A few weeks ago, I had upgraded my AE's to 5w LED and all was well with no errors. Great color but not very bright. I saw new 25W AE's and decided to give them a try. They looked better but not 5x brighter for sure.
It rained Thursday and Friday but I did not drive the car till Saturday. Sunday after some driving I looked and saw this:
I was not too happy to see moisture in the housing. I removed the AE's and after looking them over I found the issue. These are made differently than the others with a hollow center, most likely to assist in cooling.
I removed the AE's and using some clear tubing, a hair dryer, and about 2 hours, I got the moisture out. I then I used Silicone to seal the openings on the rear of the AE's to keep the moisture out.
The position of the AE's are outside of any protection and therefore exposed to the elements via the normal air flow. This is not a problem with the factory fittings as they are sealed. I'm sure the heat from the LED's caused whatever water that came in contact with it, to vaporize into the headlight housing.
It's all OK now but be cautious on choosing these replacements. The first set of LEDs were sealed but these were not.
Let me ask you this.....I have an adaptive headlight failure code, but in addition, that headlight is out also. Today I swapped bulbs and ballasts and everything is working fine on the other side, but not the right. I know it will prevent it from moving, but will the failure of this module prevent the headlight from even lighting up?
Brandovibe,
There are 2 modules on each headlight housing. You can only get to them by removing the entire headlight assembly. That requires removing the front bumper which is actually a relatively simple task.
On the top to the side is the headlight controller. On the bottom is the adaptive controller. That is the most comon failure since any water that collects in the housing finds it's way to the bottom and into the module that controls the adaptive circuit.
When I had my issue I had lights but no movement and an error code. I poured out the water from the adaptive module and repaced it. I did still have a working headlight.
From what I know, It is very possible that the moisture in the lamp housing could also take out the lamp controller on the housing too. That one may be able to be saved if it's just moisture and not actually water. I would try drying it out.
Also it's easy to forget to check for basic things like fuses.
Sounds like the swapping you did let you confirm that the bulb and ignitor were good.
Did you have a moisture/water issue, and if so how bad was it?
Thank you for all of that info. I'm pretty sure this started when I put in the aftermarket angel eye bulbs that don't have a gasket around them like the factory ones to keep water out....
Get the condensation out of there AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! I learned the hard way and just fried both headlight control modules and adaptive stepper motors. I had to buy all 4 pieces and they are not cheap! I lucked out and got used ones that an independent shop was able to program, saved me over $1000 on the new pieces. I lost both headlights and they wouldn't even light up.
BTW, if anyone is looking for a good shop in the west palm beach area, go to Motorhaus and see Martin (pronounced Mar-teen) The guy is great, helpful, super friendly and accommodating.
Excellent advice. Remove the door that is accessible from the top in the engine compartment and fins a small fan and get the air circulating ASAP to clear it out.
It is possible that you might only get one side wet from bad AEs, but the moisture may be coming from a different source too.
Check the doors on the light assembly (there is one behind the flap in the wheel well too) and do a careful inspection for any cracks or damage.
Yeah, I got rid a bunch of condensation only to have more after driving. I'm going to try removing the bumper later thhis weekend to get to the housing. I couldn't see any water from the engine compartment nor in the tire well compartment.
My low beam is not working. Going to get my codes checked.
Is it a good bet that the module is toast?
I have had wet right side headlights on bot 540i and X5. Anyone have pics of these doors and vents so I can find, dry, & seal up my lights before damage occurs?
I've been looking to update to LED angel eyes on my 2005 645CI. Anyone have any recommendations to which angel eyes to buy to avoid this condensation problem? Thanks.
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