If you are thinking of doing this yourself, there is something not mentioned here, the screw on the back of the headlight is very inaccessible, it gave me a lot of trouble like everything else I removed. Removing the plastic from the headlight is a separate story, after losing my temper with it I took it to the gentleman who does it to have it replaced. Thank you for everything else, very well explained!
Thanks for this video. Very helpful. In my case, I realised I didn't want to take this on myself! For those in the UK, Home of Headlights in London reseal headlights at a very reasonable price. I'm a happy customer, having a BMW 5 Series F10 left hand side headlight resealed.
First one I've seen so far that properly (besides the knife action in the beginning) opens the cover without damaging, cutting, baking,, the headlight. This confirms that you can keep the OEM Hella headlight without going for expensive/cheap alternatives. Thank you sir for the REAL DIY FIX example 🙏
Thank you thank you thank you! Your air suspension video helped me a while back. This video (and part two) helped me find and fix a leak in my headlight. I got the common errors after I got really bad condensation in the head light. No cracks, but the seal on the outer side was bad. Dried out the light, check the module (luckily no corrosion and the connectors were clean), put it back on the car and no errors. Ended up resealing the area with clear silicone. Now let’s see what happens next time it rains 😅 Thanks again!
Thanks for this. When we see how many views these lamp condensation video's have is it not time the manufacturers did something positive to stop the problem! I have had this twice on a BMW E36 but cannot find a video showing how to cure apart from putting a hair dryer over the glass, and lasted for a few days. I then had the headlamp replaced and same thing happened. Now just hoping for sunny days to hopefully cure the problem until next winter!
Though I love all BMWs, and yes even the controversial “Bangel” BMWs, the F10 5 series has a special place in my heart! I remember visiting the dealer just to sit in the driver’s seat...dreaming of one day driving a fantastic car like that! Thanks for the memories and the video 😏 Take care and keep well! Also as a side note...I miss my E46 where you could remove the headlight without touching the bumper 😂
Thank you, this cleared up a lot for me. I am struggling with the same issue (I have an F11, practically the same head light). I didn't mind the wetness that much until failure messages started to popup, later followed by actual failures of direction lights along with just strange behavior. Both the local repair shop and an official BMW dealer only offered a replacement, no repair, claiming it was impossible to take it apart. Anyway, the offered replacement was way too expensive to take lying down (over 1500 Euros) so I started tinkering. I first tried to dry the thing by putting a hair dryer in the circular hole after screwing off that cap. Put the engine on, big lights on, warming the thing up real good and it visibly dried up in an hour or so. I then stuffed a bag of silica gel into the hole and screwed the cap back on. This operation actually made the problems go away for a couple of weeks but of course that didn't last. I never really replaced the wet air. It looked like some of it escaped when heating it up but most of it remained trapped and was just distributed internally, temporarily drying up the affected electronics. I am not enough of a mechanic to take the bumper off so today I drilled some holes into the transparent part just under the hood and pumped in dry air to replace the wet air. That worked a bit. Once dry I intend to plug the holes again with sealant, hoping it will be OK for a couple of months. I will probably have to repeat this process in the future to keep it in working order. And nuke the silica gel in time before it gets saturated.
@@jpctc2008 The silica gel was not that effective after all. Just taking the screw cap off and leaving it off worked better, I haven't had any condensation in the lens since I did that. After a short lived recovery the problem remained stable: no direction light from the unit (the direction light on the side panel still works). It has been like this for months now, all winter. During really wet periods I still get the odd problem with the right direction light not working either but this typically clears up quickly. I can live with it but my car is up for periodic inspection (mandatory where I live) and probably won't be approved with this issue. So I will have to have it fixed after all. I did learn the problem is in the electronics. That could be a cheaper fix than replacing the whole unit. Back to the dealership...
@@MartinMaat i live in Netherlands, its cost about 1300-1500 euro by bmw-dealer, i think it's not necessary to replace it for such price. i dont worry about the fog, but the rust/corrosion with too many water in the cap. i will open the cap, try some silicagel after this. thank you
Here's an update. I found and ordered the TMS module online and replaced it (Googled for serial and part number which are printed on the circuit board). It is accessible though the hatch in the front wheel cabinet. The original module was corroded at the contacts. The replacement worked a little better, it fixed the turning light but not the angel eyes. I read on the internet that the module might need to be "coded". I found a shop that could do this but it made no difference. A couple of days later, after some rainy days, all of the problems returned. The TMS module compartment appeared to be all wet. I dried it with paper towels and then everything worked again! Then I dried it some more with a hair drier and it stopped working again. It turned out the connector slot the TMS module is seated in was badly corroded. The outer contacts were all gone and others were half gone. I could see this after taking a picture with my phone with flash. With too much water I got short circuits, with it being dry there was no contact. I looked like I hit the sweet spot for a moment but obviously this was not going to become better. It looks like I need a new unit after all. The connector does not look replacable.
Thank you. This is a great video. The second screw behing was a nightmare with my limited tools. Thanks to your compressed air method I found a crack on top of the glass 😊. Fixed with a soldering iron. Pressure washed the car today and all good. No water 😊
I enjoyed your very good attention to detail and perfection with your work! I can only imagine the cost of the actual headlamp housing vs the time you took to do this repair.
This is the video I was looking for! I shouldve watched part 1 before part 2 lol. I love how you opened the headlight using heat gun and pried it open. In other videos I saw on youtube, people just cut the headlight cover and fit new cover or just glued over the cut area, which scared me. I’m gonna show this video to the guy who’s going to repair my headlights. Thank you so much.
My mate has a 2012 reg 530D which he's had from new, always BMW main dealer maintained. The left hand (HiD) headlamp was misting up to the extent that it was throwing up faults on the computer due to the damp in there. BMW quoted £2,300 for a new headlamp and fitting. We hinged up the plastic cover under the bonnet and removed the bayonet-fitting circular cover in the top of the headlamp, which now lives in the driver's door pocket. with the top of the headlamp open. We then dried it out gently with a hot air gun and put a couple of silica gel bags in from the top. The cover was left off, and since then it's been through a winter and a summer with no trace of internal condensation. (It is always condensation by the way, not water ingress). No problems at all. I also recommended this to another friend who had the same problem with the same model and he's had clear lamps ever since as well after doing the same thing. Much better than all this faff!
I sealed the wheel well panel that gave access to the back of the headlight after I put gasket silicon on the round seals. When driving in the rain, water should not come through the plastic cover. The air escaping would allow water in if the headlight was under water but not from just rain. A crack maybe. Sealing the wheel well access panel helped and I have not had issues since. Bad design. In heavy rain the wheel well is splashed constantly from the tire carrying water up.
You're assuming that the moisture in there is water ingress due to water leaking into the light. There was no water ingress, in these two cases at least, it was just condensation forming within the light. In the second case the owner removed the light and proved that there was no water getting in and that the misting was just condensation, so there was no point in trying to seal leaks when there weren't any.@@dgoettel13
Well done fella, what a work up doing this, my F10 2010 near side headlight is condensing up badly, I don’t think I could be bothered with all that work in fact I know I’d cock it up, gonna leave it for know and try the hairdryer and silica gel bags.
Thank you very much @MOvidiu, this was truly an excellent video, very detailed and thorough. Watching this video, I figured there are really two sets of skills at work. The first (and easy) set of skills was just the removal of the bumper and the headlight assembly. The second (and difficult) set of skills was the disassembly of the headlight unit and the resealing of it. Your video taught me to do the first, but to skip the second and take the headlight to a specialized shop to be resealed by a professional who has plenty of experience in this specific task (in my case, it was Headlight Factory in Sun Valley, CA, near Los Angeles). There are 2 minor areas that could be improved in your video: 1- You mentioned 2 plastic clips at the bottom of the bumper at 5:15. I could indeed remove them, but could not put them back for the life of me, there was just no room to push them down. Any tips on how to do this would be appreciated. 2- You did a really good job telling what screw was what size and you showed where it was except for 2 of them at 6:08 and 6:23, I assume it was a difficult angle for the camera and the light. All in all, you did a phenomenal job!
Great video. I just had this problem, which was not cheap, but I didn't even think about doing it myself, because you need to have conditions. It is very strange that this is a big problem for BMW F series models.
Mișto, mulțumim pentru video, foarte util. Mi-am reparat un far de Hyundai urmărind asta. Inițial am lăsat masticul vechi (am urmărit alt clip) și i-am turnat niște silicon negru de jur împrejur. Dar, aparent, nu s-a sigilat suficient de bine. La prima spălare cu jet a intrat puțină apă printr-un colț. Am luat mastic nou, demontat, curățat iar de mi-au venit dracii, pus mastic, încălzit, împins bine componentele, testat apoi cu săpun și pare să nu răsufle pe nicăieri.
Great video. I just had this problem, but I was able to solve it without removal and it seems to work. I opened the maintenance acces inside the wheel housing. The I opened the access door to the Xenon light. I set up a hairdryer so that it blows in warm air into the headlight. After about 30 mins, everything was dry inside. After that, Ileft the access door to the Xenon open, but closed the wheel housing. In the evening, the light were perfectly clear, and what is essential - cold air was inside the headlight unit. Cold air means, very little humidity. Then I opened the wheel housing to close the Xenon door. My really very wet headlight is dry since. I'm sure it will condense again some day, but then I know that I just have to take my hairdryer, ... this method is fast and really really cheap ;)
@@harrylockley3792 After a few weeks it started again. I then only took off the inner cover of the unit but closed the maintenance access again. This means, I now drive with an open headlight unit. But, since then no more water inside. But attention. This is just a hack. I will remove the unit and seal it. They say it will stay dry then.
I have had a big problem with the rear screw of the left headlamp on my 2014 520d b47: there is an electric water pump in that place and removing the screw is almost impossible. I have broken away the light (it was already broken doing to a deer collision). When I have mounted the new light, I've simple swapped the clip with the screw, to put the screw from the front of the headlight. The right light had a problem of moisure and I have sealed the light all around with a special silicone . Thank you for the video!!!
Ok, so this weekend I finally took the nearside headlight out - in the rain! I was able to drain out about half a mug of water through the vent on the far corner, so it had gone way beyond 'condensation' stage!! I used soapy goodness as described and used a pump up water sprayer (empty of course) and only saw massive bubbles coming from the two caps - lots of bubbles. Nowhere else though. Having popped it in the oven for about an hour on 50 degrees fan and hiar-dryered it, the following morning it was dry, but the little control board was clearly being submerged because, even gentle acceleration was triggering many faults with their associated bings and bongs warnings, including no left indicator. So I used some double sided sticky tape to bulk-up the seals and then they were hard to put back on - excellent. I have just reassembled it all after drying the little control module and cleaning the terminals/contacts and the whole thing works beautifully. I did this on my narrow driveway exposed to the elements. I feel I need a week off, counselling and a pay rise. Fortunately, I only have one bolt left over and I have absolutely no clue where i removed it from. Thank you for your guidance - particularly regarding that bolt right up behind the rear inner aspect of the headlight. That was clearly positioned there just so someone could design a new special tool to get to it. Pure evil BMW, pure evil...
So clean! I want to do this to my BMW - it's a family car. It was my Grandmother's, then she gave it to her daughter, and then my mom gave it to me. All I need is a garage and cool tools.
Lucrezi foarte bine! Detaliat și curat!bravo. Mi-as dori sa găsesc oameni ca tine sa lucreze asa si la a mea. Am un f10 . Un far începe sa se exfolieze si rămâne mat.se rup parca ar fi solzi de peste. Succes in continuare!
Did a replacement lens on an X5. Make sure you use compressed air to blow out all the accumulated dust particles before reassembly. You can use 3M windshield adhesive in the channel, for the reinstall. I needed to sharpen a screwdriver to dig out the old adhesive.
@@erfan6269 I'm in NC. I would advise doing both, so they match. Not sure I would want to do it for someone else. There is a risk involved in screwing up. The lenses I put in a year ago already need to be polished. Plus it takes about 5+ hours per light. So I'd have to charge $150 per light, plus the cost of the lens. Cheaper than new, but not cheap.
Love this and I am doing just this on the facelifted version. Seems to me though that BMW have made it harder as the lens is now attached to the housing with a screw that is impossible to reach.
Excellent instructive video thank you. It helped me fix a leak I had in the passenger headlight a couple of years back - thank you. When the drivers side showed heavy condensation recently I tackled the job with a little more confidence but on removing the unit, I cannot find the leak anywhere! I have sprayed soapy water and puffed air for ages. I'm stumped. Reluctant to put it all back together without diagnosing the problem. Any suggestions? Please?
BRAVO ! Super canal, te încurajez sa continui. Imi permit si o remarca constructiva consider eu. Lucreaza un pic la dictie în Engleza. In rest te felicit, tine-o tot asa ! :)
Thanks for the video, next time make an oven out of a cardboard box to heat up the headlight adhesive fully using your heat gun, that way you can do the job of removing the lens easier. Then i would use a product called Selleys D Mastic specially designed for headlights and windscreens etc.
The xenon headlights fitted to bmw cars in the factory are NOT sealed units. Please check before commenting that they are and stating I’m incorrect. All of the xenon units are NOT A SEALED UNIT. If your headlight condensers up inside… leave it well alone. It will clear on its own accord. There is not a fault with those units.
Hi! yes, no type of headlight is completely, hermetically sealed , all need breather to breathe. when the headlight is on it starts and releases heat in the air, the hot air is expending and for that you need a open port to the atmosphere . if you watch the video you can clearly see the breathers.
An eternity later....👏🤣🤣 this made me smile. This is a great video. I'll not comment on the ridiculously bad built quantity on this car. Seem to have gone back to 1970 British cars quality. Shame on you BMW.
Really nice video dude! I removed my light and could only find a leak on the two caps to the bulbs. But, yet I have a ton of water in the housing. 1. Does that sound right? 2. What grease should I use to better seal the lens caps? Thanks for the great video!!!! You helped me out a ton!
What do you mean water condensation will not cause any problems once inside the headlight? After it rain, my driver side headlight was very condensed with water and I had Active Headlight and Vertical Aim malfunction and guess what, this time the problems never went away even after the headlight was free from water/condensation. I looked at the headlight control Module, it's connectors and cap seals and all looked good no rust or damage. Since the headlight just shorted out and I need to buy a new full headlight instead and have the lights coded for them to work properly. The only thing that works from the headlight are the low beam lights. The turn signal, adaptive and vertical aiming adjustments don't work. So freain' expensive to replace!
You are great! Thank you very much for your attention to detail. I followed your instructions to see if i could fix my 520 2014 LCI. The headlight is fixed in with 4 bolts, 2 top, 2 bottom. The bottom right bolt is a absolute ba#tard to get out, and even more so to put back in. I thoroughly inspected my headlamp and can't see any reason for the condensation build up. I found that I'm not skilled enough to remove the lense, so i quit. My process is now this: With not being sure if the headlamp seal or the bulb gasket seals are at fault, and not being able to repair myself. The next thing is to replace the headlamp. Buy a used one from ebay? Possibly having the same problem, as used ones are usually 8yrs old aswell, and at £600 for a used one?... A new BMW headlamp is £1000. A new Hella headlamp who actually make the BMW headlamps is £600, but without the BMW logo. So, I've bought a new Hella lamp. I will sell the old one on ebay as needs repairing by a competent person. Thank you
Great, detalied video! I recently had a problem with the left headlight on my F10 getting condensation inside of it. I would also get fault warnings, "vertical aim control fault", "daytime driving lights fault" after washing the car or driving in extreme wet conditions. Finally, the angel eyes stopped working completely as well as the LED turn signal at the front. After having it checked, it turned out the round "lid" covering the back of the light unit had loosened, probably during a bulb change causing water from the wheel arch to enter. Because of this the light control module had been soiled in water and had stopped working. I had both my light modules changed and the back covers sealed properly. Now everything works and there is no mist or condensation trouble at all.
For a moment I thought I wrote this comments because that's exactly what I had last year I bought my F10. After replacing my xenon lights to brighter once, somehow the round seal caps got loosed on both and after watching my car I would suddenly get headlight malfunctions on my dash.... Fixed it by securely tightening the seal caps and problem gone.... Well a year past and we had heavy rain here in Cali. and the next day i was about to use my car i saw heavy condensation on my driver's side headlight. Took off the top cap so it can vent and turn my car and headlights so the Xenons can dry the condensation faster.... Well driving for a bit, turning the car off while doing errands the lights would work find.... for a 3 to 5 minutes then I would get malfunctions again.... it would go back and forth until it finally my malfunctions would not go away. I checked everything from the Control Module being dry and looking like new to where it connects all looking perfect, outside connectors all looking good no rust or green goo anywhere.... Seems the headlight just shorted out before I had to chance to inspected it correctly.... This will happened to you too do to the headlight with age.... Now here's the kicker, since it's been raining here all this week, I decided to leave the seal caps open/off from the headlight thinking lots of moisture will get in them like before... Well guess what..... NOTHING... not one bit of moisture got it, the headlight where free from any condensation whatsoever..... I'm freaking puzzled.... With he cap on it gets wet, without the cap on it stays dry!!! 🤔 *** p.s. Bought an oem original headlight control module way cheaper than dealer's price the next day i notice my headlight wasn't working during the rain period thinking it would just get fix by replacing the module. Well after replacing it still nothing. At least I would've made my signal and halo lights work while still giving me Adaptive & Vertical Aim malfunctions like the cheap eBay modules let you do but no, nothing here, still dead... don't think trying to initializing and coding the module will work so yes, still think i need a new headlight replacement!
@@gusbruker6824 Im lucky to have a pro mechanic in the family so it didnt cost me much exept the original parts. I was warned about purchasing non-original cheap modules so I went for original and it works flawless.
*update* didnt work for me, i took out the headlight and noticed a very big crack so just bogutht another one - luckily i only had halogen back then so wasnt too expensive, i now own a different model with adaptative LED headlights :o
finding a good mechanic like you is like finding a needle in the straw Salut from Albania Have had 3 BMW with this problem and has not finding a solution only spending money on idiot mechanic that damaged more my headlights
Go stuff bro well done , rang BMW for a bulb job and answer me that "is no such job for BMW to change the bulb !!! I'll need the chance the whole headlight " So you can imagine the fight and circus started. That was BMW Leeds UK by the way and was my modules on both headlights 10 min job with a corner garage job cost me £120
Yes what can i say maybe he didn't understand what you want to do :) now you can't blame an entire company because of an employee who didn't understand or woke up nervous that day. in the end it's good that you managed to solve your problem :)
detailed, thorough, and to the point. This video should be used at all BMW training labs. well done, sir!!
finally a romanian diy channel that make quality content
Nice !!
Another great Romanian ruclips.net/video/Lz1cVnyFzvI/видео.htmlsi=ukLFDFkuR0wQYREx
If you are thinking of doing this yourself, there is something not mentioned here, the screw on the back of the headlight is very inaccessible, it gave me a lot of trouble like everything else I removed. Removing the plastic from the headlight is a separate story, after losing my temper with it I took it to the gentleman who does it to have it replaced.
Thank you for everything else, very well explained!
Now I'm stuck with those screws. Any suggestions?
Thanks for this video. Very helpful. In my case, I realised I didn't want to take this on myself! For those in the UK, Home of Headlights in London reseal headlights at a very reasonable price. I'm a happy customer, having a BMW 5 Series F10 left hand side headlight resealed.
First one I've seen so far that properly (besides the knife action in the beginning) opens the cover without damaging, cutting, baking,, the headlight.
This confirms that you can keep the OEM Hella headlight without going for expensive/cheap alternatives. Thank you sir for the REAL DIY FIX example 🙏
Thank you for your feedback !
Thank you thank you thank you! Your air suspension video helped me a while back.
This video (and part two) helped me find and fix a leak in my headlight. I got the common errors after I got really bad condensation in the head light. No cracks, but the seal on the outer side was bad. Dried out the light, check the module (luckily no corrosion and the connectors were clean), put it back on the car and no errors. Ended up resealing the area with clear silicone.
Now let’s see what happens next time it rains 😅
Thanks again!
A fantastic guide - with some brilliant tips and pointers.
Thankyou and bravo !
Thanks for this.
When we see how many views these lamp condensation video's have is it not time the manufacturers did something positive to stop the problem!
I have had this twice on a BMW E36 but cannot find a video showing how to cure apart from putting a hair dryer over the glass, and lasted for a few days. I then had the headlamp replaced and same thing happened. Now just hoping for sunny days to hopefully cure the problem until next winter!
Though I love all BMWs, and yes even the controversial “Bangel” BMWs, the F10 5 series has a special place in my heart! I remember visiting the dealer just to sit in the driver’s seat...dreaming of one day driving a fantastic car like that!
Thanks for the memories and the video 😏 Take care and keep well!
Also as a side note...I miss my E46 where you could remove the headlight without touching the bumper 😂
Thank you, this cleared up a lot for me. I am struggling with the same issue (I have an F11, practically the same head light). I didn't mind the wetness that much until failure messages started to popup, later followed by actual failures of direction lights along with just strange behavior. Both the local repair shop and an official BMW dealer only offered a replacement, no repair, claiming it was impossible to take it apart. Anyway, the offered replacement was way too expensive to take lying down (over 1500 Euros) so I started tinkering.
I first tried to dry the thing by putting a hair dryer in the circular hole after screwing off that cap. Put the engine on, big lights on, warming the thing up real good and it visibly dried up in an hour or so. I then stuffed a bag of silica gel into the hole and screwed the cap back on. This operation actually made the problems go away for a couple of weeks but of course that didn't last. I never really replaced the wet air. It looked like some of it escaped when heating it up but most of it remained trapped and was just distributed internally, temporarily drying up the affected electronics. I am not enough of a mechanic to take the bumper off so today I drilled some holes into the transparent part just under the hood and pumped in dry air to replace the wet air. That worked a bit. Once dry I intend to plug the holes again with sealant, hoping it will be OK for a couple of months. I will probably have to repeat this process in the future to keep it in working order. And nuke the silica gel in time before it gets saturated.
i have same problem now, did this work?
@@jpctc2008 The silica gel was not that effective after all. Just taking the screw cap off and leaving it off worked better, I haven't had any condensation in the lens since I did that. After a short lived recovery the problem remained stable: no direction light from the unit (the direction light on the side panel still works). It has been like this for months now, all winter. During really wet periods I still get the odd problem with the right direction light not working either but this typically clears up quickly.
I can live with it but my car is up for periodic inspection (mandatory where I live) and probably won't be approved with this issue. So I will have to have it fixed after all. I did learn the problem is in the electronics. That could be a cheaper fix than replacing the whole unit. Back to the dealership...
@@MartinMaat i live in Netherlands, its cost about 1300-1500 euro by bmw-dealer, i think it's not necessary to replace it for such price. i dont worry about the fog, but the rust/corrosion with too many water in the cap. i will open the cap, try some silicagel after this. thank you
Here's an update. I found and ordered the TMS module online and replaced it (Googled for serial and part number which are printed on the circuit board). It is accessible though the hatch in the front wheel cabinet. The original module was corroded at the contacts. The replacement worked a little better, it fixed the turning light but not the angel eyes. I read on the internet that the module might need to be "coded". I found a shop that could do this but it made no difference. A couple of days later, after some rainy days, all of the problems returned. The TMS module compartment appeared to be all wet. I dried it with paper towels and then everything worked again! Then I dried it some more with a hair drier and it stopped working again. It turned out the connector slot the TMS module is seated in was badly corroded. The outer contacts were all gone and others were half gone. I could see this after taking a picture with my phone with flash. With too much water I got short circuits, with it being dry there was no contact. I looked like I hit the sweet spot for a moment but obviously this was not going to become better. It looks like I need a new unit after all. The connector does not look replacable.
Thank you.
This is a great video.
The second screw behing was a nightmare with my limited tools.
Thanks to your compressed air method I found a crack on top of the glass 😊.
Fixed with a soldering iron.
Pressure washed the car today and all good. No water 😊
I enjoyed your very good attention to detail and perfection with your work! I can only imagine the cost of the actual headlamp housing vs the time you took to do this repair.
Glad you enjoied !!
I need have mine done and bmew want £1250 for parts labour and tax
I need to have mine too, daylight + blinkers don't work anymore due to the condense... it will be a 3k fix...
Very time consuming, I enjoyed it
@@MOvidiu how much do you charge
This is the video I was looking for! I shouldve watched part 1 before part 2 lol. I love how you opened the headlight using heat gun and pried it open. In other videos I saw on youtube, people just cut the headlight cover and fit new cover or just glued over the cut area, which scared me. I’m gonna show this video to the guy who’s going to repair my headlights. Thank you so much.
My mate has a 2012 reg 530D which he's had from new, always BMW main dealer maintained. The left hand (HiD) headlamp was misting up to the extent that it was throwing up faults on the computer due to the damp in there. BMW quoted £2,300 for a new headlamp and fitting. We hinged up the plastic cover under the bonnet and removed the bayonet-fitting circular cover in the top of the headlamp, which now lives in the driver's door pocket. with the top of the headlamp open. We then dried it out gently with a hot air gun and put a couple of silica gel bags in from the top. The cover was left off, and since then it's been through a winter and a summer with no trace of internal condensation. (It is always condensation by the way, not water ingress). No problems at all. I also recommended this to another friend who had the same problem with the same model and he's had clear lamps ever since as well after doing the same thing. Much better than all this faff!
I sealed the wheel well panel that gave access to the back of the headlight after I put gasket silicon on the round seals. When driving in the rain, water should not come through the plastic cover. The air escaping would allow water in if the headlight was under water but not from just rain. A crack maybe. Sealing the wheel well access panel helped and I have not had issues since. Bad design. In heavy rain the wheel well is splashed constantly from the tire carrying water up.
You're assuming that the moisture in there is water ingress due to water leaking into the light. There was no water ingress, in these two cases at least, it was just condensation forming within the light. In the second case the owner removed the light and proved that there was no water getting in and that the misting was just condensation, so there was no point in trying to seal leaks when there weren't any.@@dgoettel13
Well done fella, what a work up doing this, my F10 2010 near side headlight is condensing up badly, I don’t think I could be bothered with all that work in fact I know I’d cock it up, gonna leave it for know and try the hairdryer and silica gel bags.
Ovidiu, unde te gasesc? Imi place f mult ce faci si cum lucrezi. Esti genul de om de care toata lumea are nevoie. Bravo!!!
Thank you very much @MOvidiu, this was truly an excellent video, very detailed and thorough. Watching this video, I figured there are really two sets of skills at work. The first (and easy) set of skills was just the removal of the bumper and the headlight assembly. The second (and difficult) set of skills was the disassembly of the headlight unit and the resealing of it. Your video taught me to do the first, but to skip the second and take the headlight to a specialized shop to be resealed by a professional who has plenty of experience in this specific task (in my case, it was Headlight Factory in Sun Valley, CA, near Los Angeles). There are 2 minor areas that could be improved in your video: 1- You mentioned 2 plastic clips at the bottom of the bumper at 5:15. I could indeed remove them, but could not put them back for the life of me, there was just no room to push them down. Any tips on how to do this would be appreciated. 2- You did a really good job telling what screw was what size and you showed where it was except for 2 of them at 6:08 and 6:23, I assume it was a difficult angle for the camera and the light. All in all, you did a phenomenal job!
😮
Great video. I just had this problem, which was not cheap, but I didn't even think about doing it myself, because you need to have conditions. It is very strange that this is a big problem for BMW F series models.
Mișto, mulțumim pentru video, foarte util. Mi-am reparat un far de Hyundai urmărind asta. Inițial am lăsat masticul vechi (am urmărit alt clip) și i-am turnat niște silicon negru de jur împrejur. Dar, aparent, nu s-a sigilat suficient de bine. La prima spălare cu jet a intrat puțină apă printr-un colț. Am luat mastic nou, demontat, curățat iar de mi-au venit dracii, pus mastic, încălzit, împins bine componentele, testat apoi cu săpun și pare să nu răsufle pe nicăieri.
Super tare ! ma bucur ca ai reusit ! Bravo!!
What a great, well explained video. Thank you for taking the time to go into so much detail.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video. I just had this problem, but I was able to solve it without removal and it seems to work. I opened the maintenance acces inside the wheel housing. The I opened the access door to the Xenon light. I set up a hairdryer so that it blows in warm air into the headlight. After about 30 mins, everything was dry inside. After that, Ileft the access door to the Xenon open, but closed the wheel housing. In the evening, the light were perfectly clear, and what is essential - cold air was inside the headlight unit. Cold air means, very little humidity. Then I opened the wheel housing to close the Xenon door. My really very wet headlight is dry since. I'm sure it will condense again some day, but then I know that I just have to take my hairdryer, ... this method is fast and really really cheap ;)
Any update is it still okay?
@@harrylockley3792 After a few weeks it started again. I then only took off the inner cover of the unit but closed the maintenance access again. This means, I now drive with an open headlight unit. But, since then no more water inside. But attention. This is just a hack. I will remove the unit and seal it. They say it will stay dry then.
Second video I've watched of yours with the trusty knive you use. I'm in awe of your attention to detail and cleanliness. Thank you for posting!
Excellent tutorial video. Just what I was looking for same headlight. Will attempt tomorrow.
I have had a big problem with the rear screw of the left headlamp on my 2014 520d b47: there is an electric water pump in that place and removing the screw is almost impossible. I have broken away the light (it was already broken doing to a deer collision). When I have mounted the new light, I've simple swapped the clip with the screw, to put the screw from the front of the headlight. The right light had a problem of moisure and I have sealed the light all around with a special silicone . Thank you for the video!!!
And finally i seal my headlight in 5 minutes with silikon ... its dry since 50 tkm ... but finally nice professional work bro! Everything is perfekt!
I'm glad you enjoyed !
This was perfect!!! and I like the way you work, I wish everyone was like this in the workshop! Well done bro 👍🏼
I appreciate that!
Very good video. And i understand your English perfectly. Keep up the good work!
Ok, so this weekend I finally took the nearside headlight out - in the rain! I was able to drain out about half a mug of water through the vent on the far corner, so it had gone way beyond 'condensation' stage!! I used soapy goodness as described and used a pump up water sprayer (empty of course) and only saw massive bubbles coming from the two caps - lots of bubbles. Nowhere else though. Having popped it in the oven for about an hour on 50 degrees fan and hiar-dryered it, the following morning it was dry, but the little control board was clearly being submerged because, even gentle acceleration was triggering many faults with their associated bings and bongs warnings, including no left indicator. So I used some double sided sticky tape to bulk-up the seals and then they were hard to put back on - excellent. I have just reassembled it all after drying the little control module and cleaning the terminals/contacts and the whole thing works beautifully. I did this on my narrow driveway exposed to the elements. I feel I need a week off, counselling and a pay rise. Fortunately, I only have one bolt left over and I have absolutely no clue where i removed it from. Thank you for your guidance - particularly regarding that bolt right up behind the rear inner aspect of the headlight. That was clearly positioned there just so someone could design a new special tool to get to it. Pure evil BMW, pure evil...
Finalmente un video che mostra quanto realmente è difficile aprire un fanale!
So clean! I want to do this to my BMW - it's a family car. It was my Grandmother's, then she gave it to her daughter, and then my mom gave it to me. All I need is a garage and cool tools.
Nice to hear that! Go for it, but be aware that it is a little bit hard !
Lucrezi foarte bine!
Detaliat și curat!bravo. Mi-as dori sa găsesc oameni ca tine sa lucreze asa si la a mea. Am un f10 . Un far începe sa se exfolieze si rămâne mat.se rup parca ar fi solzi de peste.
Succes in continuare!
Awesome video... The way you check where is leaking is something new i learned. Greetings from Bosnia
Glad it was helpful! :)
great job. i hope I can find someone who can take care of my care as much as you do.
You will definitely find it , it will cost more than someone normal . but you will find
Good Job i have this problem with a BMW 1 series and This is the Best Demo of tear down and Repair Thanks !
Glad it helped
Amazing job and so patient with it. I wish you could do mine!
Thank you so much. U saved me 2000€ with this tutorial. God bless u :)
Good effort doing the whole video in English, well done mate 👏🏼
Did a replacement lens on an X5. Make sure you use compressed air to blow out all the accumulated dust particles before reassembly.
You can use 3M windshield adhesive in the channel, for the reinstall.
I needed to sharpen a screwdriver to dig out the old adhesive.
Hello Marty. I am looking for someone to do my BMW 5 Series headlight. Would you be interested ? Where you based ?
@@erfan6269 I'm in NC. I would advise doing both, so they match. Not sure I would want to do it for someone else. There is a risk involved in screwing up. The lenses I put in a year ago already need to be polished. Plus it takes about 5+ hours per light. So I'd have to charge $150 per light, plus the cost of the lens. Cheaper than new, but not cheap.
@@martymeyer4125 Hey Marty thanks for replying. I am in Manchester, England, so North Carolina going to be a bit too far 😉.
Another perfect video 👏👏👏
Thank you for your hard work, bro 👍
Hey there! I'm glad that you like it
@@MOvidiu hello bro thnks for this video where i find this silikon
@@giorgitsalatze1370 Read the video description:)
Thanks Ovidiu,
Nicely presented 🙂
Nice work, 👌🏼
greetings from a BMW Driver to, from Germany ✌🏻
Hello there! :)
Love this and I am doing just this on the facelifted version. Seems to me though that BMW have made it harder as the lens is now attached to the housing with a screw that is impossible to reach.
“Was smart enough to do this iob but not smart enough to do it properly” 🤣 so true
But it got done without damage :) Success! Five more times and you'll have it down:)
Brilliant way to explain in details.
I like the instrumental in the back ground playing
Very good job and well explained, well done man
Much appreciated!
Super schön gemacht!!! Super!!! Super 😮❤
Excellent instructive video thank you. It helped me fix a leak I had in the passenger headlight a couple of years back - thank you.
When the drivers side showed heavy condensation recently I tackled the job with a little more confidence but on removing the unit, I cannot find the leak anywhere! I have sprayed soapy water and puffed air for ages. I'm stumped. Reluctant to put it all back together without diagnosing the problem. Any suggestions? Please?
Great work! With that video you helped to many peoples! Thank you
Glad to hear that!
Foarte frumos lucrat! Felicitari! 👏
Dobar klip...pozdrav iz Srbije
What a great video.
BRAVO ! Super canal, te încurajez sa continui. Imi permit si o remarca constructiva consider eu. Lucreaza un pic la dictie în Engleza. In rest te felicit, tine-o tot asa ! :)
Very informative, thank you!
Thanks for the video, next time make an oven out of a cardboard box to heat up the headlight adhesive fully using your heat gun, that way you can do the job of removing the lens easier. Then i would use a product called Selleys D Mastic specially designed for headlights and windscreens etc.
What are you doing this weekend? Replacing the headlight cover on my BMW. NOPE, not going to happen. Great video though.
Isn't an easy job, but if you have money for a new headlight you're weekend is free for party 😉😜
Great work. Impressive attention to detail
Hey , glad you like it !
Thanks - clever methjod to use the soap and compressed air!
Great video. I wish someone like You could fix my car. Thanks
Nice, good job! Loved your video.
The xenon headlights fitted to bmw cars in the factory are NOT sealed units. Please check before commenting that they are and stating I’m incorrect. All of the xenon units are NOT A SEALED UNIT. If your headlight condensers up inside… leave it well alone. It will clear on its own accord. There is not a fault with those units.
Hi! yes, no type of headlight is completely, hermetically sealed , all need breather to breathe. when the headlight is on it starts and releases heat in the air, the hot air is expending and for that you need a open port to the atmosphere . if you watch the video you can clearly see the breathers.
An eternity later....👏🤣🤣 this made me smile. This is a great video. I'll not comment on the ridiculously bad built quantity on this car. Seem to have gone back to 1970 British cars quality. Shame on you BMW.
😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Really nice video dude! I removed my light and could only find a leak on the two caps to the bulbs. But, yet I have a ton of water in the housing. 1. Does that sound right? 2. What grease should I use to better seal the lens caps? Thanks for the great video!!!! You helped me out a ton!
Glad I could help , use normal grease you just need to lightly grease the gaskets to slide in place
Did this one of the most difficult job.
Very good I will be giving my garage a bell thanks😅
Auto Po zalaniu.zadanie wykonane na 10.bardzo dobra Robota 👍👍👍
Guy you are very skilled! Thx for your tips!
Glad you like them!
Usually that will not manage. Do not try yourself. That guy is a pro. That is a different thing.
Thank you for this Video, really good Job 👍
You are an absolute genius please fix my car thank you
Great video pal! Looking forward to watching more of your content.
More to come!
Very helpfull video , you are true profesional , thank you
Nice! Thanks for appreciation
That is sooo much work for a normi like me i think its better to ask someone with experience for me. But nice video
check out part 2 !!
Wish there was someone like you in england
maybe you didn't search enough
No there is no one dude I can't find a decent repairer
What do you mean water condensation will not cause any problems once inside the headlight? After it rain, my driver side headlight was very condensed with water and I had Active Headlight and Vertical Aim malfunction and guess what, this time the problems never went away even after the headlight was free from water/condensation. I looked at the headlight control Module, it's connectors and cap seals and all looked good no rust or damage. Since the headlight just shorted out and I need to buy a new full headlight instead and have the lights coded for them to work properly. The only thing that works from the headlight are the low beam lights. The turn signal, adaptive and vertical aiming adjustments don't work. So freain' expensive to replace!
Super tare! Felicitări!
Done this on one side very difficult job, to clear the old glue.
Hello, it's a good job. Please I want to get the black tape where can I get it from? Many thanks
Perfectly done!
Destept romanu...na-i ce zice.Lucru facut bine
Klasse Video. Thank you.
Great work!
You are great! Thank you very much for your attention to detail. I followed your instructions to see if i could fix my 520 2014 LCI. The headlight is fixed in with 4 bolts, 2 top, 2 bottom. The bottom right bolt is a absolute ba#tard to get out, and even more so to put back in. I thoroughly inspected my headlamp and can't see any reason for the condensation build up. I found that I'm not skilled enough to remove the lense, so i quit.
My process is now this: With not being sure if the headlamp seal or the bulb gasket seals are at fault, and not being able to repair myself. The next thing is to replace the headlamp. Buy a used one from ebay? Possibly having the same problem, as used ones are usually 8yrs old aswell, and at £600 for a used one?... A new BMW headlamp is £1000.
A new Hella headlamp who actually make the BMW headlamps is £600, but without the BMW logo.
So, I've bought a new Hella lamp. I will sell the old one on ebay as needs repairing by a competent person. Thank you
Great, detalied video! I recently had a problem with the left headlight on my F10 getting condensation inside of it. I would also get fault warnings, "vertical aim control fault", "daytime driving lights fault" after washing the car or driving in extreme wet conditions. Finally, the angel eyes stopped working completely as well as the LED turn signal at the front. After having it checked, it turned out the round "lid" covering the back of the light unit had loosened, probably during a bulb change causing water from the wheel arch to enter. Because of this the light control module had been soiled in water and had stopped working. I had both my light modules changed and the back covers sealed properly. Now everything works and there is no mist or condensation trouble at all.
For a moment I thought I wrote this comments because that's exactly what I had last year I bought my F10. After replacing my xenon lights to brighter once, somehow the round seal caps got loosed on both and after watching my car I would suddenly get headlight malfunctions on my dash.... Fixed it by securely tightening the seal caps and problem gone.... Well a year past and we had heavy rain here in Cali. and the next day i was about to use my car i saw heavy condensation on my driver's side headlight. Took off the top cap so it can vent and turn my car and headlights so the Xenons can dry the condensation faster.... Well driving for a bit, turning the car off while doing errands the lights would work find.... for a 3 to 5 minutes then I would get malfunctions again.... it would go back and forth until it finally my malfunctions would not go away.
I checked everything from the Control Module being dry and looking like new to where it connects all looking perfect, outside connectors all looking good no rust or green goo anywhere.... Seems the headlight just shorted out before I had to chance to inspected it correctly....
This will happened to you too do to the headlight with age....
Now here's the kicker, since it's been raining here all this week, I decided to leave the seal caps open/off from the headlight thinking lots of moisture will get in them like before... Well guess what..... NOTHING... not one bit of moisture got it, the headlight where free from any condensation whatsoever..... I'm freaking puzzled.... With he cap on it gets wet, without the cap on it stays dry!!! 🤔
*** p.s. Bought an oem original headlight control module way cheaper than dealer's price the next day i notice my headlight wasn't working during the rain period thinking it would just get fix by replacing the module. Well after replacing it still nothing. At least I would've made my signal and halo lights work while still giving me Adaptive & Vertical Aim malfunctions like the cheap eBay modules let you do but no, nothing here, still dead... don't think trying to initializing and coding the module will work so yes, still think i need a new headlight replacement!
How much did this cost you to fix? & did you take it to a BMW dealer to have this done?
@@gusbruker6824 Im lucky to have a pro mechanic in the family so it didnt cost me much exept the original parts. I was warned about purchasing non-original cheap modules so I went for original and it works flawless.
@@eriksmithdrummer how much that modules from bmw?
Great video and the job well done!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Going to attempt this on my f20 wish me luck !
*update* didnt work for me, i took out the headlight and noticed a very big crack so just bogutht another one - luckily i only had halogen back then so wasnt too expensive, i now own a different model with adaptative LED headlights :o
A job well done!
Ovidiu, unde gasesc funia de etansare. Mulțumesc pentru acest videoclip. Bravo!!!
Salut ! ai detalii in descrierea clipului!
@@MOvidiu Mulțumesc!
Perfect jop
thanx for video this video has been a guide for me and i done it whit a friend
Glad it helped
Perfect job. Thank you
Amazing work! Thanks for sharing.
I'm glad it was helpful and thank you for the feadback !
We just inspected the same thing on my E65. In my case it was low beam bulb cover😀👍
How did you seal the bulb cover better? Mine is leaking badly too!
Happy smile in end very nice!
Awesome !
Hello I saw your video's I liked it very much thanks
Thanks and welcome
Good job, your work place nice and clean
Thanks 😊
Great tutorial! Much appreciated!
Very good work! With love 😁😊👍🏻
Thanks for appreciation !!
finding a good mechanic like you is like finding a needle in the straw Salut from Albania Have had 3 BMW with this problem and has not finding a solution only spending money on idiot mechanic that damaged more my headlights
Thanks .I gave it a shot but way too much effort 😜 E fed up just buying a whole headlight for €220 👍
Congratulations, you won against BMW permasealed headlights. Most headlight companies will cut the cover open and replace it with a new one.
Go stuff bro well done , rang BMW for a bulb job and answer me that "is no such job for BMW to change the bulb !!! I'll need the chance the whole headlight "
So you can imagine the fight and circus started.
That was BMW Leeds UK by the way and was my modules on both headlights 10 min job with a corner garage job cost me £120
Yes what can i say maybe he didn't understand what you want to do :) now you can't blame an entire company because of an employee who didn't understand or woke up nervous that day. in the end it's good that you managed to solve your problem :)
We're did you get it done I'm in Huddersfield need same job. Thanks