Condensation in my Headlamp

[Supremus]

Hi Fellow Membersfor the first time today after a heavy rain i noticed that my driver side headlamp on my e60 year 2005 has condensation in it. Anyone has similar problem?Any idea what is the best solution?Prior to this i did not change any bulb or did anything to the headlamp.But i did have my bumper changed and painted. a week beforeI tried googling, some said is the rubber seal in the headlamp and some say is normal. but i cant accept is normal. Please adviceThank you Remus

 

[AndyInc]

Hi Fellow Members

for the first time today after a heavy rain i noticed that my driver side headlamp on my e60 year 1995 has condensation in it.

Anyone has similar problem?

Any idea what is the best solution?

Prior to this i did not change any bulb or did anything to the headlamp.
But i did have my bumper changed and painted. a week before

I tried googling, some said is the rubber seal in the headlamp and some say is normal.
but i cant accept is normal.

Please advice

Thank you

Remus

E60 year 1995? Hmm.. :106:

 

[Supremus]

sorry bro, is year 2005 E60

 

[megatnh]

Hi Fellow Members

for the first time today after a heavy rain i noticed that my driver side headlamp on my e60 year 2005 has condensation in it.

Anyone has similar problem?

Any idea what is the best solution?

Prior to this i did not change any bulb or did anything to the headlamp.
But i did have my bumper changed and painted. a week before

I tried googling, some said is the rubber seal in the headlamp and some say is normal.
but i cant accept is normal.

Please advice

Thank you

Remus

hi Supremus
Any possibility of showing the pic of your headlight condensation...
i was informed that a slight condensation is expected in the headlight . . i had quite a big condensation (bout 50% of the headlight surface area) in my previous 2006 E90 bimmer but they seem to work fine though and i didnt really like the idea of SC to mess up with my headlights anyway by checking them......

 

[saat]

Switch on the headlights. It will go.

 

[Supremus]

Hi guys,

I would have to admit my case is pretty bad.

Condensation in the form of water droplets are seen on ALL areas of the headlamp.

I wil snap some pics for you guys,

I hope this doesn't happen to the rest, it really annoys me.

BMW = Bring More Worries.

 

[saat]

Yes I had it on my E36 and E39. The answer from AB Technician is "Biasa-lah".

But I found that it does not affect the headlamp when it is in operation cos the condensation will turn to vapor.

The water comes thru the headlamp unit ventilation/drain tube.

 

[jarance]

Switch On the headlamp will not solve the problem as the vapour is still trapped inside the headlamp. it will come back

Best way is to remove the whole headlamp and remove the bulb and let it dry in the sun.

Alternative, you can remove the bulb and heat the front of the cover with a hair dryer. You can also remove the side lamp and blow hot air into the headlamp to circulate the air.

 

[saat]

Jarance, I didn't say it will solve the problem but it will dry up so as not to affect the operation of the lamp.

When you switch it off, the condensation will reappear.

In my case, for the E36 over time it went away.

FYI, I even tried a hair drier and it still does not work. I removed the headlamp on the E39 and ended up breaking something and having to replace the lamp unit.

 

[jarance]

Jarance, I didn't say it will solve the problem but it will dry up so as not to affect the operation of the lamp.

When you switch it off, the condensation will reappear.

In my case, for the E36 over time it went away.

FYI, I even tried a hair drier and it still does not work. I removed the headlamp on the E39 and ended up breaking something and having to replace the lamp unit.

I did that with my wife vios and it work but then again, I have an industrial dryer. The temperature is high enough to melt plastic. :stupid:

Yes, overtime, the moisture will be absorb by the hot weather.

Yes, sometime after car wash, you will see water condensation on the front cover.. :stupid:

 

[thule]

My E60 also faces this kind of problem.. but only in severe cases of heavy rains. Even my mechanic said that it's normal...

 

[Supremus]

some of us are in the same boat, But i cant accept is 'normal'.
hey is BMW and we all expect quality and a peace of mind,

i did call up a friend in AB and he says is a seal around the headlamp that needs replacement

I have now taken out the headlamp and wanna see what really went wrong

 

[Supremus]

I took my headlamp apart and this is what i found and did,

1. No major crack, so dont have a clue how water or air went in.
2. remove breather hose and found that filter has disintegrated, remove filter and replaced with sponge (taken from dish waster sponge, new ones which i cut to size)
3. Found that some wire housing became brittle and bits and pieces found its way into the headlamp housing
4. Removed brittle wire housing and wrapped them with electrical tape.
4. Air Dry the headlamp housing with heat gun and also high pressure air gun. This forces the bits of brittle wire housing out of the headlamp.
6. Air dry until headlamp housing became dry.
7. Wanted to re-seal headlamp housing with Silicon but upon further inspection... i still cant see any crack so i decided not too.
8. Installed the Headlamp
9. after completion of installing.... minor condensation is seen forming again.. i think this is due to the temperature difference. ( Outside temp is cold since is raining and inner headlamp is warm)
10. Cant do much but to wait and see .. after about 3 hours condensation disappeared.
11. 2 days passed and it rained.... lucky me no condensation..
13. Today after it rain and i found a little condensation... but not too major..

I still feel uneasy, i didnt have the problem solved. but just minimized it..

If it happens again.. im gonna have it sealed with silicon..

 

[Supremus]

here are some pics

 

[Supremus]

And this is what the headlamp looks like today

 

[saat]

Told jer. Switch on the headlights and the condensation will go.

But I know, you dont expect this from a car this costly.

 

[Guna]

Bloody frustrating isn't it? are there some kind of seal or seals that can be replaced?

 

[Supremus]

The the only rubber seal i can see is the top rubber seal that sits in between the front housing and back housing of the headlamp. It looks good.

From the bottom view, i dont see any runner seal, the 2 housing are just held in place by clips.

Once all is sealed and installed back into the vehicle. I noticed that at the top of the headlamp there is a opening which you could open to adjust the height of the beam.

What i did was open it up and air it, i noticed that the air inside is very humid and damp.

Attached are some visuals of the opening.

 

[Fahami]

Hi all. may i suggest something which may help to minimized further by using desiccant, u can found this normally when u buy a new (normally leather) shoes, theres a packet of silica gel inside the box to prevent moisture.
U can also found it in the vitamins bottle.
Just throw it inside the headlamp but not to the bulb area.

Just a suggestion.

 

[Supremus]

I totally agree with what u have suggested, i think it will work.
But we have to put in a few packets since the headlamp is huge.

Now i have to go hunt for them,
donate them to me anyone? can be found in your vitamin bottles...