I am the proud new owner of a used 1999 540iT (wagon). Love the car, but I am having a problem with the Xenon headlights. They seem to be aimed almost directly to the ground -- lighting up only about 15 feet in front of the car.
If I understand, they have a self-leveling system -- is that true?
I guess I just need advice on how to fix the problem. On 'normal' headlights, I'd just aim them, but thought maybe these were 'parked' due to a problem.
Tom
They're self-leveling, but their zero-reference may have been compromised. There's a height adjustment that will raise them (you'll have to do a search to get the settings). Park the car the proscribed distance from a light surface (a garage door will do if your driveway is level) and adjust both lights so they're the proper height. Takes about 2 minutes.
Be careful not to get them too high. They have a sharp cutoff to avoid blinding oncoming drivers, but maladjustment can create havoc.
R / John
Gotcha. It's dark now, so I'll go try it. My concern is that I've read they should 'test themselves' when you turn them on. Mine don't.
Tom
Well, the right headlight adjusted fine. The left won't. When I touch the adjuster the entire light 'bounces' as if it is loose. It was too dark to see why, but I thought perhaps someone would know an obvious reason.
At least I have light from the right light now.
Tom
Most likely the central adjuster is broken. Fairly easy and cheap to replace. Adjusters can be bought on their own. In the UK they're about £7 each. The headlight unit needs to be removed. Unplug all the feeds to the bulbs etc. Undo the 2 8mm screws at the top, and the 2 at the base of the unit, and the light unit slips out. Remove the lens unit by unclipping all the plastic clips, and you are left with the main unit with the reflectors exposed. Assuming it is the centre adjuster that is broken, if you unscrew the end adjuster completely, the reflectors can be removed from the body, leaving one part of the broken adjuster on the body, with the ball end of other part still plugged into the reflector unit. Unscrew the part from the body, and pop the ball end out of the reflector, replacing it with the new one. Then, lining up the adjusters which are now attached to the reflector part with the 'rails' inside the main body, screw the adjusters back in together, until the reflector unit is more or less where it was before. Clip the lens unit back on, refit the light unit plug everything back in, and adjust the beam. Job done. HTH. Mike.
Wow, thank you for the detailed instructions. I'm going to get the parts and give it a shot!
Tom
Just fitted a new adjuster to my 528i, so the procedure is quite fresh in my mind. If you need any further info, feel free to email me. My address is valid. Mike.
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