|
BMW 530D Headlight Condensation fix
My 6 year old 530D developed this bad habit 6 months ago. No amount of airing by removing the big black caps on top of the headlight to using a hair dryer worked. I even lowered silica gel pouches into the area.
But I do have a solution and so far 3 months in works 100%.
Find a friendly body shop who has experience of removing the headlamp. It's tricky and you can break clips easily. I used my local official BMW dealer. They charged me £100 + 20% VAT.
The guy was an ace and in 45 mins had the lamp out and handed to me. He checked for obvious signs but none. Sometimes if the headlamp gets knocked (whilst you are away) the mounting brackets break and let in water. Mine were intact. The car has to stay as they will drop the front bumper. I had a loan car and put the headlamp on the front seat, glass facing roof lining, glad there was a newspaper on the seat as I did not want to soil the free loan car. Very damp news paper after 30 mins. So it had residue water.
Put oven at 50C on fan, place headlamp to dry for 60/90 mins. Do get your partners permission first. Now comes the fix. Got my plumber buddy to help. Buy good quality clear bathroom silicone. But first looking at the headlamp as fitted to the car, gently remove the black trim on top of lamp. Be gentle and it does come off. underneath this is the culprit. Mine was quite damp and dirty at the join. Clean and dry with tissue.
Turn it over and underneath is another black plastic trim. remove and clean underneath.
Now we checked all the joins and planned the next step. go over all joins with a thin layer of silicone, spray with water and then gently work into the the join of the clear plastic and the headlamp body. There are some minor ones so be thorough. then put a bit of silicone on the 2 black trims removed and stick them back.
Return to oven for 60 mins. don't be tempted to go above 50C, in case you want to do a pizza whilst you wait.
Took the lamp back to BMW dealer who was on standby and he fitted it in 75 minutes. and aligned the lamps too.
so far it works even with a pressure cleaner.
excuse the long story but wanted to answer all your questions.
|