Headlights adjustment - MOT

Fri May 17, 2013 7:23 am

My car failed it's MOT because of the aim being too low on the headlights. After doing a bit of reading on here seems it's a common problem with the hydraulic system. I read a post on here before saying that the lights can be adjusted by opening up the grill and adjusting the aim by turning some screws. The mechanic advised that he is unable to do this because the "airbag system is broken"

He said I should get some new outer lights. They would come with the necessary bits to adjust them. Ok no probs I thought, except BMW, ECP etc don't seem to stock them. I found these on EBAY. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-3-E30-Fro ... 1173398798

Just need a bit of advise whether, what the mechanic said is right and that if there are any other bits I need to order for the lights, screws, bolt etc..

Fri May 17, 2013 8:04 am

air bag system on a e30? lol

i think there is a way of manually adjusting them from behind the grills, but i have never tried it. i have seen the screws you mean and they do look like they have some adjustment threads on them.

Fri May 17, 2013 8:12 am

Those ebay lights are for E30's with chrome bumpers.

What year is your car???
And Airbags were only fitted to U.S cars.

Also, even if the hydraulic adjustment is not working, they can still be adjusted by turning the large plastic knurl around the adjuster.

Fri May 17, 2013 8:21 am

I would have though he would fail the car because of the "air bag" fault even if the light were ok.

Fri May 17, 2013 9:05 am

Headlight removal is easy after taking off the grill but the adjusters will probably be seized.

Remove each one (quater turn) and try to free off. (wire brush, wd40, copper grease) also the nylon grommet that locates the screw into the headlight surround usually breaks and will need to be replaced.

New screws and grommets are app. £10 ea. Hydraulic adjusters rarely ever work and are best removed and discarded.

Fri May 17, 2013 6:38 pm

Rav335uk wrote:Those ebay lights are for E30's with chrome bumpers.

What year is your car???
And Airbags were only fitted to U.S cars.

Also, even if the hydraulic adjustment is not working, they can still be adjusted by turning the large plastic knurl around the adjuster.

Thanks for the replies guys. Mine is a facelift, thanks for spotting those are the wrong lights Rav.

He was saying the lights operate on an "airbag" system. He must mean the hydraulics.

"Headlight removal is easy after taking off the grill but the adjusters will probably be seized.

Remove each one (quater turn) and try to free off. (wire brush, wd40, copper grease) also the nylon grommet that locates the screw into the headlight surround usually breaks and will need to be replaced.

New screws and grommets are app. £10 ea. Hydraulic adjusters rarely ever work and are best removed and discarded."

This must have been what he was struggling with. The adjusters being seized. I will give it a go myself.

Of all the things I thought it might fail on, I never even considered this.

Many thanks guys.

Fri May 17, 2013 6:47 pm

you dont have to take the grille/lights out if they are ok, 1st port of call just remove the plastic trim covers in engine bay, bit of wb40 on the ajuster screws, leave it a while, then see if they will turn ,you may be lucky, but its worth taking the lights out and giving it all some tlc anyway

Fri May 17, 2013 7:40 pm

If it comes to it (for an mot pass), you can angle the lights up by placing washers between the headlamp frame and bodywork, where the two lower screws are.
A bit of trial and error will get the beam height right.

Once you're MOTd and have a bit more time, you can set about freeing up the stubborn adjusters.

Fri May 17, 2013 7:50 pm

Just had a go with the WD40. Five minutes later the screws are getting loose enough to wiggle. Gave them all a good blast, will try and loosen more again in the morning.

Thought it sounded a bit iffy needing new lights. Glad I consulted the Zone!

Thanks again to everyone who replied

Fri May 17, 2013 9:35 pm

The 'normal' adjuster on each light is probably set correctly already, so don't fiddle with things that don't need fiddling!
The hydraulic adjusters will very likely have failed, BUT the manual adjusters also included very rarely seize, unlike the manual adjuster fitted in their place on lower speced E30s.
The hydraulic adjusters have a fine adjustment in the form of a knurled knob around the outside of the barrel, but usually there is not enough adjustment range in this to compensate for failed hydraulics, which defaults to the lowest position. Fortunately, there is also a coarse adjustment in the form of the threaded steel rod that goes from the centre of the hydraulic cylinder to the mounting point on the rim of the headlamp. Screwing this rod out two or three full turns should bring the correct beam aim into the range of the fine knurled knob adjuster.