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DaveInMD
02-11-2023, 10:01 AM
I am experiencing a mind boggling xenon headlight problem. After replacing lenses on my 05, the driver's side headlight was out with fail indicator on the dash. Swapped bulbs, control, module, ballast.... Still no-go on driver's side.

Plugged passenger headlight into driver's side wiring and that light worked. Then plugged driver's side headlight into driver's side . . .and that worked UNTIL I plugged passenger side back in.

So .... Driver's side works if passenger side is unplugged but there is a 10.second delay before it pops on. If passenger side is plugged in only passenger side will work. Driver's side stays out.

Found a few forums with similar issues that don't conclude with solutions.

Any advice is greatly appreciated before I thrown in the towel and head to the dealer.

Dave M.

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Oli77
02-11-2023, 11:45 AM
Woah, that is funky.
I don't have these headlights and not sure what to do.
When you say you changed the lenses, what parts did you change?
Not sure I know what lenses are.
Sounds that when both lights are ON that is too much on the system and it shuts one down?
Obviously nothing is wrong with the light bulbs.

DaveInMD
02-14-2023, 05:57 AM
I disconnected the battery and reconnected it. Both headlights then worked for two days. So once again the driver's side light does not work. I found a thread in another form that talked about this problem in 2013. But then the thread stopped without a solution.

The lens that I replaced on each headlight is the outer clear plastic covering of the entire headlight assembly and not the glass lenses of the individual low beams and high beams. The clear covering is attached to the headlights assembly with a black resin that softens up with a heat gun. I've taken the lenses off before to install the halo lights and have not had this problem before.

After installing the new outer lenses this time I noticed that much of the wire insulation for the harness that goes into the ballast was worn away. So I originally thought I just had a short. I put new coating on the wires and replaced some of the wires. When that didn't solve the problem. I started swapping bulbs ballast and control modules.

I'm thinking something got messed up with one of the control modules. I could buy one and experiment by trying the new one in each headlight. Those aren't cheap and I would just be guessing. Something is getting reset by me disconnecting the battery. Almost like clearing a code it comes back after a while of driving.

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san
02-14-2023, 07:10 AM
I’m guessing it’s battery related.
How old is your battery?


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DaveInMD
02-14-2023, 05:53 PM
Battery is 11 months old..

I found this thread which is the most detailed yet I can find.

https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/xenon-headlights-interesting-problem.600367/

Going move the ground for the angel eyes and disconnect the battery again and wait a few minutes before reconnecting.

[emoji1696]

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Oli77
02-15-2023, 05:45 PM
Good idea, that, or take the halos out of the system for now to see if you get back to normal. Hope its not that LCM thing.

sillieidiot
02-15-2023, 09:49 PM
I like how I clicked on that link to see if it was what I thought it was, but it turns out it was me lol Pretty much whenever I see that problem, it's almost always a bad/finicky ground. You can try also checking/cleaning the connectors. The usual culprits are usually lows or turn signals.

t.er
02-18-2023, 09:11 AM
I like how I clicked on that link to see if it was what I thought it was, but it turns out it was me lol Pretty much whenever I see that problem, it's almost always a bad/finicky ground. You can try also checking/cleaning the connectors. The usual culprits are usually lows or turn signals.I click on a lot of things and it's you :rofl

I've seen some AliExpress sellers using your old EAS pictures on their listings

sillieidiot
02-21-2023, 12:09 PM
I click on a lot of things and it's you :rofl

I've seen some AliExpress sellers using your old EAS pictures on their listings

lol I try to DMCA them whenever I see them. I have like a form now.

DaveInMD
02-24-2023, 04:49 PM
That's so funny I was just looking at that link again to figure out how to get in touch with you. Then I went back to The Mafia and there you are. I took the halos out of The equation and I'm still having the problem. I'm going to follow your advice to clean a connectors tomorrow. And check all the pins.

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