[E31BMW]

Hey, i have both brackets that hold the headlights broken on the passenger side headlight. I am guessing this occurred from hitting potholes in NYC, but my questions is, is this under warrantee? i took it to service and they said they couldn't warrantee it. i know i could buy a repair kit or put epoxy on it but since there is no damage on the bumper or anywhere for that matter in relation to the headlight, i am trying to seek alternative options,thanks.

[WingZeroX5]

Rofl, I have the same exact problem, but that was my fault lolol

I fixed it with epoxy.

[E31BMW]

Originally Posted by WingZeroX5

Rofl, I have the same exact problem, but that was my fault lolol

I fixed it with epoxy.

yea its a stupid problem, i did hit a number of potholes but not ones big enough to break the headlight. i need to get rid of this car soon and i dont need this headache. i think its safe to say that if you hit a little pothole and the headlights dangle on the bumper like they are held by a tiny thread this would be an example of some poor engineering. anyway, does it look 100% stock after the epoxy? and how did you break them?

[Couch]

If you're car is still under-warranty I don't know why it wouldn't be covered.

My headlight assembly broke (the headlight leveler broke) and they replaced the entire unit under warranty.

[WingZeroX5]

Originally Posted by e31e92

yea its a stupid problem, i did hit a number of potholes but not ones big enough to break the headlight. i need to get rid of this car soon and i dont need this headache. i think its safe to say that if you hit a little pothole and the headlights dangle on the bumper like they are held by a tiny thread this would be an example of some poor engineering. anyway, does it look 100% stock after the epoxy? and how did you break them?

I was installing the headlights you see in my sig, and I snapped it as I was mounting them. If you can get it to align exactly, it looks like it never happened.

It's pretty funny to see the headlights dangle whenever the car goes over a bump haha, but NYC potholes are so bad. I see people on youtube complaining small cracks on their freeways and are like "omg" and i'm sitting here WISHING our roads are like that. I always dread getting on/off the queensboro bridge (yes upper roadway too, lower...fughettaboutit) because it just looks like it just got shell'd pretty bad

[E31BMW]

Originally Posted by Couch

If you're car is still under-warranty I don't know why it wouldn't be covered.

My headlight assembly broke (the headlight leveler broke) and they replaced the entire unit under warranty.

yes, it is def still under warranty. I am having trouble understanding why the dealership says i need to pay 972 for a new headlight.... well i understand in a way, it comes down to making money.

[WingZeroX5]

Originally Posted by e31e92

yes, it is def still under warranty. I am having trouble understanding why the dealership says i need to pay 972 for a new headlight.... well i understand in a way, it comes down to making money.

Which dealer you use? I recommend Hassel BMW. They got lots of food stocked hahaha!

You can be like "I saw my headlights bobble whenever it goes over a bump of minor proportions and I opened up the hood and found those two tabs cracked"

I never had a problem with Hassel, if you do go there, ask for Peter.

[E31BMW]

Originally Posted by WingZeroX5

Which dealer you use? I recommend Hassel BMW. They got lots of food stocked hahaha!

You can be like "I saw my headlights bobble whenever it goes over a bump of minor proportions and I opened up the hood and found those two tabs cracked"

I never had a problem with Hassel, if you do go there, ask for Peter.

Hassel is the dealer who wont fix it. i am dealing with Paul over there. Going to call BMW NA now and find out.

[E31BMW]

update - just spoke with BMW customer relations and they said it should be covered and will call the service manager to find out why it wasn't replaced.

[WingZeroX5]

Paul got schooled by corporate!

That's good, nothing to worry about!

[E31BMW]

Originally Posted by WingZeroX5

Paul got schooled by corporate!

That's good, nothing to worry about!

well lets see what happens. They might give corp some BS reason it broke like road hazard.

[E31BMW]

so my advisor spoke with the service manager and said they wont warranty it. still trying to get in touch with Corp to find out if they got in touch with the service manager.

[E31BMW]

after taking it to two service centers, one of them being managed by a friend of a friend, they both said its not covered under warranty. These brackets are part of the headlight assembly which is almost $1,000 without install. i am going to gorilla glue it with epoxy or JB Weld.

[sjprof328]

I just found out that I have the exact same broken bracket problem for both headlights, and Ralleye is telling me that it won't be covered by the warranty. I'm not sure I understand from your posts what happened when you called BMW NA. Did they ever agree to fix it under the warranty? And, if so, I would appreciate if we could speak so I can learn how you handled the situation.

[E31BMW]

Originally Posted by sjprof328

I just found out that I have the exact same broken bracket problem for both headlights, and Ralleye is telling me that it won't be covered by the warranty. I'm not sure I understand from your posts what happened when you called BMW NA. Did they ever agree to fix it under the warranty? And, if so, I would appreciate if we could speak so I can learn how you handled the situation.

i went to 2 dealers, both of them said the same thing -its not covered. ( i even knew one of the service managers in one dealer) i tried to epoxy it 3 times, used crazy glue, you name it. it didnt work. i hear it might be a little easier with a sedan ( i had a coupe). after the dealers and the attempts, calling BMW NA didnt do anything either. if something gets broken under the hood that may have been caused by road hazard (they all know what roads are like around here) they wont cover it. i bought a headlight for a couple of hundred ( they for from 100-400+ on ebay) and took the internals of my headlight to install in the other headlight - not that hard

[sjprof328]

Thanks for the quick reply, although I am extremely unhappy to read what you wrote. Unfortunately, I too have a coupe and am not the slightest bit handy. So, I don't think I'll be attempting such a project. It seems to me there are too many reports out there of these extremely expensive headlight parts breaking too easily -- evidence of a clear design flaw. Perhaps BMW NA would be more accommodating if there were a class action suit filed (or threatened to be filed) against them. At this point, I don't know what I'm going to do, though I know I'm not quite ready to spend more than $2000 on new headlights right now. Perhaps, I'll just wait until the end of my lease term (one more year) and see what I can negotiate with my salesman. If they are unwilling to do anything for me, this will definitely be my last BMW.

[MusclezMarinara]

depends on your dealership relash

[E31BMW]

Originally Posted by MusclezMarinara

depends on your dealership relash

i know the service manager of my dealership and he had trouble putting this through. this type of problem is looked at as road hazard or body damage.If you come with a broken bumper from a pothole, its pretty much the same thing to them. i doubt any dealer will fix something that they are specifically told not to fix and something that is listed as not covered by warranty...unless its the only thing stopping you from signing the paperwork for another car.

[E31BMW]

Originally Posted by sjprof328

Thanks for the quick reply, although I am extremely unhappy to read what you wrote. Unfortunately, I too have a coupe and am not the slightest bit handy. So, I don't think I'll be attempting such a project. It seems to me there are too many reports out there of these extremely expensive headlight parts breaking too easily -- evidence of a clear design flaw. Perhaps BMW NA would be more accommodating if there were a class action suit filed (or threatened to be filed) against them. At this point, I don't know what I'm going to do, though I know I'm not quite ready to spend more than $2000 on new headlights right now. Perhaps, I'll just wait until the end of my lease term (one more year) and see what I can negotiate with my salesman. If they are unwilling to do anything for me, this will definitely be my last BMW.

i know exactly what you mean,i have been through that. ive have many bmw's and i notice that with the same model there are certain flimsy parts of the car that always break, the headlight being one of them. its unfortunate that BMW make these parts that way and then choose not to fix them. you def dont need to spend 2000K. if you want to remove your bumper and change the headlights yourself by gutting yours and putting it into the new one then you can do this job for a couple of hundred dollars.

[rayguy24]

Originally Posted by Genek335

i went to 2 dealers, both of them said the same thing -its not covered. ( i even knew one of the service managers in one dealer) i tried to epoxy it 3 times, used crazy glue, you name it. it didnt work. i hear it might be a little easier with a sedan ( i had a coupe). after the dealers and the attempts, calling BMW NA didnt do anything either. if something gets broken under the hood that may have been caused by road hazard (they all know what roads are like around here) they wont cover it. i bought a headlight for a couple of hundred ( they for from 100-400+ on ebay) and took the internals of my headlight to install in the other headlight - not that hard

How did you remove the internal? Did you write up a DIY by any chance? I just picked up a set and both lamps have one tab broken on each of em. I'm wondering if it would be worth my time to gut the xenons and swap the parts into my halogen housing (or its even possible)?

[ceb]

Well, now that you've tried to fix it yourself you're pretty well screwed.

There is a repair kit for a few bucks available that is made by BMW to fix this problem. It fits into a slot on the headlamp and repairs it perfectly.

So why isn't it stronger in the first place? It is designed that way to comply with European pedestrian safety laws. All Euro cars have some variant of a repair kit as well.

What you can do is sue the city. They are the ones responsible.

[rayguy24]

Originally Posted by ceb

Well, now that you've tried to fix it yourself you're pretty well screwed.

There is a repair kit for a few bucks available that is made by BMW to fix this problem. It fits into a slot on the headlamp and repairs it perfectly.

So why isn't it stronger in the first place? It is designed that way to comply with European pedestrian safety laws. All Euro cars have some variant of a repair kit as well.

What you can do is sue the city. They are the ones responsible.

Not sure if that first statement is for me...a bit confused

As for the repair kit, which exact one are you referring to? I know that the e90 assembly doesnt have slots where you can simply just slide in a new bracket. The tab is one piece plastic molded to the housing, so the only way to repair is to weld back on the broken piece. Here's a posting that has really good pics of headlight tabs. http://http://www.e90post.com/forums...=headlight+tab

Anyways, I have found a few tab repair designs on ecs tuning and I am just trying to decide which one seems the most compatible. For sure I will still need to do some modifications, but maybe I might luck out. http://http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Tab_Repair/