E39 headlamp condensation
Discussion
Tazar said:
My e39 suffers from condensation and rain getting behind the plastic headlamp covers. Does anyone have any suggestions to stop this please?
Very common issue; age that the headlights are at now, there's not a lot you can do bar dry them out every do often (easy to remove - undo the plugs, undo 4 bolts and out they come)You could try to add a bit more sealant around the lenses; but you'll be wasting your time as it rarely works
E90_M3Ross said:
Wouldn't advise that on an E39 - some of the headlights can come apart; but others are bonded so hard they literally have to be cut off and a lot of work to sort fixing the mess that's been madeAnd that's if the headlights are in a decent condition. Most are fubar now anyway (adjusters failed/failing, projector housings losing the reflectiveness etc)
Only a full rebuild with all new projectors fixes that; or brand new Hella headlights which can still be bought easy enough
Hella produced what they said was going to be one final production run of the E39 units in RHD a couple of years ago and I purchased brand new Xenon units for my M5 when I restored and refurbished the whole car over lockdown. It was an expensive exercise but was half the price of buying the same units through BMW. In fact, it was cheaper again to buy through an eBay supplier (and authorised Hella seller) "Driven 2 Automotive" than it was to buy from Hella Germany directly. Delivery took a while and I recall getting a further reduction by way of refund for the time that it took to deliver.
Looking online just now they appear to have both left and right hand side units available for 717.43 and 699.01 respectively, both with free delivery. That's more than I paid but time has passed. Whilst it wasn't part of the description and not something that I expected, the units arrived fully dressed complete with new ballasts and all bulbs so it was literally a 5 minute plug and play exercise to fit.
As an alternative, members of the E39 and M5 owners clubs have had units rebuilt with more modern projectors and fresh plastic lenses. This isn't particularly 'cheap' either (and there are legality issues with projectors that haven't been type-approved) but it's another route to having 'new' headlamps.
Looking online just now they appear to have both left and right hand side units available for 717.43 and 699.01 respectively, both with free delivery. That's more than I paid but time has passed. Whilst it wasn't part of the description and not something that I expected, the units arrived fully dressed complete with new ballasts and all bulbs so it was literally a 5 minute plug and play exercise to fit.
As an alternative, members of the E39 and M5 owners clubs have had units rebuilt with more modern projectors and fresh plastic lenses. This isn't particularly 'cheap' either (and there are legality issues with projectors that haven't been type-approved) but it's another route to having 'new' headlamps.
LankyMcTally said:
Hella produced what they said was going to be one final production run of the E39 units in RHD a couple of years ago and I purchased brand new Xenon units for my M5 when I restored and refurbished the whole car over lockdown. It was an expensive exercise but was half the price of buying the same units through BMW. In fact, it was cheaper again to buy through an eBay supplier (and authorised Hella seller) "Driven 2 Automotive" than it was to buy from Hella Germany directly. Delivery took a while and I recall getting a further reduction by way of refund for the time that it took to deliver.
Looking online just now they appear to have both left and right hand side units available for 717.43 and 699.01 respectively, both with free delivery. That's more than I paid but time has passed. Whilst it wasn't part of the description and not something that I expected, the units arrived fully dressed complete with new ballasts and all bulbs so it was literally a 5 minute plug and play exercise to fit.
As an alternative, members of the E39 and M5 owners clubs have had units rebuilt with more modern projectors and fresh plastic lenses. This isn't particularly 'cheap' either (and there are legality issues with projectors that haven't been type-approved) but it's another route to having 'new' headlamps.
Exactly who I bought mine through; bar mine were the halogen units, so c£350 each and, if you want, it's easy enough to run them with the OEM xenon ballasts and D2S xenon bulbs using a small adapter. There's little difference in the way the headlights work bar some slight differences on the projectorsLooking online just now they appear to have both left and right hand side units available for 717.43 and 699.01 respectively, both with free delivery. That's more than I paid but time has passed. Whilst it wasn't part of the description and not something that I expected, the units arrived fully dressed complete with new ballasts and all bulbs so it was literally a 5 minute plug and play exercise to fit.
As an alternative, members of the E39 and M5 owners clubs have had units rebuilt with more modern projectors and fresh plastic lenses. This isn't particularly 'cheap' either (and there are legality issues with projectors that haven't been type-approved) but it's another route to having 'new' headlamps.
But they pass the MOT absolutely fine as long as they're set up properly; or just remove the D2S bulbs & ballasts and fit H7s back in for the test
They are plenty of sets on eBay still; Opie Oils can source them also for nigh on the same price
Darren (a member of the BMW forums) who is in St Helen's also refurbs and upgrades the Hella's for c£500 - they're so much better than OEM as well
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