[JonOhh]

Just waiting on dealership stuff.

Out of warranty now, claim/initial ticket was made before warranty expiration so they're still working on it.

New headlights would give me the opportunity to go ahead and put protective film over them to prevent this thing that shouldn't happen in the first place from happening again.

Such a good looking front end to have cloudy and perpetually dirty looking headlights.

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by JonOhh

Just waiting on dealership stuff.

Seems strange that they taking this long to come to a decision..

Are you sure they are not just hoping you give up?

[JonOhh]

Originally Posted by Poochie

Seems strange that they taking this long to come to a decision..

Are you sure they are not just hoping you give up?

I was beginning to think exactly that, but just a day ago I got an email saying they're waiting on parts, so we'll see what happens!

[JonOhh]

Well y'all, I got new headlights put in today, they look great. I'll be sure to add some details later when I get home.

[JonOhh]

Well, I guess 2:30am is "later"...

Ended up starting the job of changing the transmission out on my x1/9 and didn't get to a stopping point until now.


So anyway, they ended up replacing the housings, but swapping some of the original (and perfectly working) components to the new housings, and I assume keeping them for later use. Now, I don't know anything about the AHL components in the F series cars, what is a part of the housing and what is swappable, however the ticket stated things like the Xenon control module, Xenon bulb, and a few other things were swapped into the new housings ( I'll be sure to update with a pic of the service ticket, hopefully to help others if they run into this in the future ). The new lenses are, as expected, invisible and the car looks worlds better now.

Upon very close inspection, I found the driver side lens has a very subtle "Valeo" marking on it, which I don't believe was on the old one, but as Valeo is the OEM anyway, I don't care. I ordered some 3M protective film to help prevent it from happening, as well.

I was a bit worried it wouldn't be covered at all, especially considering we rolled into the service department at this second dealership the first time (to make the ticket) with less than 6 miles left on the factory warranty, and were over 800 miles past expiration when the job was done, but in the end everything worked out well. The ticket states the job as a goodwill, so no clue what that means for BMW NAs involvement, or if they came to a verdict about how normal the wear was.


Props to BMW of Mobile... even though the local service department has been really great (and have actually done a lot for us, I'll admit), I was a bit surprised at their denial, but many of y'all have given some fairly solid reasoning for that decision on their behalf, and I respect that.

[PDM5]

I took a look at my light housings in the underground garage at work and while not as bad, mine are definitely showing signs of pitting. Not bad enough to need a replacement yet, but I'll be sure to bring it up before the original warranty expires as I'm sure it won't be covered under CPO. The car has been a garaged car at home/work for its entire life, so it's not environmental issues, just constant debris hitting it from all the damn trucks either kicking stuff up or falling off the back of dump trucks. There are so many these days that even if you're not behind them (which I never am), crap still finds its way to the car.

Glad you got yours sorted!!!!

[Poochie]

Glad it worked out for you.

You probably just saved yourself like $2,000 for both headlight shells, minus the labor..

[JonOhh]

As promised:

[CDN-Driver]

Been following along, glad you got this sorted out.

[roarf]

For anyone that had this problem, did you try refinishing the lenses by sanding them? If so, did that get rid of the cracks or were they all through the lens or on the inside? Mine look like the OP's and it's very hard to tell if refinishing the lenses will get rid of it.

[John in VA]

Originally Posted by roarf

For anyone that had this problem, did you try refinishing the lenses by sanding them? If so, did that get rid of the cracks or were they all through the lens or on the inside? Mine look like the OP's and it's very hard to tell if refinishing the lenses will get rid of it.

The "cracks" on our F30's lights were not superficial, so could not be helped with sanding. The lights on our '15 228i are still as good as new!

[roarf]

Well, I had a professional detailer attempt to bring my headlight lenses back to life and it actually worked. Neither of us thought the cracks would come out, but they did. They look brand spanking new. He sanded them with several different grits, polished, then applied PPF. Very happy with the results.

Before and after below...

[JonOhh]

Originally Posted by roarf

Well, I had a professional detailer attempt to bring my headlight lenses back to life and it actually worked. Neither of us thought the cracks would come out, but they did. They look brand spanking new. He sanded them with several different grits, polished, then applied PPF. Very happy with the results.

Before and after below...

Wow! I'm really glad to hear that the cracking is only in the outermost layer. As these cars age, I've seen more and more F series cars with this spiderweb cracking on the headlights surface, so the fact that it's resolvable without replacing the lens entirely is huge. Whatever they changed the material to...was not a good choice. I'll be sure to pass this info along to my friend who's also having this issue.

Cheers, thanks for the follow up.

[BambamOD]

Hello John, I’m having the same problems you had with your headlights on my m240i, and I wasn’t able to get the dealership to replace them under warranty and warranty expires next week. They said it looks scratched even though it’s been polished, so we can try to polish them again and bring it back to see if it’s internal or external. I’ve taken it to 3 other detailers and they also think it’s crystalizing/crazing internal or between the front and back layers.

Do you happen to have any advice on how I could get them replaced? I dont think the dealership will take me seriously since I’m a girl. I know I should probably try emailing them, but do you have any advice? Your photos seem very helpful too, but it seems hard to capture the issue in photos unless the headlights are on at night. I tried to PM you but I am not sure if you received my message since I’m a new member.

[John in VA]

There are replacement plastic lenses, for example:
https://www.bavgruppedesign.com/prod...plastic-cover/

Many of the newer model headlight units need to be "baked" (in the oven or with a heat gun) to soften the glue/caulk to be able to remove the affected lens.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ky1rxe82hd...ights.pdf?dl=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLSO...nel=bienarcisb

You need to be firm, yet polite - women comprise over 50% of car buyers. The car is under warranty - they're putting the fault on you. These are not rock chips or scratches from external environmental forces. There is a history of this issue & the dealers know it. If the dealer is not going to step up & try to polish them, find a top-rated detail shop & start with a polish before asking if they can replace the lens if you're not up to it. Good luck!

[BambamOD]

Thanks for the reply John. Would John or JonOhh have any recommendations on what to say to the dealership?