Z4-forum.com

Morning all,

Looking for potential solutions to my issue!

Basically I changed the xenon bulbs a few days back, some dirt got trapped in the seal and the light fogged up and had a small bit of water in the bottom. In this time the xenon bulb also died on me.

Now, I've checked the bulb and igniter in the other side and both work fine, so would I be right in assuming it's likely the ballast underneath the light housing that's gone? I imagine its probably ended up getting wet from moisture within the light running on to it?

I've ordered a replacement from ebay, as I won't be able to get the ballasts off until the weekend and I'd rather just have replacement parts immediately available, can always return if not needed anyway.

Does this sound about right? I also assume there's no way to get the ballasts off without taking the lights off, and therefore bumper removal?

Sounds like you're on the right track and done the right steps in checking the other components - water ingress in the ballast is a pretty common point as the failure cause. And it's a bumper off to get at the ballast, unfortunately - headlight access is a pretty poor design all round from BMW.

I assume I can detach the bumper enough to get access to the headlights without disconnecting the headlight washer system too? From what I see lowering the bumper off the car seems to give enough access to the bolts to save mucking about with washer pipes?

Irritated at myself for causing this with not checking the rear cover was seated properly!

Yes, you can - detach the bumper fully and place on the ground (on a blanket). The washer hoses have enough give on them for that, just be careful when removing the four Torx bolts, as the light can drop.

Oh, and it's a good idea to mark the lights' position before removing as they will need lining up afterward. Small tabs of draft/painters tape will do.