Headlight Trouble

[chrissoto312]

Originally Posted by TerminatorX5

no headlight washers, ehh..? interesting... what are the last 7 of your VIN?


you might be able to pull the headlight out without dropping the front bumper - I have not done that on the facelifted E53s, so I don't want to tell you something that I am not familiar with first hand... technically speaking, there should not be any big issues, you remove 4 screws holding the headlight to the body, pull the headlight out, disconnect the wires and voila!!, you got the light in your hands... but... as the expericence has shown, things are not that easy half of the times... you should mark the position of the screws, so when you reinstall the lights, you will have minimal adjustment needed to be done... there might be some grounding wires that might need to be disconnected... I wish X5SND had come across this and the other thread - he should know the internal guts of these lights...

Last 7 of VIN: LY39445

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by chrissoto312

LOL, No, I don't have the washer nozzles on my model.

I can access the back of my headlight easily. I know how after replacing the factory HID's back when I first bought it.

You probably have more room than a cramped 4.8is engine bay so if you can either drop the bumper and remove the headlights (should be screws/bolts at the bottom of the bumper connecting to the skid plate, and about 4 screws on each side fender liner near the bottom, as well as some screws near the middle of the bumper/license plate area.

Again i am not familiar with removing the facelift bumper, on my pre-facelift i had a total of 19 fasteners on the bumper, plus 4 bolts on each headlight to remove.

if you can remove the backs of the headlights and see the internals, i would recommend someone sitting in the car and doing the tests you were trying earlier and see if you hear any stripped teeth of a gear or any unusual noises coming from the right headlight that is in question.

[TerminatorX5]

Type
Value

VIN 5UXFA13596LY39445
Type code FA13
Type X5 3.0I (USA)
E series E53 ()
Series X
Type GEFZG
Steering LL
Doors 5
Engine M54
Displacement 3.00
Power 170
Drive ALLR
Transmission AUT
Colour ALPINWEISS 3 (300)
Upholstery LEDER DAKOTA/SCHWARZ (LCSW)
Prod.date 2006-03-30

Code

Description (interface)
Description (EPC)

S1CAA SELEKTION COP RELEVANTER FAHRZEUGE Selection of COP relevant vehicles
S205A AUTOMATIC GETRIEBE Automatic transmission
S321A EXTERIEURUMFAENGE IN WAGENFARBE Exterior parts in vehicle color
S386A DACHRELING Roof railing
S402A PANORAMA GLASDACH Electric panoramic roof
S417A SONNENSCHUTZROLLO HINTERE TUERSCH. Roller sun vizor, rear door
S438A EDELHOLZAUSFUEHRUNG Fine wood trim
S441A RAUCHERPAKET Smoker package
S442A GETRAENKEHALTER Cup holder
S459A SITZVERSTELLUNG, ELEKTR.MIT MEMORY Seat adjuster, electric, with memory
S461A SITZLEHNENVERSTELLUNG IM FOND,ELEK. Electric seat backrest adjustment, rear
S488A LORDOSENSTUETZE FAHRER/BEIFAHRER Lumbar support, driver and passenger
S508A PARK DISTANCE CONTROL (PDC) Park Distance Control (PDC)
S521A REGENSENSOR Rain sensor

S522A XENON-LICHT Xenon Light

Code

Description (interface)
Description (EPC)

S524A ADAPTIVES KURVENLICHT Adaptive Headlights
S533A FOND-KLIMATISIERUNG Air conditioning, rear
S534A KLIMAAUTOMATIK Automatic air conditioning
S555A BORDCOMPUTER On-board computer V with remote control
S639A KOMPLETTVORB. HANDY USA/CDN Preparation f mobile phone cpl. USA/CDN
S650A CD-LAUFWERK CD player
S676A HIFI LAUTSPRECHERSYSTEM HiFi speaker system
S761A INDIVIDUAL SONNENSCHUTZVERGLASUNG Individual sunshade glazing
S8SPA COP STEUERUNG Control unit COP
S926A ERSATZRAD Spare wheel
S945A BERUECKSICHTIGUNG PREISABHAENGK. Dummy-SALAPA

Code

Description (interface)
Description (EPC)

S249A MULITFUNKTION FUER LENKRAD Multifunction f steering wheel
S2KBA LM RAEDER V-SPEICHE 130 BMW LA wheel, V spoke 130
S302A ALARMANLAGE Alarm system
S354A GRUENKEIL-FRONTSCHEIBE Green windscreen, green shade band
S645A RADIO-STEUERUNG US BMW US Radio
S661A RADIO BMW BUSINESS Radio BMW Business (C43)
S692A CD WECHSLER I-BUS VORBEREITUNG Preparation, BMW 6-CD changer I-bus
S785A WEISSE BLINKLEUCHTEN White direction indicator lights
S845A AKUSTISCHE GURTWARNUNG Acoustic belt warning
S853A SPRACHVERSION ENGLISCH Language version English
S876A FUNKFREQUENZ 315 MHZ Radio frequency 315 MHz
S992A STEUERUNG KENNZEICHENBEFESTIGUNG Control of number-plate attachment

[TerminatorX5]

interesting, the xenon lights without the washer nozzles for the headlights... learn something new every day!!!

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

so the stepper motors only control up/down functions, not left right? am i reading this right?

And there is an AHL module which controls the lights correct? If chris can put his ears to the headlight and hear if there is any clicking or stripping of teeth in the motor that would help. If he hears nothing we may have a module problem?

I think here's the deal.

If you have normal xenon headlights (non-adaptive) there is only one stepper motor to control vertical aim.

If you have ADAPTIVE xenon headlights, there is another one that controls horizontal aiming.

Terminator, this may be why the wiring got you confused. It depends on if you're looking at an adaptive headlight wiring diagram or not.

[chrissoto312]

Originally Posted by TerminatorX5

interesting, the xenon lights without the washer nozzles for the headlights... learn something new every day!!!

WOW! That's a lot of info on my car!

[TerminatorX5]

Originally Posted by TwinsPoppa

I think here's the deal.

If you have normal xenon headlights (non-adaptive) there is only one stepper motor to control vertical aim.

If you have ADAPTIVE xenon headlights, there is another one that controls horizontal aiming.

Terminator, this may be why the wiring got you confused. It depends on if you're looking at an adaptive headlight wiring diagram or not.

I was looking at module A214, the adaptive headlight module.. the diagram shows 2 motors per each headlight... when i pull the RealOEM, it only talks about vertical motor... maybe the part is same for both applications...
thinking from operational point of view, you need something to adjust the lights sideways - i just was not sure if it was 2 motors or one motor operating on 2 axis somehow...
that is why i wanted to hear from somebody who saw the insides...

[TwinsPoppa]

Just giving this more thought.

Adjustment of headlight horizontal aim
Horizontal adjustment range of headlights
· Inwards (towards vehicle centre line): approx. 7-8 Deg
· Outwards: 15 Deg
The headlight on the outside of the bend must reach its limit of movement at the same time as the headlight on the inside so that illumination is constant and even.

Maybe all he needs is some type of calibration (mechanical or software)?

Chris, why don't you try adjusting the manual horizontal adjuster on the passenger headlight to aim more left. Count how many turns you do so that you can return it to the same position later if you have to.

Then see if you have the same problem. Pretty simple check.

Seems to me mechanically all things are working. It aims/moves right, it just gets stuck. It resets to the center so it can move/aim back into position.

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by TerminatorX5

I was looking at module A214, the adaptive headlight module.. the diagram shows 2 motors per each headlight... when i pull the RealOEM, it only talks about vertical motor... maybe the part is same for both applications...
thinking from operational point of view, you need something to adjust the lights sideways - i just was not sure if it was 2 motors or one motor operating on 2 axis somehow...
that is why i wanted to hear from somebody who saw the insides...

Oh, sorry I didn't pay attention that you found 2 motors and that the problem was realoem.

I think the horizontal stepper motor is part of a module that may NOT be called stepper motor.

[TerminatorX5]

Originally Posted by TwinsPoppa

Just giving this more thought.

Adjustment of headlight horizontal aim
Horizontal adjustment range of headlights
· Inwards (towards vehicle centre line): approx. 7-8 Deg
· Outwards: 15 Deg
The headlight on the outside of the bend must reach its limit of movement at the same time as the headlight on the inside so that illumination is constant and even.

Maybe all he needs is some type of calibration (mechanical or software)?

Chris, why don't you try adjusting the manual horizontal adjuster on the passenger headlight to aim more left. Count how many turns you do so that you can return it to the same position later if you have to.

Then see if you have the same problem. Pretty simple check.

Seems to me mechanically all things are working. It aims/moves right, it just gets stuck. It resets to the center so it can move/aim back into position.

this is a good idea to try, only calls for philips screwdriver and attention during adjustment...

worth trying