[ColinMonaco]

Hello all. I need some help with my e92 335i.
Starting in February, I had both of my headlights get bad condensation. This was after I, in my ignorance, attempted to install led ring lights in place of the stock ones. Little did I know how bad an idea that was. Eventually my right xenon bulb goes out. I take the car to a local Indy who replaces both headlights and all is well. $2800. The headlights they replaced my old ones with which are clearly aftermarket, but I didn’t mind as I had my car back. Fast forward a few weeks my left headlight goes out. Take it back to Indy and and they say that the car is ready, but when I arrive at the Indy the right headlight is out again. They say they’ll fix it, we go home, and another week passes. We call and they say that both headlights are working but they are looking for a cover for the right headlight, apparently to prevent water from getting into the electronics. (My driver side headlight did have said cover, but my right did not) They say they’ll let us know when they source one. We go to pick up the car again, right headlight is out again. This was a month ago. Finally I take it to a dealer. They fix the issue, claim it was the headlights drivers, charge $1300 for it. All is well, headlights are working. Fast forward to today and I wash my car by hand, intentionally avoiding my headlights and my driver side headlight, the one that did have a cover, is now out. I don’t know what to do anymore. I am going to take it back to the dealer, but if anybody can give any sort of advice as to what the issue may be that would be greatly appreciated. I am going to attach a photo of the car to show what they headlights look like, just in case that may be useful to anybody.

[Three_thirty_I]

So if I understand correctly, the entire headlight units are aftermarket, not OEM? I would insist that the indy either replace them with ones that are more reliable, or refund you and try and get a good used set of OEM lights. My concern would be if they butchered the wiring to fit these aftermarket lights. It also seems like you are steadily being ripped off!!

[lookalikehuuh]

how the heck did they charge you 2800 bucks and give some shitty aftermarket headlights? Something doesn't smell right here, did they give you a breakdown of what the chargers were when the shop replaced the headlight?

[ColinMonaco]

Originally Posted by lookalikehuuh

how the heck did they charge you 2800 bucks and give some shitty aftermarket headlights? Something doesn't smell right here, did they give you a breakdown of what the chargers were when the shop replaced the headlight?

Here’s the receipt. The light skirt repair was from when my car ate a fender liner and damaged the fog light harness. So I should have subtracted that cost from that total. Apologies

[whyzee125]

Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that. I don't mean this against you at all but you absolutely got taken for a ride. Those headlights are ebay chinese knockoffs that can be had for $450 for the pair on ebay.

I would demand that they install OEM lights or give you a full refund--threaten recourse otherwise as that's not in any way reasonable.

I've lived in TN for a while now, from CA originally, and am kind of astounded by the poor quality work that commonly gets done here and is passed off as okay.

Good luck!

[ColinMonaco]

Originally Posted by whyzee125

Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that. I don't mean this against you at all but you absolutely got taken for a ride. Those headlights are ebay chinese knockoffs that can be had for $450 for the pair on ebay.

I would demand that they install OEM lights or give you a full refund—threaten recourse otherwise as that's not in any way reasonable.

I've lived in TN for a while now, from CA originally, and am kind of astounded by the poor quality work that commonly gets done here and is passed off as okay.

Good luck!

I appreciate your response. I’ll certainly be in contact wihh them

[lookalikehuuh]

Yeah my friend you got taken for a ride. You got charged for Original Equipment headlight prices and given shitty eBay or Amazon Chinese headlights. For the record, the headlight assemblies are literally weather proof from the factory and the fact they are saying they have to order something to make them water proof is some BS!

[Mgh024]

I’m not one to leave bad reviews, but I would absolutely blast that shops yelp.

That’s absurd.

[whyzee125]

What ended up happening?

[ColinMonaco]

Originally Posted by whyzee125

What ended up happening?

Work in progress at the moment. Dealership quoted 5k for new headlights. I ended up buying used oem headlights to install, total $700. Both look damn near brand new, but the problem headlight is flickering. Might just need to replace the ballast, which I have extras of, so no big deal. The bright side is that it is barely flickering, happens once ever few minutes. Both headlights have new bulbs in them, so I don’t imagine that’s the issue, but if swapping out the ballast doesn’t fix the flickering I’ll try swapping the bulbs around. Currently waiting on a bumper guide in the mail, as mine has been stripped since day one of owning the car. It should have arrived yesterday but I can’t track it because Bimmerworld didn’t send me a link to do so and I checked out as a guest. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and I’m getting there

[ColinMonaco]

Swapped out the ballasts and everything is working so far. Will update if anything changes, but I’m very happy to have my car back

[Three_thirty_I]

Originally Posted by ColinMonaco

Swapped out the ballasts and everything is working so far. Will update if anything changes, but I’m very happy to have my car back

Very nice! Well done for sorting this out, albeit the expense, but worth it in the end.

[NickDacic]

Hello, I’m new here and having a very hard time with my aftermarket headlights that came with the car when I bought it. They are cheap sonar sk3301 headlights is what the lens says. But there are no bulbs in them. I ordered D1S bulbs as it’s stamped on the headlight but the plug is way different. I’m not sure what this flat white plug goes to but cannot find a bulb with that plug. On this website if you look at the third picture you can see the white plug. Need help please
https://www.carid.com/sf-pl-mpn/pid-...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Nando_e90]

At least in the OE ZKW xenon headlamps, the white connector goes to the auto-leve (vertical) motor. The one that goes to the D1S xenon bulb should come from the ballast, but in the link you shared it states that the headlight uses halogen for lows and highs.