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FIXED: Changed AE bulbs... now Adaptive Headlights are broken?!?!

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  Jetpilot718 
#1 · (Edited)
WTF. So disgusted right now. I had a passenger side AE fail last week so I ordered a set of Umnitza V4's (which look awesome!!). I removed both headlights in order to install them (A must).

After buttoning everything back up, all of a sudden I get an Adaptive Headlight fault. Never saw that before in 3 years of ownership. So not a coincidence. I checked, and doublechecked both connectors on both headlights, and they are securely seated.

The headlights jump around when I select them to Auto, but then I get the green flashing LED at the switch and the error messages.

I tried to run DIS and I had a bunch of non-resetable faults stored regarding the headlights (obviously, because they were removed...)

What am I missing here? Why the fault? Everything is back together and working, yet this stupid fault I can't clear in DIS. Any ideas??



--- UPDATE ---

Ok, perhaps I panicked myself for no reason. After reading a ton of threads (not much E60 relevant) I was able to find a possible cause - physical blockage of the AE bulbs / ballast inside the headlamp. This was exactly the reason for the fault in my situation.

This is not an issue for standard headlight guys, but for those of us who have the Adaptive Headlights - ABSOLUTELY make sure your placement of the ballast does not restrict movement of the headlamp. The entire headlamp assembly moves inside the lens. I had the ballast in the far inside corner thinking it was far from the low beam and would not interfere, but upon closer inspection, it appears the entire low / high assembly itself pivots and moves around in there. So the best place for the ballast and / or AE bulb if the base is larger than stock is up high and ziptied near the access hole/cover and for the bulb to be as flat as possible (even if that means it is not "to the stop" as far as twisting goes).

So far no issues... hopefully after a test drive or two the problem doesn't return...

Gonna call UMNITZA tomorrow and alert them to the issue with the huge base V4's and that they should make a note to mention this to owners with Adaptive Headlamps.
 
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#2 ·
Those ballasts. You are supposed to just drop them in somewhere. And even if they do not obstruct anything as in your situation, what drives me crazy is that they just lay loose in there. The vehicle vibrates. These things are somewhat heavy. It must do a slow damage. I was considering wrapping them in foam but then realized they need some cooling.
 
#3 ·
We think very much alike. I'm not good either with just tossing a set of ballasts in and disregarding it. So instead, I zip tied them at the base of the wire where it meets the barrel/tube to an existing wire loom which should absorb much of the shock and prevent them from moving around. It keeps them nice and high, away from moving internals, and in the depression of the removable access cup.

Took her for a drive today, including a couple of WOT S6 shifts and so far so good.
 
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