Good or Bad Idea???

[bimmer135i]

A couple of months ago, I had put up a post on how I screwed up my headlight with an angel eye upgrade. The problem was when finishing the installation in the last process, I couldn't put the cover back on the headlight. I drove for a while without the cover over the headlight and one day BAM, the adaptive headlight warning came on. Before going to BMW, I went to a mechanic and he said to put the cover back on he would have to take off the passenger wheel and then try to get the headlight cover on. Like me, he couldn't just fit it in from the hood. I didn't want to go that route. The mechanic placed the headlight cover in there like it was never touched (not inserted in the clips just looked like it). BMW caught it said it was my fault, which I guess it was. It's been a couple of months since the incident. So I thought it would be a good idea to take it back to BMW but to a different service advisor. Any thoughts on this? Has anyone else done this before?

Also, my car is bone stock. Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated.Thanks in advance!

[Focusedintntions]

Yeah they document that stuff and associate it your key fob and vin. So taking it back to the same dealer won't really help..

[Kamal]

You could try that, but your first attempt at getting it fixed is probably in the BMW service system. I say go for it, the worst they can do is deny you again... did you replace just the bulb or did you go with an LED/HID upgrade for the angel eyes?

[mleskovar]

Originally Posted by bimmer135i

...Also, my car is bone stock. Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated....

First, if your car was always "bone stock" you wouldn't be posting this. I say man up, pay the piper, and next time make sure you return car to normal before service if you expect warranty on altered systems. I do sympathize with the money out of pocket for a learning experience though

[bimmer135i]

I actually had a friend of a friend run the vin number for me and he said nothing was on my vin at all. And last time I went up to BMW they said they wanted $2,000 plus, including labor. Is that even worth it?

[pinmagic]

Originally Posted by mleskovar

First, if your car was always "bone stock" you wouldn't be posting this. I say man up, pay the piper, and next time make sure you return car to normal before service if you expect warranty on altered systems. I do sympathize with the money out of pocket for a learning experience though

When I started reading this, I thought it was a post about having integrity, and paying for the mistake yourself. But in the end, it really just says "if you want to pull a fast one, next time, do a better job."

[x97Melbourne]

To each his own I guess.... But I never understood mods like that. I think the car is just fine out of the factory. And like a couple people said, you gotta pay the price if you do stuff like this. Mine is "bone stock" as you say.... I never have to worry about pulling a fast one on the dealer.
Factory warranty for me, please.

[1speedbike]

Just go to a different dealership. Call up, make an appointment, add in an oil change or alignment or something too so they don't get too suspicious ("why's this guy coming to us for the first time with a broken headlight?") and you probably won't have any problems as long as it looks like it's never been touched. Even just take it in for something else (oil change, wait for fall to swap to winter wheels if you're in that type of climate), and wait for THEM to say something ("oh my headlight isn't working? so THAT'S what that is!"), if you appear mechanically incompetent, they'll be that much less likely to suspect you of tampering with the headlight. If your VIN is clean, then they didn't enter you in the system. Even if they did, it *may* not show up or they might not really check well enough if it was at a different dealership.

[Sylon]

Screwing up the headlight is the exact reason why I haven't changed mine yet. I want whiter angel eyes, but I know my luck and it wouldnt go well at all. I'll just have to deal with them until I find a plug-in-play setup that doesnt cost a fortune.


Speaking of, are the new LCI headlights white? Or do they have the same orange look to them as the older angel eyes?

[1speedbike]

Originally Posted by Sylon

Screwing up the headlight is the exact reason why I haven't changed mine yet. I want whiter angel eyes, but I know my luck and it wouldnt go well at all. I'll just have to deal with them until I find a plug-in-play setup that doesnt cost a fortune.


Speaking of, are the new LCI headlights white? Or do they have the same orange look to them as the older angel eyes?

Same but the eyebrow is white (eyebrow only lights up on xenon cars)... which kind of makes it worse because it accentuates the different all the more

[Sylon]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

Same but the eyebrow is white (eyebrow only lights up on xenon cars)... which kind of makes it worse because it accentuates the different all the more

Wow that does make it worse, thanks for the answer. Sorry for the slight thread jack.

[italiantank26]

Not to thread jack, but I feel if your honest with your service advisor about how you alter your car they will not deny you warranty service. However, if an issue were to happen regarding an engine compnent or vehicle part due to you changing your car the dealer won't go near it. I have a few mods on my car, I switched out my stock halogen housings to xenons along with installing my own custon HIDs bulbs/ballast. I also have an injen intake along with the BMS powerbox. I have done other stuff as well, these mods draw the most attention. When I bring my car for service, I tell my SA to leave the headlights alone and not to touch the intake. With the chip, I just change the map setting to 0. My SA told me he would continue to cover me for usual maintenance, but not if something went wrong do to my mods. Only have 4k left before the warranty expires anyways, so not too concerned about this anymore.

[Rawhide]

You can try, but if they flat out ask you if you caused it I would highly recommend being honest with them.