Still Headlight problems

Update 25/07/17

I have everything i need to take car into bodyshop bar the passenger side adaptive headlight. This is important as the bodyshop need it to align the front properly (especially since that was the side that was hit)

I had already got the driver's side for the bargain price of £250 and recently found the passenger side for £400 (remember these are about £650 brand new). 

However when the passenger side arrived I tested it and it worked but there was gaps between the lens and body and excessive double sided tape, along with finger print inside the lens. Turns out the lens was replaced poorly and it was written in the listing, albeit very small. It was returned and i was fully refunded.

I found another at a breakers but they seem to think they could charge £600 for a used part, so told them where they could go with that.

So now I'm still on the hunt for a headlight. Or bite the bullet and buy it brand new.

In the meantime here's a video of these pesky lights in action (credit to IronEagle)


BMW F20 Adaptive Headlights (Xenon) from IronEagle on Vimeo.

 If you know where I can find one, get in touch. I would be very appreciate.

Catch you soon

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Buying used parts

Buying parts for this car has really been an exercise in patience. Mainly due to the M135i having an engine not shared with the the majority of F2X cars. Body parts are more common, it's just a case of getting them for the right price, colour, etc.

So far I have almost everything I need to take to body shop, except the left side adaptive headlight (I bought one the other day and paid a bit much for it, but it had had the lens replaced badly so it was returned).

Engine wise I still need a few pipes and hoses - along with the air con condenser and bracket. After that its just airbag kit and windscreen.

Where to buy?

There's only 3 places to get genuine parts:

eBay - The easiest place to search and buy parts (if you know what your looking for), from lots of different sources.

Pros:

Huge number of items to choose from.
Multiple ways to pay also including PayPal's new buy now pay later option.
Click and collect at Argos.

Cons: 

Not able to view prior to buying - Rely on accurate/truthful descriptions
Delivery charges can be costly on bulkier items
Return can be a pain.

Breakers - Specialist BMW breakers (like Quarry motors) are good places to look.

Pros:

Sites like PartsGateway can do all the leg work for you.
Specialists tend to have good knowledge of the cars.

Cons: 

Delivery costs
Unable to view parts if not local
Some breakers don't know much about the cars

BMW - Last resort, as you can imagine brand new parts can be expensive.

Pros:
Exactly the part you need

Cons:
Flipping expensive
No credit option

Other options

There are also some smaller breaker and random sellers. And whilst some of these are good, I have to say my experiences with others (sadly to say mainly from Birmingham area) hasn't been.

Rude, arrogant, unprofessional & dishonest are all words that spring to mind if asked to describe. Most of them come across as rude, arrogant and unprofessional. the genuinely lack any business experience and seem to think the world works according to them. Of the dozens I spoke to when you ask them certain questions about the vehicle they are breaking they get very cagey and all seem to be in a mad hurry to get rid.

One particular bell-end was advertising breaking M135i's and had parts available on eBay. Now unless you pay for a classified Ad your not supposed to add a contact number or email to a listing. this is eBay policy as they do not want to encourage selling outside of their bubble (buyer/seller protection and all that). 

To avoid classified listings fees, he'd list the car breaking against a wheel nut (common practice on eBay) and ask people to message him their number (which is another breach in eBay policy).

He'd then call at some random hour, basically say he has everything and get annoyed if you asked specific questions about parts. And if you didn't commit to driving several hours to Birmingham, he'd throw his toys out the cot and get all rude. This guy then decided he was going to message me insults for a week.

The flip side to this is that I didn't manage to get majority of the front end for the M135i from a similar person in Birmingham. And apart from not knowing the difference between adaptive headlights (See Headlight Fiasco post) and almost not doing a deal over £50 it turned out OK.

NB: Sorry for lack of updates, June was a very busy month with one of my madam's 1st birthday - which equated in a divert of time and funds 

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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.