Subject: Re: The newer ('99 and up) models do, but not these Author: Roderick : member since January, 2004 : 522 posts Posted on: 2004-02-17 13:33:58

As far as I know, all BMW xenon headlight units are equipped with provisions for the automatic level feature (known as vertical aim). That is there are motors inside the headlight units to adjust the lights up or down as needed. What’s missing when you retrofit the lights into a vehicle that originally had halogen lights are the sensors on the front and rear suspensions of the car and of course the necessary wiring harnesses of the car that trigger the adjustments.

The units on the suspension calculate the rise in the front end of the car (such as if you accelerate hard or if you have your trunk full of luggage) and send the information through the Light Control Module which adjusts the lights accordingly. To retrofit all these parts is prohibitively expensive ($2000-$3000 without the lights themselves). Most people adjust their lights to a comfortable level and leave it at this. You may find that if you have your trunk full or a couple of large people in the back seat you may have people flash their brights at you.

All BMW’s with xenons come with this automatic vertical aim, but what a lot of people in the U.S. don’t know is that European models with halogen lights are equipped with a manual vertical aim system. That is a rotary dial on the dashboard that you set according to the load of your car (0,1 or 2 – the number of people in the back) – See pic below.



I made this retrofit a while ago to my E39 528i that I retrofitted xenons to several years ago. It is not a simple job but if you like to do modifications to your car to make it different or like me simply to prove to yourself you can do it, this is certainly a doable thing. I made my own wiring harness, but I think they are now available from the local dealer. You also need to order the correct dashboard switch (see #9 in attached pic). Installation entails accessing the LCM, running a harness from there to each of the headlights, and also up to the dashboard. You then need to get the car reprogrammed at the dealer through the DIS/MODIC to recognize the addition.



If there is any interest I can locate the wiring diagram I used, it should be the same for the E38’s as they use the same LCM as the E39.

By the way, while you have access to the LCM, it a great time to activate the integrated rear fog lights to the car.

Roderick

• Factory Xenon headlights retrofit (pic) (url) - davidc 2004-02-16 19:27:22 (29467 views)
  • Couple ?'s on this retrofit - Magnum 2004-02-16 20:43:15 (1379 views)
    • yes, plug and play with the existing wiring harness - davidc 2004-02-16 20:44:55 (1238 views)
      • Well, looks like I'll be saving my pennies. (nt) - Magnum 2004-02-16 20:54:31 (955 views)
  • Self-leveling included, or not, David? (nt) - WTH 2004-02-16 20:38:41 (1193 views)
    • no self-leveling from '95 - '98 - davidc 2004-02-16 20:44:04 (1052 views)
      • so wait - boson69 2004-02-16 23:18:40 (879 views)
        • SLS/EDC isn't the same as self-leveling headlights (nt) - davidc 2004-02-16 23:24:43 (989 views)
          • gotcha - i guess i was confused because - boson69 2004-02-17 08:56:47 (759 views)
      • I thought all xenon's came with self leveling? (nt) - richw 2004-02-16 22:29:41 (1073 views)
        • Re: I thought all xenon's came with self leveling? - bmw740 2004-02-17 01:12:18 (977 views)
          • this is different from what dave is saying above.... (nt) - boson69 2004-02-17 08:57:45 (752 views)
            • sorry (nt) - bmw740 2004-02-17 17:46:51 (651 views)
        • If you have self leveling ---> - Magnum 2004-02-16 23:29:39 (965 views)
        • The newer ('99 and up) models do, but not these (nt) - davidc 2004-02-16 22:32:01 (1008 views)
          • Re: The newer ('99 and up) models do, but not these (pic) - Roderick 2004-02-17 13:33:58 (1934 views)
            • Roderick - I'm interested in your wiring harness/connections... - WTH 2004-02-18 01:40:39 (1073 views)
              • Re: wiring harness/connections... (pic) (url) - Roderick 2004-02-18 11:11:02 (1696 views)