Headlight internal wire harness disintegrating?

[nick325xit 5spd]

Anyone had issues with this before?

What are my odds of getting a good one in a used replacement?

[wpoll]

Seems to be a common issue as these vehicles age.

A used set might be better. others have manually re-wired the headlights.

[c-bass]

I have the same thing happening on the wife's X.

You can "fix" that by coating the wires with liquid electrical tape.

We have the european environmental regulations to thank for these issues.

This is a pretty big issue on the first gen Porsche Cayenne and 2000s Mercedes so we're not alone.

[nick325xit 5spd]

Originally Posted by c-bass

I have the same thing happening on the wife's X.

You can "fix" that by coating the wires with liquid electrical tape.

We have the european environmental regulations to thank for these issues.

This is a pretty big issue on the first gen Porsche Cayenne and 2000s Mercedes so we're not alone.

Yeah... I'm giving the liquid electrical tape a shot.

I don't feel motivated enough to do a complete rewire now.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by c-bass

You can "fix" that by coating the wires with liquid electrical tape.

We have the european environmental regulations to thank for these issues.

This is a pretty big issue on the first gen Porsche Cayenne and 2000s Mercedes so we're not alone.

Originally Posted by nick325xit 5spd

Yeah... I'm giving the liquid electrical tape a shot.

I don't feel motivated enough to do a complete rewire now.

I worked on a lot of European cars (mostly other people's projects) with a friend at his home shop. We'd go off into scrapyards looking for parts a lot, but seemed to never find wiring harnesses that were still good.

The worst case was a '70 Saab 99 that had its' hood up, sitting in the Texas sun for who knows how long. Absolutely no wiring underhood was still good...all the insulation was rotted off, and even the plastic fusebox had disintegrated. We had better luck with cloth-covered wiring on early cars, but in the 60-70's it seemed like Euro car manufacturers decided to let their wiring dissolve over time.

My friend warned me not to ever buy a European car (he specifically mentioned Audi and BMW) in the future, due to high costs of parts, and crummy rubber and plastic that they were built with. Of course, he'd never have approved swapping my Chevelle drag car for an elderly X5, but I did. Especially since it had the BBC engine he'd built for it, still inside.

When I was installing my electric fan, I went over practically all the wiring I could reach, while trying to find a switched circuit underhood (ended up using the flashlight charging circuit in the glovebox). I was amazed to find zero deterioration in the wires, including the lighting wires (which looked tangled and messed-with, but still intact). I had liquid tape standing by for repairs, but didn't need it.

[nick325xit 5spd]

Originally Posted by workingonit

I worked on a lot of European cars (mostly other people's projects) with a friend at his home shop. We'd go off into scrapyards looking for parts a lot, but seemed to never find wiring harnesses that were still good.

The worst case was a '70 Saab 99 that had its' hood up, sitting in the Texas sun for who knows how long. Absolutely no wiring underhood was still good...all the insulation was rotted off, and even the plastic fusebox had disintegrated. We had better luck with cloth-covered wiring on early cars, but in the 60-70's it seemed like Euro car manufacturers decided to let their wiring dissolve over time.

My friend warned me not to ever buy a European car (he specifically mentioned Audi and BMW) in the future, due to high costs of parts, and crummy rubber and plastic that they were built with. Of course, he'd never have approved swapping my Chevelle drag car for an elderly X5, but I did. Especially since it had the BBC engine he'd built for it, still inside.

When I was installing my electric fan, I went over practically all the wiring I could reach, while trying to find a switched circuit underhood (ended up using the flashlight charging circuit in the glovebox). I was amazed to find zero deterioration in the wires, including the lighting wires (which looked tangled and messed-with, but still intact). I had liquid tape standing by for repairs, but didn't need it.

As a general rule, my experience with BMW wire harness quality has been excellent. The quality of wire and insulation is a LOT higher than I've encountered on, say, any domestic.

Clearly something went wrong in the headlight harness spec.