So I bought a good-condition used AL assembly to do a wholesale replacement of my burnt-bowl ZKW passenger-side (right-side) headlight, figuring it should be a straightforward direct-fit replacement.

After removing the ZKW assembly, I noticed the AL headlight wasn't fitting quite right & wasn't lining up correctly with the mounting screw locations. After a bit of investigation & comparison to my driver-side (left) headlight (already an AL unit), I noticed the lower mounting bracket was different.

(Talking about part #10 here, P/N 63-12-8-380-188)


Everywhere I looked only listed that single P/N for that bracket, with no notes to indicate that there is any difference in fitment or application for ZKW or AL units. BUT, my LH AL headlight's bracket looks like this:



Whereas my RH ZKW bracket looked like this:



(These pics are actually of a right-side "AL" & a left-side "ZKW", so just mirror them in your head. Additionally, my fitment issue isn't a right-vs-left as I've seen both left & right brackets of both types.)

The major difference I noted is a "notch" on the outside edge of the "AL" bracket where the "ZKW" bracket has a solid "shelf" down the entire length. Said notch appeared to be necessary for the AL light to sit flush against the bracket as it has more modules on the bottom of the assembly (compared to the ZKW). So I broke out the power tools & cut a matching notch into my "ZKW" bracket to allow the bottom of the AL to clear the bracket & sit flush.

After modifying the bracket I was able to line up all four mounting holes & get the AL "installed", but the bottom edge of the headlight still doesn't sit correctly in relation to the bumper: there's a significant gap between the lower headlight trim piece & the bumper when everything's installed. It's almost as if the whole assembly is angled up too much, or that the back end of this lower bracket isn't holding the headlight up well enough.

Has anyone run into issues like this or know of a fix / reason it's not sitting correctly? A new, notched bracket is ~$50, so it wouldn't be a huge issue if that the solution, but all of the research I've done so far seems to indicate that the brackets should be the same regardless of AL or ZKW.