E28 headlight adjustment thread(don't hate me)

[firefirefire90]

So at work I found 4 sets of headlights for the euro E28. They are all LHD spec and are in decent shape. This isn't a FS thread though. What I noticed on some E24 headlights and same with a few of these E28 headlights are the adjusters. Some of them look electric/hydraulic/pressured and I'm not too sure what to do with them. What are they for? In Eurospec E28's, did some come equipped with adjustability from the cabin?

[cddallara]

yes. search ebay.uk for e28 headlite switch. don't buy it though, they will not ever work.

Edit: sell me some LHD lenses

[mooseheadm5]

In Eurospec E28's, did some come equipped with adjustability from the cabin?

Yes. 99% of them don't work any more and are not worth fixing.

[firefirefire90]

yes. search ebay.uk for e28 headlite switch. don't buy it though, they will not ever work.

Edit: sell me some LHD lenses

ah gotcha. Cool beans and good to know. If I find some spares, they're all yours! Right now i have two drivers side(left) headlights without lowbeams so i'm kinda stuck for the moment with them.

[henrynh]

My car has the system and one of them worked but then there was much chaos in the engine bay, parts ended up on shelves and now neither work. The blue fluid could be seen clearly in the line to the functioning adjuster (the other hose was empty). I read on another post that it the system uses antifreeze as the fluid. Can anyone tell me how to get it working again? I'm not aware of a reservoir. Thanks.

To the original poster - yes, manual adjustment from the cabin. I think it's intended to ensure the headlights can be properly aimed independent of what you're hauling. I'm not sure if this is a European requirement, but I have a RHD Rover Mini Cooper with the same sort of system.

[BDK]

I have one of the switches and some of the tubing,
my first M535i came with them but they had been disabled during federalization...

[ncpaladin]

Unless you're hauling a lot of weight in the car (you know, 3 of your gumbas and a couple bodies in the trunk, with shovels of course) you really don't need the remote headlight adjusters.

All of the newer cars I've owned or driven that came from the factory with Xenon headlamps have had electric remote adjusters. While the BMW 323iT I had auto-leveled the headlamps, my Mazdaspeed3 GT has the rolling switch in the cabin to adjust according to weight load.

If you want such a system to work on your car, perhaps you could fabricate an electric adjustment system from a newer Xenon equipped BMW into your e28. It would be interesting!

[Blue Shadow]

The hydraulically operated headlight aiming system is a single part that includes a master cylinder in the cabin with the control and a pair of fluid filled pipes with slave cylinders on the ends that operate the low beam lamps. Additional parts mount the system to the cabin, car and lamps.

Mounting this in the car has to be a pita, getting that master cylinder into the cabin through the firewall.

It is designed to move the lamps a couple degrees down to compensate for the weight mentioned above and would be very important for the mob car carrying bodies in the trunk. Hate for the cops to pull the car over because the lights shined too high and bother others.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=63&fg=05

Shows the part at 200 bucks.

[Karl Grau]

What Blue Shadow said.
I have some replacement units but I doubt I'll ever go to the trouble to install them.

The bottom pic is the control switch in the e30.

[henrynh]

Karl, is that a replacement part with blue fluid already in? If so, it looks like there's air in the tube by the component with the dial. Do you know how to re-fill a system with the fluid or is the idea that you buy the system and it comes filled? Thanks.

[Karl Grau]

AFAIK, they can't be refilled. The replacement comes with the fluid in it with the adjusters and control knob all as a sealed assembly.

[henrynh]

Aw shoot. That makes it difficult. Where there's a will, there's a way....(?) Thanks for the information.

[C.R. Krieger]

Right now i have two drivers side(left) headlights without lowbeams so i'm kinda stuck for the moment with them.

What, pray tell, is the difference between a left low beam lamp and a right low beam lamp?

[firefirefire90]

Right now i have two drivers side(left) headlights without lowbeams so i'm kinda stuck for the moment with them.

What, pray tell, is the difference between a left low beam lamp and a right low beam lamp?

nothing. But the housings are different from left to right, which does make a difference.

[PWH]

What Blue Shadow said.
I have some replacement units but I doubt I'll ever go to the trouble to install them.

The bottom pic is the control switch in the e30.

I have an M535 that is missing the control module. Any of you have one of these for sale? or know where I can buy one? I get that it won't work, but it'd be nice to fill the hole in the dash and at least have it look right

[Blue Shadow]

Is your aim control located in the same switch panel as the headlight switch? If so there are blanking plates available that someone might have to cover that hole. You probably don't want to buy the BMW part which is over 35 bucks and I don't even know if it is the right one as there are two listed on etk.cc with one being nla.