BMW headlight . . . $1,000 !!!

[dingbat]

What's an 'adaptive headlight' I ask myself

If it’s like mine, it points the head lights in the direction of the steering wheel.

New headlight unit is $800

 

[Scott Danforth]

Car-part.com

 

[matt167]

I bout two tail light buckets for my Silverado on e-bay complete housing for under $60

Only on the complete base model trucks nowadays. Incandescent bulbs are pretty much gone.

 

[southkogs]

I actually had the same problem start on my '92 Mustang. We've had about two weeks of rain, and I've had to drain about 1/2" of water out of the passenger headlight.

It's not as cool as Scott's round headlights ... but it's not $1k fix either.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Hey Ted, used prices of headlights are about same as new for your car. also there are LED and Xenon listed for 2015 BMW's the Xenon headlights used are about double the aftermarket...... but less than the OEM.

 

[Lou C]

I’ve used Crown aftermarket for both my 98 & 07 Jeeps. For the 07 a pair of OEM was $ 600, for aftermarket it’s about 1/3 of that, and quality is quite close to the OEM…I polished the originals a few times but the haziness kept coming back..,so I just put in a pair of Crown lights.

 

[tpenfield]

I just checked on the BMW forums . . . dealers are quoting $3-5K to replace the headlight. Seems bonkers. but, if other brands of vehicles have similar part costs for these 'integrated' headlight assemblies, I can imagine that they too are pricey . . . maybe not as high what I'm seeing BMW dealers quite.

I'd be concerned about buying a used unit for eBay or elsewhere . . . why is it no longer being used?

 

[Pmt133]

I could see that high of a price to replace the housing if its like my 19. The whole front clip needs to come off to get to it. And if it is adaptive I'd imagine there's a reprogramming associated with. Plus typical dealer BS... yeah I can see it.

 

[Lou C]

That’s my resistance to newer vehicles, and even though I know outboards are “better”, less maintenance I still have the crusty old OMC I/O.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I just checked on the BMW forums . . . dealers are quoting $3-5K to replace the headlight. Seems bonkers. but, if other brands of vehicles have similar part costs for these 'integrated' headlight assemblies, I can imagine that they too are pricey . . . maybe not as high what I'm seeing BMW dealers quite.

I'd be concerned about buying a used unit for eBay or elsewhere . . . why is it no longer being used?

wrecks being stripped of parts.

todays auto-recyclers buy flood damaged vehicles for about $500, then pull all the parts they can clean up and sell - light assemblies, body panels, suspension, cooling system parts, glass, etc. they buy collision wrecks for the motors, transmissions, wiring, controls interior, etc. that is how they make money. that process spills over to the individuals. former employee of mine goes to auctions, they buy up wrecked and salvage toyotas, and strip them down.... build them back up and sell them like crazy. its how he is funding his retirement. they only deal with toyotas, and they buy like 5 wrecks, make 3 cars and sell a pile of parts.

FYI, MIL's Honda hybrid is barely under warranty and the DRLs failed 2 months ago. warranty covered the $2700 price of two headlights. its not just BMW that has gotten stupidly expensive, they all have.

 

[cyclops222]

Your auto dealers install lots of yard parts. NOT illegal.

 

[Renken2000Classic]

If it's foggin' or holding water, drill a little drain hole in there before you lose function (lol); and maybe one higher up for "relief". Done that a few times.

Headlamp bulb change on my older Acura looks to be a pain also. I had one that was out, but it started mysteriously working again (lol). I haven't drilled on it, btw . Yet.

 

[tpenfield]

Quick update . . .

In my search for a new headlight assembly, I came across some seemingly inexpensive replacements, but the fine print was that they did not have any of the 'modules'. As shown in post #25 above, new headlight assemblies with all the stuffing are about $2,700, some places were as high as $3,100.

I got a used one with all the modules for $1,800. . .

.
Then is was a matter of removing the old headlight . . . you pretty much have to take the front of the car apart. I just draped all of the trim pieces over the engine.

.
I checked to see if anything was salvageable in the old headlight. . . The control module PCB and connector look like they are toast.
.

.

.
I got the new headlight installed . . .

.
Now it is a matter of 'initializing' it to the car's computer (else it won't work) I may need to take it to a local shop to have that done.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Ted, you keep enforcing my Luddite tendencies.....

dont you miss sealed beams now.

 

[Lou C]

Ted, you keep enforcing my Luddite tendencies.....

dont you miss sealed beams now.
View attachment 409482

Same for me Scott...
In my '98 Grand Cherokee I've been running a set of Crown EU spec H-4 headlamps run off a Painless Wiring relay harness I installed over 20 years ago....the replacement Crown headlights are available from Quadratec Jeep parts for $55 each!
In our '17 Wrangler, I am going to install a set of Hella H-4 7" round headlamps, run off a relay harness made to work with the CANBUS system.
In my '07 Jeep, no EU spec lights are available here, but I have used Crown replacements, they are as good as OEM at less than half the price (about $120 each). When I change the headlamps on the 98 it is very easy, no disassembly needed, on the Wrangler, also easy, on the '07 Grand I have to remove the front fascia, but it's not hard, done it a few times.
The Hella H-4s last a long time, you have a metal housing in most cases, glass lens that will never fog over and easy to find and inexpensive H-4 bulbs.
Yeah the new headlights are better, but are they worth the cost?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Yeah the new headlights are better, but are they worth the cost?

3 vehicles with yellowing plastic lenses that are turning opaque..... 2 vehicles with opaque fog lamps..... im going with NO. not sure they are better, and not worth the cost.... you cant aim an LED for HI/LO like you can a dual filament bulb. you can only make them dimmer or brighter or have a plethora of LED's at different focal ranges.

 

[dingbat]

you cant aim an LED for HI/LO like you can a dual filament bulb. you can only make them dimmer or brighter or have a plethora of LED's at different focal ranges.

Hey, but are they "steering responsive" with adjustable auto dim feature?
Little more concerned with the auto-sensing wipers...lol

 

[Scott Danforth]

Hey, but are they "steering responsive" with adjustable auto dim feature?

Beverly tied the headlights to the steering for "curve adaptive lighting" back in 1904, and Tucker did it again in 1948 with the cyclops light, and the auto-dim has been available since 1952 on Caddies - trade named Autronic Eye

Autosensing wipers have been around since 1970 (Citeroen) and then Caddilac re-introduced it in 1996

 

[Lou C]

https://www.quadratec.com/p/crown-automotive/ece-headlamp-housing-grand-cherokee-zj

these are for my '98 even cheaper now, and like 100% better than the junk DOT ones that were OE

https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-002395991-Type-Single-Headlamp/dp/B0002M9QJM

for the '17 Wrangler, again much better than OEM