Headlight lenses

[crystalworks]

I'll echo everything twarr1 said. Btw, those bimmerjakes lenses used to be $170 a few years ago. When I saw the price jumping, I just rehabbed mine.

You have to find where your condensation is entering. Generally it's not through the lenses. Those are very well sealed.

[AlexDowntown416]

Is not changing just the halo bulb not enough to give it that brighter white look, you’re suggesting to also change the halo itself into a newer LED version?

My lenses have too many issues to save, small cracks and crazing. I rather just get new ones.


If the factory lenses are very well sealed, does that mean when I install new lenses it won’t be as good as factory when I do it?

So many points of entry for moisture, but how do I find/check each area?

[twarr1]

Is not changing just the halo bulb not enough to give it that brighter white look, you’re suggesting to also change the halo itself into a newer LED version?

I haven't looked closely at the E53, but the E70 light pipes are a poorly executed solution. The pipes take light from the sides of the halogen bulb and attempt to distribute it through both sides... it doesn't work well. I cut the pipes out and epoxied the LED rings on the housings. The large ones are 140mm and the smaller DRL ones are 110mm. (115mm would fit better). See pics in the attachments..

My lenses have too many issues to save, small cracks and crazing. I rather just get new ones.

- Replacement lenses are available for a lot less than $558. I've done 2 sets so far, from different vendors, and they both fit perfecly.

If the factory lenses are very well sealed, does that mean when I install new lenses it won’t be as good as factory when I do it?

-The originals are sealed with butyl tape/rope. You can get it from most of the vendors who sell the lenses. I used silicone and it worked fine. Besides the butyl, the lenses are secured with clips and a few small screws.

So many points of entry for moisture, but how do I find/check each area?

- Probably the most likely entry point would be the 2 access covers for the Headlamp and the DRL lamp.
- Like I wrote in the early reply, the lenses themselves are very well sealed.
- The ballast for the Xenon lights (if you have them) is mounted on the bottom of the headlight housing and gets quite a bit of abuse. The 4 screws holding the ballast are typically corroded pretty good. But, if water were getting in there, the ballast would probably short out as well. They seem to be fairly fragile. I've replaced 3 so far on my E70.
- If you have AHL, the housing has outlines to cut out to replace the servo motors. If someone has replaced the servos they might not have got the opening sealed up well.

[oldskewel]

I have a 2001, pre-facelift. Hoping to buy replacement lenses (only). I have removed the left headlight assembly from the car, and removed the lens from the assembly. There is a Hella part number on it, but it only leads to a complete headlight assembly listing on eBay (probably mis-listed).

Any clues about where to find new aftermarket lenses?

I'm definitely not looking to make any upgrades at all. Just new lenses that transmit light.

EDIT - I found these. Not sure if the video matches the product, and this might be more than they are worth to us.
https://www.bimmerjakes.com/en/headl...tic-cover.html

[twarr1]

The only parts BMW sells are the replacement servo motors in a kit. But a lot of aftermarket companies sell the lenses. They are all over eBay and Amazon.
If you have the old lens off you've done the hard part.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...xoCgGYQAvD_BwE

[oldskewel]

I could not find any for the pre-face lift E53 other than the $90 each ones in the link I gave. So I tried just a little harder on the headlight restoration and it really came together. Glad I did it that way.

Lens off was not very hard. While I had it off, I noticed what looked like some condensation residue on the spherical lens of the Xenon light. So I wiped it off. Once I have it back together and installed, I now notice the similar condensation residue on the right side (which I did not disassemble) seems to diffuse the light a lot. It makes the light look brighter when looking at it, but probably reduces light down the road. Pics:


^ left headlight with lens removed. Very clear The theoretical limit.


^ right headlight after sanding and polishing with 3M kit. This is "done" as far as the 3M kit is concerned. Not great, of course.


^ left lens after not enough sanding (still was a lot = 30+ minutes) with 3M kit, and removal from headlight assembly (while I was thinking about replacing the lens, before finding they cost close to $100 each)


^ side / top view


^ back-side view of lens. Before having it off, I was not sure if some of the cloudiness was on the inside surface (it was not - inside surface was perfect).




^ left lens after more sanding and polishing with 3M kit, and clear coat step #3 from Sylvania kit.


^ right lens after clear coat step #3 from Sylvania kit. No more sanding or anything vs. the second picture above.


^ left side, lights on


^ right side, lights on. As mentioned above, the Xenon sphere is much whiter on this side, I think due to the cloudy condensation residue on it.

[andrewwynn]

The color temp indicates age. It will also be much dimmer. How old are the lamps? Looks due for replacement. (in pairs). One imof mine was purple and 30 % brightness when I bought my car. New xenon was my first purchase for my new to me X5.

[wpoll]

Great job on cleaning up those lenses!

The left-side Xenon lamp looks to be failing... they colour-shift as they age and go green-ish or pink at the end of their life...

I always replace them as pairs, keeping the old "good one" as a spare.

[andrewwynn]

What he said ;-).

Also: Wal-Mart did wife's old lenses for $30 parts and labor. Looked absolutely amazing. Practically new

[twarr1]

I tried the polishing before I eventually replaced the lenses. The polishing looks ok at first but deteriorates very rapidly. The sanding takes off the UV protective coating on the lens. YMMV.