High Beams Flickering

[elwesso]

I am having issues with my the high beams on my 07 coupe flickering. The low beams work fine, but when I try and activate the high beams, they will usually flash and then not work at all. Sometimes if you leave the switch on for a long time they may flash every now and then.

Both sides either work or they don't, and when they flash on they both come on basically at the same time. Again, my low beams work fine.

I have been living with this issue for a few months now, however I have the front bumper off the car right now to get repainted, so I figure now is the time to get this issue fixed!

BTW, if anyone is thinking about getting your bumper repainted, it's really easy to take off yourself. My shop quoted me 2.5 hours to R/R the bumper, and it took me less than 1 hour to remove the bumper, and you don't even have to jack the car up!

[Huz-Z]

If this was just hapening on one side I would say the bulb on that side was nearing the end of its service life. But as it is happening on both sides, it sounds like its something with the common system powering both bulbs.

[psygnosis]

It takes me like 5 minutes to remove he bumper, then again all that's holding it on are the bolts under the hood and the clips by the lights

Do the post facelift xenons work differently? Aren't the highbeams just a shutter that raises up to expose more light?

[elwesso]

That would make sense if they were just a shutter. Judging by how it appears when you flash the brights, it doesn't appear that a different bulb turns on.. I never would have thought about that though, thanks for the input!

[dubsesd]

Shutter are how all bixenon headlamps work.

[nate96]

I know this is an older thread but did you ever figure out what was wrong? I have the same problem. Sometimes the shutter would stay open for minutes, other times just seconds, and sometimes they would start to open then just close again. It seemed that the longer the car ran the worse it got.

After playing around I find that if I put the stalk forward to turn the high beams on when I turn the car off and leave the lights to auto, when I start the car up and the lights do their start up sequence they go to high beams and then operate normally (at least for a while). No idea what is wrong.

[Small Yellow]

Originally Posted by nate96

I know this is an older thread but did you ever figure out what was wrong? I have the same problem. Sometimes the shutter would stay open for minutes, other times just seconds, and sometimes they would start to open then just close again. It seemed that the longer the car ran the worse it got.

After playing around I find that if I put the stalk forward to turn the high beams on when I turn the car off and leave the lights to auto, when I start the car up and the lights do their start up sequence they go to high beams and then operate normally (at least for a while). No idea what is wrong.

Im glad I wasnt the only one. I got lazy and never posted because I dont use my high beams much.

Would like input too!

[nate96]

So I decided to try using Just answer for this.

http://www.justanswer.com/bmw/8euq0-...ln=b1_viewr_bu

I have a 2006 BMW Z4 equipped with bi-xenon headlights. The shutter for high beams on both headlights does not remain open. If I start the car and during the initialization of the headlights I turn the headlight switch to on and push the stalk forward for high beams they will work for about 10 minutes. During this time you can turn them on and off and they work normally, if you leave them in the high beam state they will return to the low beam state in about 10 minutes. If I do not do the high beam during the initialization sometimes they will turn on for 5-10 seconds and then turn off again when you push the stalk forward or back, and sometimes you see the shutter move for 0.5 second and then return to low beam. This will happen whether the car is running or not.

In the videos you can hear a grinding sound when the lights do the initialization. This sound appears to be coming from the drivers headlight.

Video of Lights working

http://s89.photobucket.com/user/nate...rking.mp4.html

Video of Light not working

http://s89.photobucket.com/user/nate...rking.mp4.html

Response

the shutter is controlled directly by the light switch cluster (aka light module) based on input from the high beam switch/stalk. the lights witch cluster is the whole light knob and module to the left of the steering wheel

so, given what you are experiencing, I would suspect the light switch cluster is the faulty component, the only other options would be a headlight failure or switch failure

I would start by unhooking the vehicle battery for an hour to reset the light switch cluster.

if that does not work you could also try a software re-flash, but otherwise you would be looking at one of the failures as outlined above

I decided to disconnect the battery. As the battery was disconnected I decided to take out the light control module out of the dash to look at it. With it out of the dash I took some compressed air and blew out the module. I reinstalled it and the GF showed up. So the next morning I reconnected the battery. So far I have not had an issue with the lights. I went for a 30 min and 45 min drive and through both of the drives the lights worked correctly through the entire drives. I also left the car running in the driveway with the lights on high beams for an hour and they remained on.

[Small Yellow]

Originally Posted by nate96

So I decided to try using Just answer for this.

http://www.justanswer.com/bmw/8euq0-...ln=b1_viewr_bu



Response




I decided to disconnect the battery. As the battery was disconnected I decided to take out the light control module out of the dash to look at it. With it out of the dash I took some compressed air and blew out the module. I reinstalled it and the GF showed up. So the next morning I reconnected the battery. So far I have not had an issue with the lights. I went for a 30 min and 45 min drive and through both of the drives the lights worked correctly through the entire drives. I also left the car running in the driveway with the lights on high beams for an hour and they remained on.

Any updates? Does it work fine now?

Thanks.

[nate96]

Originally Posted by Small Yellow

Any updates? Does it work fine now?

Thanks.

No. It lasted a few weeks then returned back to the flickering. The LCM needs to be replaced.

[Small Yellow]

Originally Posted by nate96

No. It lasted a few weeks then returned back to the flickering. The LCM needs to be replaced.

Thanks. How much did the light control module cost you and how difficult is it to get to?

[nate96]

I have not replaced it yet. I drive the car mainly in the summer and it really does not get dark here until late so I never use the highbeams. A new one is $330 on ECS website plus you have to get it programmed.

[Small Yellow]

Originally Posted by nate96

I have not replaced it yet. I drive the car mainly in the summer and it really does not get dark here until late so I never use the highbeams. A new one is $330 on ECS website plus you have to get it programmed.

Ah I see. The main reason for me is in addition to the flickering, sometimes one of my head lights dont work, i turn it off and back one and now the working one doesnt work and the one that wasnt working starts working... Do it a few more times and either both will end up turning on or both are off. Gets scary trying to get both on but only to have both go off on the freeway. By any chance have you experienced this? The headlight error lights up on the dash. Also any idea how much the programming will cost?

[nate96]

Sounds like it is the LCM. I have not had that happen. Have you tried resetting it by disconnecting the battery for an hour? Your best bet is to take it to an independent shop and have the codes read. They will be able to tell you what is wrong. Depending on what is required the indy shop by me said 0.5 - 1 hour for programming.

[Small Yellow]

Originally Posted by nate96

Sounds like it is the LCM. I have not had that happen. Have you tried resetting it by disconnecting the battery for an hour? Your best bet is to take it to an independent shop and have the codes read. They will be able to tell you what is wrong. Depending on what is required the indy shop by me said 0.5 - 1 hour for programming.

I've had the car sitting long enough that the battery has been drained and car would not start up, but no I never unplugged it. I should probably try that first. The battery is still good when I tested it. Thanks for your advice, I will try it out next time I drive it.

[nate96]

If that is the case did you ever charge the battery fully? A faulty or battery not charged enough will do some of the things you are describing. Note that the car will not charge the battery. The alternator only maintains it. I would disconnect the battery, charge it not hooked up to the car overnight on a trickle charge and then hook the battery up the next day and see what happens.

[Small Yellow]

Originally Posted by nate96

If that is the case did you ever charge the battery fully? A faulty or battery not charged enough will do some of the things you are describing. Note that the car will not charge the battery. The alternator only maintains it. I would disconnect the battery, charge it not hooked up to the car overnight on a trickle charge and then hook the battery up the next day and see what happens.

I'll give that a shot. I haven't been driving the car much recently. I do have one of those chargers that can also jump start a car with a dead battery, however, I do remember this happening when I used to drive the car a lot but its still worth a shot. Thanks Nate.

[buddrinker]

I had the same problem with my high beams flickering and not staying on. I opened the headlight access panel in the front wheel well and cleaned the light connections. They were corroded. Cleaned them up and now everything works great.