Headlight Wiring Problem

[kendogg1]

OK, I've complained on here a couple times about my headlights not working. I only have 1 headight that does work, and thats the outter drivers side one, the dual-beam light. It works, both high and low beams work, so that pretty much rules out things like the relays, fuses, etc. I did alot of continuity testing, and checking for power/grounds, and it seems to me that I'm losing boht powers and grounds somewhere in the front lighting harness itself. Now, how do you take the fusebox apart so I can check the connections inside the fusebox itself? I wanna check that out, make sure power is going to the correct places inside the fusebox, and that everything inside there is up to snuff before I condemn the lighting harness as bad, and spend $275 for a new one. Oh, also, my fog lights don't work, btw, I just mentioned that. But, both front turn signals, and marker lights work perfectly. Has anybody here ever encountered this before, and, for the record, I hard-wired every singe light to the battery, one at a time, to make sure it wasn't just blown bulbs. Thanks, guys, I really need this to work asap, so I don't get a ticket for driving at night with only one headlight.

[Mark 88/M5 Houston]

Here is a link to where you can download the ETM for your car. http://www.worldbmwparts.com/Resources.htm
The fuse box upper portion is held on to the base with a couple of phillips screws that are down in wells. Should be relatively evident when you look down on the box. I assume that you have cleaned and retensioned all the relavant fuse contact springs and have replaced the fuses.

[fastpat]

Don't forget to disconnect the battery negative terminal before poking around in the fuse box, or any other electrical work.

[Velocewest]

Unless your car has been underwater, the odds of a fault inside the fusebox are low. Try this -- Take a pin, and right outside the fusebox, poke that pin through the insulation on one of the feed wires to the headlamps. Be sure it is not contacting the body of the car. Turn on the ignition and the light switch on high beam. Now take your test light, ground it and check to see if power is making it to the pin. This will tell you if the feed out of the fuse box is working. Check all the wires. If you eliminate the fuse box, turn off the lights, use a length of wire and couple alligator clips to connect the pin to the positive battery terminal (or some source of power, even a 9v radio battery will do). Then connect your test light to the terminal end of the wire by the headlamp. Check each wire. This will let you isolate the faults in the loom.

If you find faults in the loom, just pick up some 12awg wire and butt connectors from AHoleZone and splice the bad wires. I predict you are under 2 hours and $15 away from working headlamps.

[smackmybutter535i]

I had the same problem. I separated the fuse box and there was power coming from the fuse. The wire was burned out somwhere so I attached a new female connector to the inside of the fuse box. I ran a new wire down the harness and attached to the light. Get the diagrams and trace it down and run new wires to your headlights. It worked for me. A little hack wiring never hurt anyone!!
Good luck man, and make sure you disconnect the battery before you go digging in the fuse box.

[kendogg1]

Ya, I figured I may have to do that. I've got my bentley manual now, so, wiring won't be a problem. I'll probably do it tuesday on my day off.

Another problem, I've heard you guys talking alot about heater problems, I noticed last night, and this morning, that at times, I will have good heat, then, all of a sudden, nothing. The fan still works normal, but, I get ice cold air. Could some kinda valve be sticking when it gets real cold out, explaining why this doesn't happen during the day? DO I simply need to flush my cooling system? I can get one of those back-flush kits and do it with a garden hose, right?

[kendogg1]

alrighty, went out this morning, and bought hopefully almost everything I should need, 3 colors of wire, solder, heat shrink, 4 new headlight connectors, about all I don't have is a way to solder it, I mena, I have a solder gun, but, I can't exactly drape an extension cord across my apartment complex. So, I'm just gonna buy one of those mini butane oslder torches for this, I figure they should work fine for light duty solder work like this.

[C.R. Krieger]

Ummm, don't make this a bigger job than it needs to be. Before you tear into the fuse box-to-lamps wiring, you might want to check right out at the lamp connectors. Drop the grilles and headlight buckets and check continuity from six inches up the wire to the connector. Work it around a bit, too, because your manipulations might just make a good contact that fails as soon as you reassemble things. I've never had an E28 where these all worked well. They get old; a little salt or whatever corrosion, and the wire-to-connector either breaks or corrodes too much to make decent contact.

All you need to do is disassemble the female spades and reconnect them to the ends of the wires (a little trimming may be necessary). It's small, fiddly work (getting them out of the plastic housing with a pick or jewelers' screwdriver) and you need to be able to pry the crimped connections apart, clean them (I use a Dremel with a wire wheel), and reconnect them. Either that or pick up a handful of new connectors from BDPP or someone like him. As well as finding this problem on every one of the four E28s I've owned, I've never had one where it wasn't the complete cure.

[shifty]

You HAVE checked the bulbs, right? Believe it or not, plenty of people wouldn't even think of that idea.

[kendogg1]

Yes, I checked the bulbs, they all work, an I will try checking out the connectors themselves, they are all corroded real bad, and I did buy new connectors, I'll try putting them on first, and see what happens with that. They were only $4, so.....

[rodpaine]

Probably looked like these? Came from my '83 528e when I rewired for Euro lights.



More info at my web page, click on the "www" button.

-Rod

[C.R. Krieger]

[QUOTE="rodpaine"]Probably looked like these? Came from my '83 528e when I rewired for Euro lights.

[/QUOTE]

Hey, them are nice!

That's the kind I rebuild. Doesn't really take much once you get the hang of it. Lots faster than a 40-mile trek to the nearest dealer for new ones.

[Velocewest]

If you want new connectors here's a good source:

http://www.eagleday.com/heco.html

[Blue Shadow]

a little CAIG DeOxit and those will be as good as new.

[kendogg1]

Well, I just bought new connectors completely, shit, they're only like $4 at napa, since they are a standard old school 3 prong headlight plug. I have yet to wire them,. though, been tooooo damned cold. I refuse to work in the cold.

[C.R. Krieger]

[QUOTE="kendogg"]Well, I just bought new connectors completely, shit, they're only like $4 at napa, since they are a standard old school 3 prong headlight plug. I have yet to wire them,. though, been tooooo damned cold. I refuse to work in the cold.[/QUOTE]

Well, you oughta' be able to 'git 'er done' today. It should only take about 15 minutes to swap those things out. Let us know if it saves you a trip into the depths of Fuse Box Hell.