[EastBayE90]

My buddy just recently picked up a 07' 335i Coupe. He noticed the other day that the drivers side head light was aiming up towards the sky. I took a look at it today and it seems to be completely cockeyed and is stuck in a upwards position. I tried turning the height adjustment screw and it just spins all the way around many times and will click but will not change the angle of the headlight. I assume there is some time of malfunction internally.

I'm just wondering if any of you have ever dealt with this before. I wonder if there is a way to replace the damaged part inside the housing rather than replace the whole headlight like the dealership recommended. I checked Tischer and it looks as though there are parts you can buy that are inside of the housing. Let me know what you guys think. Is he screwed? How can this even happen? Thanks in advance!!!

[reeltime]

I had somewhat the same issue. Does he have an adaptive headlight error on the dashboard? If so, maybe the previous owner hit a big pothole and screwed up something inside the headlight assembly.

Either way, I wouldn't think it's an impossible fix, but then again not an easy one!

But don't just go by my word, see what other members have to say because I'm not 100% sure that's the issue! :

[RupertPupkin]

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[Natural335]

These headlight have a common problem with the cheap plastic clips inside the headlight failing. I have a similar problem in my E90. Lucky for you the couple headlights can be taken apart, which the E90s cannot.

You are going to want to be very careful when performing the surgery. Here are some threads to check out:

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...ght=Perma+Seal

But basically there are 2 methods of opening the headlight. First is to very carefully heat the headlight with a heat gun while at the same time prying with a flat blade screw driver to separate the 2 halves. The second involves putting the headlight in the oven (PLEASE PRE-HEAT THE OVEN) at 220º for 20 mins and then working the edges with a screw driver. You may have to heat the headlight for additional time if it cools down too much.

While you are in there I would upgrade the projectors with a Clear lens to enhance the output, check the part out here:

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...roducts_id=136

Cheers!

[F80M]

Originally Posted by jimmydever

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lol...

[Richurd]

It happened to me recently. I brought it to the dealer and they replaced the whole unit. I believe ltbmw posted a set for 1300.

[EastBayE90]

Originally Posted by e90driva

I had somewhat the same issue. Does he have an adaptive headlight error on the dashboard? If so, maybe the previous owner hit a big pothole and screwed up something inside the headlight assembly.

Either way, I wouldn't think it's an impossible fix, but then again not an easy one!

But don't just go by my word, see what other members have to say because I'm not 100% sure that's the issue! :

Thank you for the input I will search around some more.

Originally Posted by jimmydever

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Too funny that is exactly what it looks like hahahahahaha

Originally Posted by Natural335

These headlight have a common problem with the cheap plastic clips inside the headlight failing. I have a similar problem in my E90. Lucky for you the couple headlights can be taken apart, which the E90s cannot.

You are going to want to be very careful when performing the surgery. Here are some threads to check out:

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...ght=Perma+Seal

But basically there are 2 methods of opening the headlight. First is to very carefully heat the headlight with a heat gun while at the same time prying with a flat blade screw driver to separate the 2 halves. The second involves putting the headlight in the oven (PLEASE PRE-HEAT THE OVEN) at 220º for 20 mins and then working the edges with a screw driver. You may have to heat the headlight for additional time if it cools down too much.

While you are in there I would upgrade the projectors with a Clear lens to enhance the output, check the part out here:

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...roducts_id=136

Cheers!

Thank you man that helps out a lot. So there is hope for him. I will let him know and do some more research on it. Do you think that plastic clip can be ordered from the dealer in the case we do get this headlight separated?

[Alpineweiss e90]

The ball joint for the stepper motor popped out of the socket.

Open the back cover.
Adjust the leveling screw so it's all the way pointing up.
Pull the whole xenon bulb and assembly toward you and the assembly will pop back on to the ball joint. Don't pull on the bulb itself, pull under the assembly. Get as much of a grip on the assembly as possible and not the inidivisal xenon components.

I just did this last week because mine popped out after hitting a bad pothole.

EDIT: It looks like 2 things happened in your friend's headlight.

1) The shroud popped off the projector. To pop it back on, you need to open your headlight. Forget about heating the E90 housings open. I had to dremel mine open when I modded them.

2) The stepper motor ball joint popped out, making it point to the sky. Follow the directions above and you'll be able to get auto-leveling to work. Granted that the shroud doesn't interfere with the movement of the projector/lens assembly.

[EastBayE90]

Originally Posted by Alpineweiss e90

The ball joint for the stepper motor popped out of the socket.

Open the back cover.
Adjust the leveling screw so it's all the way pointing up.
Pull the whole xenon bulb and assembly toward you and the assembly will pop back on to the ball joint. Don't pull on the bulb itself, pull under the assembly. Get as much of a grip on the assembly as possible and not the inidivisal xenon components.

I just did this last week because mine popped out after hitting a bad pothole.

EDIT: It looks like 2 things happened in your friend's headlight.

1) The shroud popped off the projector. To pop it back on, you need to open your headlight. Forget about heating the E90 housings open. I had to dremel mine open when I modded them.

2) The stepper motor ball joint popped out, making it point to the sky. Follow the directions above and you'll be able to get auto-leveling to work. Granted that the shroud doesn't interfere with the movement of the projector/lens assembly.

Thank you so much that is extremely helpful. I will try this out tomorrow and report back. I hope it is the 2nd problem and can be fixed easily.

[Alpineweiss e90]

Originally Posted by (-(ellblazer420

Thank you so much that is extremely helpful. I will try this out tomorrow and report back. I hope it is the 2nd problem and can be fixed easily.

No problem. Good luck.

It's very annoying BMW decided to seal these headlights. The E46 lenses were clipped on and removable.