[hockenheim]

Hi,

completed my long anticipated suspension upgrade to Koni S/As and Dinan rear swaybar (kept the OEM sport springs).

Noticed on the way home today that my headlight aim was WAY off; they were aimed down too far.

I am thinking this is a result of my suspension install and a change in stance, even though the stance does not look much different.

Car is a 2003 530i Sport with the automatic vertical headlight adjustment system. I verified that both the front and rear sensors are connected (I only disconnected the front, not the rear sensor during installation)

I can think of 2 possible causes:

1) I reinstalled the front sensor wrong: does anyone have a picture of the correct installation?

2) the rake of the car is off

Have others experienced similar issues post-suspension upgrade? What has been the root cause?

TIA

/alex

 

[bmw_n00b13]

Have you checked the adjusters? If the low-beam light is loose (you can grab it and move it around a bit), it's unrelated to the suspension.

Otherwise, my first thought is that the sensors aren't precisely positioned.

 

[jayee_2003]

It is possible to accidentally damage the sensors during suspension work. Might verify that they are still operational by moving each sensor and see if the lights adjust.

After lowering my E39 I had to re-adjust the headlight aiming. But it sounds like you didn't change the springs - is that correct? New springs need some breaking-in so the initial stance maybe different than before. When adjusting, I saw a little bit made a big differrence.

Can't imagine re-assembly of the level sensors going incorrectly. It was just re-insert the end of the arm back in.

Might consider meeting other Nor Cal E39ers at this place to see if they can help.

 

[ZeroDfx]

Since you stayed w/ the OEM sport springs, I can't imagine the stance being terribly different; at least not enough to cause what you are describing. Perhaps the sensors need some kind of "reset" after disconnecting them?

 

[hockenheim]

problem solved (I think)

yes it is possible to reconnect the front sensor incorrectly -- IF you try hard enough.

The sensor arm had turned counterclockwise while the car was on jacks and was pointing straight down and with the suspension at full droop I connected the actuator arm to the hole in the sensor arm - it fit just fine.

Today I disconnected the assembly again, rotated the sensor arm to the vertical position and reconnected it. I'll find out for sure tonight.

It's funny how your mind plays tricks on you about what is "up" and "down" when you are lying under a car looking up ...