Xenon self leveling problem.

[D6GMB]

Can someone please tell me if when you turn on the lights that they kind of lift and level automatically?.Was driving in the dark tonight and seems as if the light were quite low on the road.Got the car home and into the garage and i am sure that when they are switched off and back on you could hear them adjust but mine are not.Car is 07 z4m bi xenons.

[cj10jeeper]

When you switch them on they go through a cycle to lower and raise the lights to the correct level (as manually set) From that point adjustment just holds them at that level as loads in the car change ot it pitches and rolls as driven.

If they are too low:
1) have they suddenly dropped or changed in which case a suspension sensor may be broken. If just one light then perhaps a faulty light, but less likely

2) were they always low - in which case they need manually adjusting the the correct level.

edit - if you just switch on an off they may not need to cycle and don't turn them on and off a lot as it potentially damages xenon bulbs.

[D6GMB]

Thanks for the reply.
They just seemed to be low when driving tonight but to be honest the car is not out in the dark much.I was sure that when the lights were switched on you could hear a kind of whirring sound and the lights moved slightly.Tried them in the garage against the door and both dont move at all when switched on in auto or manual mode.Does this make sense or am i talking pish

[cj10jeeper]

Leave the car and let it shutdown for 15 minutes. Get in and turn on the lights and you should see them cycle down and up on the wall or door. Assuming that works then they are fine and you just need to adjust the white knurled adjusters under the bonnet a turn.

[D6GMB]

Thanks again,car has been sat for over an hour now,will go and try it just now.

[D6GMB]

Definately no movement from the lights at all so off to the dealers tomorrow to get it fixed,got insured fully comp warranty so they can crack on and sort it.Just read a post saying that a sensor on the rear of the car could be damaged when working on rear suspension,could this be damaged when replacing a rear spring as mine was replaced earlier this year?.

[cj10jeeper]

Yes - almost certainly when pushing the wishbone down to get the spring in the sensor has been snapped. Easy job for the dealer to fix.

[D6GMB]

Thanks very much for the info much appreciated .
Its so good this forum love it

[D6GMB]

Car going to stealers tomorrow to be repaired,apparently both stepper motors for the headlights are knackered.Took them two attempts to diagnose this so will see what tomorrow brings.Will update tomorrow.

[cj10jeeper]

Very odd that 2 independent motors in different headlight units would both fail at the same time.
Let's just say I'm surprised...

[D6GMB]

Yes i tottaly agree with you,dont rate the dealer one bit but they are the only ones near by so have to use them.I have the full cover warranty from BMW with £250 excess so will be very interesting to see what the total bill comes to .

[cj10jeeper]

If it's just a simple suspension sensor that's broken or disconnected then that would cost just a few £'s to fix and less than warranty.

I'd pose them the question as to why both would fail at once (when it's amazingly rare anyway for one to fail) and ask to see the car when one light is swapped out and show with just one replace it now works on just that side.

In any event great you have a warranty

[D6GMB]

All these thoughts have crossed my mind .It remains to be seen whether they have actually fixed the problem,i await the dreaded phone call.It does seem very strange that both have failed,but what can you do,i dont have the best relationship with them nor does my father and dont really want to antagonise the situation by questioning them too much until i need to.Will post up the outcome later.

[D6GMB]

Well here goes.Just back from the dealers,car is now sorted,both headlight levelling motors replaced.Now here comes the funny bit.As stated previously my excess on the insured warranty is £250,will give you one guess what the bill was????.


Yep £250.00.Call me a cynic but does anyone think this is a bit too convenient?.I have the receipt for the work done and the part numbers for the parts fitted but have failed to find them or a price for them on the internet.The breakdown is labour £41.25,parts £157.50,vehicle test £9.58 total £208.33 + £41.67 vat total £250.00.I dont grudge spending money on getting the car repaired but to be honest it smells a wee bit fishy.Does anyone know the cost of headlight levelling motors for a 2007 Z4M?.
The part no i have on my receipt is B67.16.8.352.206 ADJUSTER.

[cj10jeeper]

Coopers quote a price of £94.50 for that part, so looks like they jusst fudged it down to a figure that worked out to the excess otherwise you have to say it's odd that to the penny parts and labour comes out the exact amount of the excess.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... fg=05&hl=5
Part 4 here if you're interested

Did they give you the old motors given you'd paid for them?