Water inside front headlight :(

L

LukeMace

Senior member
 Northampton
As the title says :( when I first got the car a few weeks ago I didn't notice anything there. I guess with all this rain it has not been good for the car!
There is always now a haze over the front lens and will not clear. How do I get inside and clear it and most importantly stop the water from getting in?! It's really not a nice look! I will grab some pics in a sec of what it looks like :headbang:
 
It seems to be a common problem. Do a search for fogging or condensation and you'll see. I "think" the headlights are vented and will dry out, especially if helped by putting the lights on. If it doesn't clear though, there are a few people on here who take the lights apart to do angel eye conversions who can probably help.

Guessing from that pic that you have halogen lights and not HID? If so, time to do an angel eye mod?


Tapatalking...
 
Search is your friend. Lots of threads.
In essence open the wheel access cover, remove the rear headlight cover and dry it with a hair dryer.
Buy a new seal for the cover from BMW refit carefully and job done.

Btw if from a dealer take it back for replacement.

Edit - beaten to post but def no need at all to split open the light, unless doing some sort of internal conversion.
 
One possible suggestion is to cover the headlamp with tin foil, and turn them on. The heat from the lamps gets reflected back in to the lamp unit. Don't flatten your battery though.

Not sure how efficient it will be with that much damp. Don't blame me if it doesn't work, I read it on another forum

Gary
 
I wasn't suggesting taking them apart! :o Apologies if that was the impression. What I meant was that there are people on the forum that do that have become "headlight experts" and know all the tricks

I'll get my coat...


Tapatalking...
 
Pesonally, when one of mine went, used it as an excuse to get them de-gingered and angel eyes fitted :thumbsup:
 
Thank you all for your replies. I am going to have a good fiddle round tomorrow morning to see if I can get to the bottom of what it is. My wife has already agreed that I can take her Hairdryer for the morning!! :D
If I do what I can to clear it tomorrow but it comes back I will look down the angel eye route I think! Looks lovely! :thumbsup:
 
Thats getting to be a lot of water. I had this on mine and the ballast was eventually drowned, so act now, dont leave it.

I had to cut mine open as the water damaged the liner, but take it off, dry it out, put new seal/back on.
 
You may also find that the chrome inners have peeled off


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Update...
Took of the backs of the headlights today to get to change the side lights to white LEDs. Found that the seal at the back was really crappy and the clip was not inched up as it should of been :? Because I didn't have another one though when I'd finished I simply put some sealant on the seal and made sure all lined up and placed the clip where it should be!

Whilst the back was off i took a Hairdryer to the left hand side lamp for about half an hour after clearing out what water I could with a sock and a coat hanger!! Primitive I know! :oops:

Got to where I thought it was all sorted (no haze, droplets all gone, no water visible at the base of headlight unit) BUT Should of carried on for another 10-15 mins because about an hour later I saw a faint haze appear :headbang: will attack it again tomorrow I think.

At least it was a start I guess to sorting it :thumbsup:
 
For the first time,realized today morning too much moisture in my left front headlight.
Snowy and rainy the weather the last 2 days.Sunshine today.
Is the headlight defective?
 
It'll simply be the back seal. That's what mine ended up being. To replace the rear seal is about £12 from BMW (is the complete rear 'door' / 'cover' to replace)
Hope it works out! Dry it out also with a hair dryer when you change the back cover to make sure it's nice and toasty and dry inside it first!
 
Thats correct orfanidis360 - you will need to turn your wheel though and access is difficult.

Also, use some gummi pfledge on the seal before replacing it, as a dry rubber seal isn't as good. I would also check its seated properly when you replace the back - thin, girly fingers help with this :)
 
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