Condensation in LED headlights

[keiron99]

I saw a used 2016 "150 open edition" yesterday at a dealers which we really like.

Just one thing lets the side down, which is condensation in both headlights. Quite a lot of it, as well. The dealer tells me that the condensation is still there a day later, so it's not alike it's a morning dew thing.

I've done some googling and some other people seem to suffer from this but say it burns off after the sun comes up. Seems the car I'm looking at has got it worse though.

This is a deal breaker for me...UNLESS someone can reassure me there's an easy, or cost-effective fix? Or maybe I could replace the units with new ones that don't suffer from this? (Which I assume ain't gonna be pocket money...)

[Geffg]

I had xenon headlights in a Bmw 5 series and it gradually got worse. The breather pipe was clear but it never went. Ended up that it got so wet it got into the lighting module and threw up errors. Lucky enough I got it out and dried it out before it fried it. Could never resolve the condensation though apart from leaving the cap off the top of the headlight permanently. I’ve now got one with led headlights and see a very small amount now and again but it does clear. Hopefully it never gets worse.

[keiron99]

In our search for a used Mini, I have now seen a few with this condensation "problem". Such a shame, we've seen a couple of cars that are immaculate save for this issue.

I recall years ago I had a car that had this, and I could remove a sort of sealed cap on the headlight unit into which I placed a packet of silica gel. It absorbed the moisture and did the trick.

Is this possible on Minis? (I'm talking LED lights here.)

[Geffg]

Not sure on led headlights but I wouldn’t of thought so as there’s nothing to easily replace so wouldn’t imagine any caps to remove.

[keiron99]

Would you say this is acceptable? Likely to burn off after a few miles?