[Wake27]

I need some help. For more than a year I've been having problems with my headlights due to upgrading the angel eyes. Long story short, my drivers side AE is much more dim than the passenger. The last time my AEs were put in, the mechanic noticed that a plastic piece in the headlight assembly had melted and formed a bubble. The plastic piece looks to me like a tube that filters the light from the bulb to the angel eye rings themselves. I was pretty sure that the bubble was distorting the light, making the rings dimmer. Today I took it in to the dealer (with the stock AEs back in) to see if there was anything that could be done to fix it. They charged me $280 for labor and parts. Looks like all they did was replace the stock AE bulb itself, did absolutely nothing.

So now my question. The mechanic that noticed the bubble during the after-market AE install a few months ago is the same one that pulled the upgraded ones out and reinstalled the stock before I took it into the dealer. He suggested that if the dealer wouldn't fix it, I might want to look into buying an empty headlight assembly, then he could swap all the parts from my otherwise functional headlight. I looked around online but I can't find a part number for the empty assembly itself.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...18&hg=63&fg=05

Any ideas? I don't know how hard the swap may be, where I can buy the case, and for how much. I looked on eBay, but am a little skeptical about buying something like this from there.

[Wake27]

I've been searching a lot, and have found the part number for the whole light, but I really don't wanna drop all that money for the whole thing.

Part number for entire xenon headlight: 63117161669

Edit: Just found this, $750 is pretty steep for an empty headlight though.
http://www.koperformance.com/catalog...Headlight.html

[Mike@F1 Autohaüs]

Sounds like you had the RDash angel eyes installed and it overheated/melted those light tube. This is not reversible and you'd have to purchase another set of headlamps just to restore the look/output of those angel eyes

[Wake27]

Went back to the dealer today. I told them the new bulb didn't do shit and I know that there is a plastic piece melted into a bubble and I think that's what the problem is. The SA and mechanic that replaced the bulb talked to me, and said that the drivers side headlight is the original one the car came with while the passenger was made in March of 09 (BMW of Cunningham in San Diego, now Sunroad Automotive or something like that) told me they replaced both headlights last summer. Obviously they lied. The mechanic and SA today said that since its the original headlight, made in '06, things will start to deteriorate with time, i.e. the plastic piece melting. Then they pretty much showed me the door.

Bump for more thoughts on the xenon swap.

[Natural335]

I would definitely look into doing a xenon retrofit, I can foresee only 2 obstacles in your way: 1. An extra set of headlights or a replacement headlight is incredibly expensive. 2. The glue that BMW uses on its headlights makes in nearly impossible to take them apart. It can be done but is very tedious and time consuming. I would look for a set of pre-LCI xenons and go that route.

[Wake27]

Originally Posted by Natural335

I would definitely look into doing a xenon retrofit, I can foresee only 2 obstacles in your way: 1. An extra set of headlights or a replacement headlight is incredibly expensive. 2. The glue that BMW uses on its headlights makes in nearly impossible to take them apart. It can be done but is very tedious and time consuming. I would look for a set of pre-LCI xenons and go that route.

Thanks, I'm looking around for some but its hard to find them in good shape. And yeah I didn't think they'd be as expensive as they are for just the shells.

[VTECaddict]

Just a new empty shell won't do anything. The angel eye rings are part of the internals of headlight and can't be replaced individually.

Unless he meant "empty" by a complete headlight without the bulbs, ballast, and AHL module...then yes, that would work. But just swapping an empty outer shell will accomplish nothing (if you can even find one for sale). Look for a used headlight on ebay...

[ar]

I have an passenger side pre-lci xenon headlight shell originally to be used for a halo-to-xenon conversion.

You can rip the wiring out and use as a shell. PM me if your interested.

[Wake27]

Originally Posted by ary.r

I have an passenger side pre-lci xenon headlight shell originally to be used for a halo-to-xenon conversion.

You can rip the wiring out and use as a shell. PM me if your interested.

Damn, I appreciate the offer but unfortunately the driver's side is the one with the problem. Thanks though.

[Wake27]

Originally Posted by VTECaddict

Just a new empty shell won't do anything. The angel eye rings are part of the internals of headlight and can't be replaced individually.

Unless he meant "empty" by a complete headlight without the bulbs, ballast, and AHL module...then yes, that would work. But just swapping an empty outer shell will accomplish nothing (if you can even find one for sale). Look for a used headlight on ebay...

Just saw this for some reason. I knew the pieces probably couldn't be replaced individually, so yeah I meant an entire headlight without the the junk. eBay does seem to be my best bet unfortunately, I'm keeping an eye out.

[Wake27]

So got a new one on eBay. Well not new, but you know what I mean. Looks good so hopefully everything will work out and I can get a successful swap. And I got it for a little over $50 shipped as opposed to a few "Buy It Nows" asking like $350 plus shipping. Pretty stoked, assuming it works.