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  #11  
Old 01-26-2019, 03:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by North Idaho X5 View Post
VERY informative, thank you for the insight and the detailed graphics, I'm quickly getting educated, and I sincerely appreciate it. It's good to know that there are some very knowledgeable people on this forum. Thank you again!


Cheers,
Chris
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  #12  
Old 01-30-2019, 03:42 AM
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Originally Posted by Overboost View Post
Ah, ok. Now try swapping the ballasts mounted on the bottom of the housings. #1 in the diagram. This is most likely the problem but check it and we'll go from there.

Couldn't get to it till today, and still no luck. First I swapped the Ballast (#1). Passenger side still lights up just fine, nothing on the driver side. Then I swapped the HCU (#5), same result. Pass side is fine, driver side still out.


So everything has been swapped: bulbs, igniters, ballasts and HCU. Still no driver side light. All parts work fine on passenger side.


The female harness plug that goes onto the rear of the headlight assembly is undamaged, as is the male plug it fits onto. Looking close, no pins or blades are bent or damaged.



Further info, there are two previous owners, both from warmer Seattle area. I bought it over there, drove it back to north Idaho, where winter temperatures are well below freezing at night. I don't think that would matter, these SAV's are surely designed to withstand very cold temps.



Is there any other suggestions? Could the LCM III have shut down just the driver side by a bulb going out?



I can order a used LCM III on eBay for about $60, but I don't want to get stuck with it, if that isn't the problem.



Feeling a bit defeated... But you guys have been a real learning experience, and I really appreciate all the info and graphics. Hoping you can still get me fixed. Thank you!!!
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  #13  
Old 01-30-2019, 08:16 AM
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Vehicle mileage is stored in the LCM, it might solve your headlight challenge, but you'll need to have it coded to match the cluster mileage, which can be a pain. If not, you get a "tamper dot" in the gauge cluster.

Late to the party ... have you tried plugging the known working headlight assembly (the whole thing) temporarily into the non-op side? Does the auto-level work? Parking light?
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  #14  
Old 01-30-2019, 08:29 AM
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One more thing .. the LCM did away with relays, but I believe the circuit is still fused. Check F106, F107, F2, F9, F61 in the glovebox area.
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  #15  
Old 01-30-2019, 08:57 AM
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I had a similar experience this week as explained in my thread here: https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...n-begin-6.html

Once I had the cut wire repaired, my right light worked for the first time. But the left one quit working in the process. I swapped all the components from side-side (again) and it still wouldn't work. I put the old known-working bulb in to no avail. At this point in the troubleshooting process, I was down to searching for broken wires, etc. Seeing nothing obviously wrong, I decided to go through the whole part swap routine one more time.

Since I was getting tired of uncrewing all the little mounting screws, I decided to just plug in the components, but not install the screws. When I did that, both sides worked. This led me to believe I simply had a contact issue with one of the components on the bottom of the light. I pushed each in and out of it's contacts several times, applied some dielectric grease, butttoned it all back up and all is good.

The contacts on the left side components all LOOKED good, but somehow weren't making good enough contact. Oddly, the right side had some corrosion in the smaller box connections, yet it still worked.

Hope that helps.

AM.
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  #16  
Old 01-30-2019, 09:12 AM
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Xenon Headlight Replaced, not working!

#5 does not affect the lights turning on or off.

So you tried both the ballast and ignition (#1&2) from the right side and still didn't work?

Tried powering it manually,



12v to pin 3 and ground pin 2 and if everything works this will make the xenons come on.

This way you can at least know all the components are working and can start diagnosing the wiring in the car and rule the headlights itself out.


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  #17  
Old 01-30-2019, 09:34 AM
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Did you try plugging the right light into the left plug and vice-versa? That's how I isolated the fact I had no problem with the wiring. The working light worked on either side.

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Last edited by Attacking Mid; 01-30-2019 at 11:46 AM.
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  #18  
Old 01-30-2019, 11:10 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Attacking Mid View Post
Did you try plugging the right light into the left plug and vice-versa? That's how I isolated the fact I no problem with the wiring. The working light worked on either side.

AM.
That's what I would try first. Switch the entire light assemblies.

When I had this problem (still do, but bypassed the LCM with a relay) it turned out to be a fault with the ALC (headlight leveling). When the LCM detects a non-func ALC it will disable that low beam. High beams will work if memory serves but lows will not. I still have not corrected this problem as I bypassed it and haven't had time (desire) to dig into it.

There's a thread about both the issue and my bypass somewhere on here.
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  #19  
Old 01-30-2019, 04:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Scott ZHP View Post
One more thing .. the LCM did away with relays, but I believe the circuit is still fused. Check F106, F107, F2, F9, F61 in the glovebox area.

Will do, thanks!!
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  #20  
Old 01-30-2019, 04:56 PM
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Originally Posted by crystalworks View Post
That's what I would try first. Switch the entire light assemblies.

When I had this problem (still do, but bypassed the LCM with a relay) it turned out to be a fault with the ALC (headlight leveling). When the LCM detects a non-func ALC it will disable that low beam. High beams will work if memory serves but lows will not. I still have not corrected this problem as I bypassed it and haven't had time (desire) to dig into it.

There's a thread about both the issue and my bypass somewhere on here.

Wasn't sure if the plugs were symmetrical, didn't want to damage anything if they weren't, so I'll try swapping the whole assembly.


Regarding the ALC, both low and high beams don't work. All components have been swapped over, the new bulbs, igniters, ballast and Headlight Control module. Still, no driver side. I did have a conversation with a local repair shop that does BMW, he believes the Light Control Module III needs to be coded to turn power back on to the xenon headlight, saying since the lamp actually went out, it detected a short and shut down power to just the xenon.


I'll keep you posted on this great mystery... Thank you!!
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