[billysundae]

Hello everyone!

I have a Pre-LCI E91 with xenons, and they shake like crazy whenever the road is imperfect. They have been doing this for several years, but all the tabs and screws are still intact and tight so it doesn't seem like a fitment issue.

I think I found 2 TSBs that would solve my issue, but I haven't found a copy of it floating around. Does anyone happen to have a copy?

[starfox5194]

There are actuators inside the headlight housing. That's more than likely your issue. The actuator arms pop out of their sockets allowing your projectors to move freely when driving over bumps. Additionally, your lights will probably be pointing down rather than straight ahead.

[billysundae]

I don't think the actuator arms are loose, but I can try and check. The projectors do the up/down calibration upon start up, and they are pointing straight. No issues with the adaptive curve lighting as well, always returns to center after turning.

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by billysundae

I don't think the actuator arms are loose, but I can try and check. The projectors do the up/down calibration upon start up, and they are pointing straight. No issues with the adaptive curve lighting as well, always returns to center after turning.

Check the outboard support socket. You state that the adaptive lighting test goes okay at startup so likely the socket is good.

The projector is mounted to a carrier bracket. That bracket is snapped into the headlight housing. Maybe one of those snaps isn't in good. Pull headlight from car. You should be able to remove the large rear door. Put fingers around the projector and see if the carrier arm is loose from the housing. It will be obvious. There is some small play. I don't mean this. Good luck.

[billysundae]

I actually haven't seen that solution yet, I'll give it a try in a few days when I have some time and report back!

[Serf27]

2 of my cars do this too! It is quite annoying.
The up and down feature works on start up and they both point straight.
But they bounce like a bobble head sometimes.

I read a thread the other day that it may be the ride height sensor causing this.

[billysundae]

Hi everyone, bit of an update if anyone's interested. Full disclosure, I retrofitted the xenon lights myself and did enable the adaptive functionality as well (idk if that's important to note). I mention this in case there is a difference between the xenon and halogen headlight brackets, but I believe they're the same part number.

Now I did find a copy of tsb SI B63 07 14 on the nhtsa.gov website here if anyone else wants to take a look. IMPORTANT TO NOTE, THIS TSB IS FOR LCI VEHICLES WHICH BECOMES IMPORTANT!!
"https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2007/BMW/3%252520SERIES/WAGON%252520W%25252FSAB/RWD#manufacturerCommunications"

I followed the instructions and ordered the additional headlight support brackets part numbers "63 12 7 316 675" for left and "63 12 7 316 676" for right, as well as the screws and nuts in the instructions. It took a long time to arrive since it seems to be very rarely stocked, so you may need to wait a while if you want to try this. Also note that you only really need 2 screws and 2 nuts, not 4 each listed in the instructions.

Now, it became very apparent these brackets were made for the lci xenon lights because the brackets run into the angel eye bulb bumps on the bottom of the pre-lci headlights. So I did some cutting and made a notch that fit around the bump. The screw also didn't fit very well into the unused mount on the bottom of the headlight (pg3, hole #3 in the picture on the TSB), in the sense that I couldn't fully align the hole on the bracket with the unused mount and the screw seemed to have a slightly larger diameter than the bracket opening. You may fair better if you try this, but this was my experience during install. I did successfully install both sides after unscrewing all bolts to adjust headlight fitment.

Now for the results, I'd say the vibrations are 90% solved. Driving over washboard like roads on the highways the lights no longer shake up and down, and the headlight itself feels more secure when doing a whack test after installation. I do still notice a slight jiggle when driving over the bump into my garage, but it's far less than before.

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by billysundae

Hi everyone, bit of an update if anyone's interested. Full disclosure, I retrofitted the xenon lights myself and did enable the adaptive functionality as well (idk if that's important to note). I mention this in case there is a difference between the xenon and halogen headlight brackets, but I believe they're the same part number.

Now I did find a copy of tsb SI B63 07 14 on the nhtsa.gov website here if anyone else wants to take a look. IMPORTANT TO NOTE, THIS TSB IS FOR LCI VEHICLES WHICH BECOMES IMPORTANT!!
"https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2007/BMW/3%252520SERIES/WAGON%252520W%25252FSAB/RWD#manufacturerCommunications"

I followed the instructions and ordered the additional headlight support brackets part numbers "63 12 7 316 675" for left and "63 12 7 316 676" for right, as well as the screws and nuts in the instructions. It took a long time to arrive since it seems to be very rarely stocked, so you may need to wait a while if you want to try this. Also note that you only really need 2 screws and 2 nuts, not 4 each listed in the instructions.

Now, it became very apparent these brackets were made for the lci xenon lights because the brackets run into the angel eye bulb bumps on the bottom of the pre-lci headlights. So I did some cutting and made a notch that fit around the bump. The screw also didn't fit very well into the unused mount on the bottom of the headlight (pg3, hole #3 in the picture on the TSB), in the sense that I couldn't fully align the hole on the bracket with the unused mount and the screw seemed to have a slightly larger diameter than the bracket opening. You may fair better if you try this, but this was my experience during install. I did successfully install both sides after unscrewing all bolts to adjust headlight fitment.

Now for the results, I'd say the vibrations are 90% solved. Driving over washboard like roads on the highways the lights no longer shake up and down, and the headlight itself feels more secure when doing a whack test after installation. I do still notice a slight jiggle when driving over the bump into my garage, but it's far less than before.

Thank you for this follow up. I do wonder if all of our LCI adaptives have a slight jiggle to them when we go over rough roads. You are "zoomed in" paying attention to every little thing now. We other guys may not be looking closely. I will go look tonight now.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

Thank you for this follow up. I do wonder if all of our LCI adaptives have a slight jiggle to them when we go over rough roads. You are "zoomed in" paying attention to every little thing now. We other guys may not be looking closely. I will go look tonight now.

I installed adaptive LCI xenon headlights on my pre-LCI and the first thing I noticed is that the xenon projector inside shakes. I'm nearly certain all of the LCI xenon headlights do this, and no external bracket is going to help much. The bracket only supports the headlight housing and the problem is the adaptive projector itself inside the housing.

When I first installed the lights-, I noticed that there's some slight free play on the projector itself.

I sourced a set of custom machined brackets that will support the Hella G5 projector (non-adaptive), and my plan is to replace the projectors entirely however I haven't gotten around to doing it yet. There's a user here selling them who still had some left last I checked. I'm not completely sold on the G5 since there are some other projectors that I'd like to use instead, but I want to keep things simple and they seem OK.

[BB_cuda]

I’ve read of the G5s on here as well as another place. Cutoff line looks pretty good but I have no direct experience.