip. If they refuse let me know. I have some spares lying around
Click to expand...

If they replace the clip will the light dry out by itself or will it corrode? Should I demand a replacement light unit?
Click to expand...


The clip is not available as a spare part as far as I know (but I've not searched real OEM to see if it is), so they may have to fit a new light.

Once the light is sealed it will dry over a few days as it has 2 air vents on the rear. Biggest worry will be that the condensation can leave streaks on the inner of the lens that cannot be removed so you need to be aware of that if there has been any such marking.
 
Thanks cj10jeeper for your lightning quick reply!

The car is going into the dealers at 4.30 today so that they can let me know whether the damage is covered etc.

I'll keep your offer of replacement clip in mind.

Cheers
 
Andrew_Morris said:
Thanks cj10jeeper for your lightning quick reply!

The car is going into the dealers at 4.30 today so that they can let me know whether the damage is covered etc.

I'll keep your offer of replacement clip in mind.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Because I'm on a conference call to a bunch of US banks and I'm on mute listening...lol
 
Update.

Took the car to the main dealers - They checked the car over, agreed that the root cause was a broken clip and have agreed to replace the whole unit. :D

I'm going to ask them to raise the height of the beams at the same time whilst they're in there. I might be cheeky and put some new bulbs on the seat for them to fit too :thumbsup:

I'll do a search on the forum to see which are the best bulbs to fit, unless someone beats me to it and posts the answer here. :wink:

EDIT> OK, I'm going to go for Phillips x-treme power.
 
Andrew_Morris said:
Update.

Took the car to the main dealers - They checked the car over, agreed that the root cause was a broken clip and have agreed to replace the whole unit. :D

I'm going to ask them to raise the height of the beams at the same time whilst they're in there. I might be cheeky and put some new bulbs on the seat for them to fit too :thumbsup:

I'll do a search on the forum to see which are the best bulbs to fit, unless someone beats me to it and posts the answer here. :wink:

EDIT> OK, I'm going to go for Phillips x-treme power.
Click to expand...

Can you let me know how you find the uprated bulbs as i'm looking to buy some also, cheers. :)
 
I fitted the philips xtreme bulbs (80%) brighter, to be honest made little difference, the problem isnt the brightness, but the range, in the end I had to adjust my lights up to enable me to see.

Go with the bulbs, but in combination with altering the headlight height.
 
srhutch said:
I fitted the philips xtreme bulbs (80%) brighter, to be honest made little difference, the problem isnt the brightness, but the range, in the end I had to adjust my lights up to enable me to see.

Go with the bulbs, but in combination with altering the headlight height.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: Cheers.
 
And Philips, the god of Bulbs said "Let there be light" ------ And there was light :D

Picked the car up yesterday. The dealer fitted the new headlight under warranty, fitted my Philips Xtreme bulbs (plus the complementary Philips Blue Vision side lights supplied by Powerbulbs.com - all for £34.35 inc next day delivery :thumbsup: ) and raised the level to the maximum permissible legal level and WOW - I can see again!

Nice crisp white light - looks good and very easy on the eyes.

Dealer initially played their face about fitting non oem bulbs but eventually relented after agreeing how crap the original ones were.

I'm almost looking forward to my 350 mile business trip to Cambridge on Friday now. :)
 
Hi All

Looking for some advice here. I have a Sept '06 and it is still under warranty.

My passenger side front fog light has had a misted lens for a few weeks, the weather here has been very wet and it hasn't had a chance to dry out.

Took the zed into the dealer this morning for its first oil service and when I arrived both fog lights AND both headlights were misted up. Weather on the way was wet and I had my headlights on but the lower section of the headlights (the curved bit where the indicators are) were quite misted when I got to the dealer plus a small area of the main headlights in the bottom corners near where they meet the grille were misted over too.

When I collected the car at 11am both the headlights were totally misted up (you could hardly see the bulbs through the lens) so I asked the service rep to take a look. He said its "normal" and that BMW state that they clear themselves after a while driving with the headlights on. You could see them clearing slowly as the lights heated the lens up, with condensation running down the inside in narrow lines. He said that BMW will not investigate any further unless the misting becomes bad enough for water to collect in the bottom of the light permanently.

So I drove home (40 mins / 25 miles) in terrible rain with misted up lights. When I got home the headlights were better but still had some misting inside them. Now, 2hrs later while the Zed has been parked up, they have misted over totally again. Both fog lights are still totally misted up.

I have never had this before in 18mth of owning the Zed and am surpirsed as all 4 lights are suddenly doing it. Any advice guys and gals?

Is it normal? Surely even driving 100m with a misted up lens is a safety issue?

NB: Should add that I have never changed the bulbs or done anything under the bonnet that coud have caused a leak. Just checked 5 other BMW's in the car park here at home and none of them have misty lights at all (3 and 5 series plus M6)
 
It's a difficult one to call. BMW headlights are vented and if you were to pull one out you would find 2 vents on the rear with rubber covers and foam mesh inside (to keep insects out) some condensation does happen and they usually dries out, but mainly minor misting not runing down the lens.

If parked up and the weather changes it's normal to see some misting, but it will clear up and dry out as said with the lights on, however once it gets to the point of water running down the lens IMHO that's more than is acceptable. Since it's all 4 lights I would conclude that it's not a light failure and is either built up over time and you've just noticed it, cold weather has caused it to condense and/ or in any combination you've not used it much, driven through more water than usual, jetwashed it, etc. etc.

I'd give it a week, use the lights and see if it goes. If not back to the dealer or better another for a 2nd opinion.
 
When I first rang up about mine they told me that it would only be a warranty repair if the misting up affected the light pattern.

I would presume that if you could "hardly see the bulbs" then this must have resulted in the light pattern being diffused.

If you have a deterioration of the light output then it's a safety issue. I agree with cj, take it to another dealer and if you don't get the answer you want try another one.

Good luck :thumbsup:
 
Thank you both for the comments - if It hadn't been so wet outside I'd have posted some photos!

Agreed, the car has been sat for a while in the wet so maybe a buildup of damp in/around the lights. Will keep an eye on it - if it doesn't go away I'll try another dealer.

Thanks guys!
 
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