Interaction

Since starting this blog a few months back I have been amazed by how big an audience it's reached.

Above is the month view the location of people viewing. This is a top 10, but there are people as far a Chile & Japan reading.

So firstly Thank you for reading. I'm genuinely taken back by the support recieved.

However let's make this a more interactive experience. I enjoy hearing feedback, comments and ideas. So encourage you all like, comment and subscribe. Even if you just want to say hello. It will make this blog that much better.

Thanks. Speak soon

The Headlight fiasco

When I first decided to get an M135i to repair, I wanted to change the front end to a 2 series front end. I just preferred the look of that than the pre-LCI front of the F20 1 series.


Pre LCI

 LCI

 2 series

As the only difference between these is the headlights, bumper and brackets and seeing how my car was in need of all three, this was a good opportunity.

Swapped

Nice right?

This plan was put in check but the fact that my car was built with adaptive headlights. For those who don't know, adaptive headlights basically turn left or right depending on the direction of steering. The idea is to improve visibility whilst cornering.

BMW Adaptive headlights demo


As good as all that sounds, it becomes a royal pain when trying to find a replacement. As you can imagine they would be quite rare as not a commonly specified option (across the 3 front ends above).

Part numbers

So it would be challenging....

No, it would be more than that. The headlights used on most modern BMWs are made under license by Hella. And in the almighty wisdom of both companies the BMW part number is not stamped/printed on the headlight (anywhere).

Above is the label on the remnant of the driver's headlight on my car. The BMW part number for the driver's side adaptive headlight is 63 11 7 296 908. This is nowhere to be found. The 1ZS number is the Hella part number but it does not appear on their system as they are BMW OEM parts. The lower number on the right is the part number everyone else seems to use 7229694-11.

Searching the breakers & eBay gives you loads of headlights with 7229688-11 which is the standard BMW Xenon headlight - BMW part number 63 11 7 296 912 (not what I want).

FUN FACT: BMW headlight a steering side specific. The RL designates right hand drive. LL would be Left hand drive. Separate parts for each. Certain countries also have specific headlight requirements also and will also get their own part.

Because of this confusing setup many people are selling Xenon headlights as adaptive (also they think their adaptive due to the light auto levelling). I've seen a few incorrectly advertised.

Brand new the AHLs are £634 each without any modules. I managed to confirm the correct part numbers with the help of the guys on the owners group on facebook, so at least know what to look for.

As of writing this I found an single AHL advertised incorrectly going cheap so snapped that up. Just need the passenger side.

Modules

The other part of this are the various modules connected to the headlight in order to make them work.

• Driver module
• Xenon control unit (ballast)
• Xenon Bulb with igniter
• LED modules

Across the different front ends i considered, not all of these parts were shared i.e. the LED modules. All the parts i salvaged from my headlights appear to be in good working order. So with that in mine it would make sense to put the intended headlights back on the car to keep costs down.

Update 20/05/17

Finally got a set of decent sealey offset ring spanners (£25 from mano mano). Turns out that's all i needed with my socket set.

Changed lower control arm on driver's side, which was simple apart from nearly striping the torx on ball end. Now that side doesn't turn freely from the top mount and stays in positon.

Had the tyre changed also, so car is sitting properly now.

Wish i had lifts, would make everything easier.

Next was the NSF tie rod. There are special tools to take these off. One is about £60 the other £10. I couldn't really justify getting a specialist tool for a one time job. So managed to use a pipe wrench.

Access was a bit awkward but once I got a good position I was able to get good leverage.

Here you can see the damage to the subframe clearly. You. An also see it's crushed part of the OSF wishbone. That will be replaced along with subframe. I plan to do this whilst the car is at the bodyshop and engine is out of car for ease.

In the process or brokering a deal on a complete pre lci front end with the adaptive lights my car came with. Just need it at the right price, then get the front quarter and sub frame and it's off to bodyshop

The Methodology

So I got asked why I'm bothering with all this on babybmw  and it was suggested I sell the car and buy a non crashed example.

Here was my response:

Remember it's a process.

1. strip it down and assess what's damaged
2. decide on a plan of attack- what can be repaired vs what has to be replaced - sometimes cheaper to replace​
3. set out the job in order - project management
4. list/get all the parts
5. get cracking

I could have easily got a non-salvage car (would have ultimately cost me more for options i wanted and could have end up compromising again), but there's no learning in that for me.

Doing it this way, I'm 100% on what's been repaired and to my high standard (buying used is just as much a risk as there could be undisclosed faults, damage etc), plus I get to know a lot about the car in the process. Which I end up sharing on here.

Sometimes it's not about the race but about the journey

The car will go to be inspected after the work is completed (and before my family ever get in) and recategorised to condition inspected on HPI if meets the repair standards. You can find out more about this process at link below

 www.autolign.co.uk

Tools

Had a crack at doing the steering bits. Got half way into it and realised my tools weren't up to the job. Sigh.


Top tip: make sure you have a decent set of offset ring spanners and some deep sockets. BMW don't make anything easy accessible.
Need a replacement gaiter clamp for tie rod as it's got a perishable one on. Busy with work but in 2 weeks the steering will be done.
Just collecting body parts so it can go in for repair.