Headlight vertical aim control

[pac1982]

Just wondering if someone could help me out on the headlight vertical aim control, from what I’ve been reading on here it seems that it’s a very common problem for this not to work.

The info I’m after is what actually goes wrong with the system? Is it the switch gear in the bottom of the driver’s side dash, the adjusters on the headlights themselves or simply leaks in the pipe work???

Also is this something you can fix or do you need to buy new items from BMW if there even still available??

Heres a quick shot of the set up from Real OEM.....

[DHFiS]

It stops working when the fluid in the pipes leaks out. Swapping to the the electric adjusterers from a later model has been written up on this site.

[StuBeeDoo]

It stops working when the fluid in the pipes leaks out. Swapping to the the electric adjusterers from a later model has been written up on this site.

Or just bin the whole lot and fit manual adjusters.
Do you ever tow a trailer/caravan or carry heavy weight in the boot? Answer no to both of these and driver-adjustable headlight aim is pretty-much a waste of time.

[pac1982]

It stops working when the fluid in the pipes leaks out. Swapping to the the electric adjusterers from a later model has been written up on this site.

When you say later model do you mean the like of the E36’s? Reason I ask is my E30 is on a H plate and registered in December 1990 so to my knowledge is one of the later model 2 doors

Or just bin the whole lot and fit manual adjusters. Do you ever tow a trailer/caravan or carry heavy weight in the boot? Answer no to both of these and driver-adjustable headlight aim is pretty-much a waste of time.[/b]

The only reason I want it working is because I’m a bit of a perfectionist and like everything on the car to be working regardless of whether or not I actually use it.

I don’t see the point in fitting manual adjusters as the hydraulic ones I currently have fitted also have manual adjustment on anyways but I would like to get the whole set up working properly again.

[daimlerman]

The adjuster system uses antifreeze to operate.
The tubes go hard and brittle,then crack and leak.Then the system stops working.
You can make it work,read an article written by a lad in the states who used a syringe to fill the damn tubes,his main issue was bleeding all the air out...wish you well in any attempt to make this horrible system work,on both of my cars fitted with this system I have binned it and fitted manual adjusters,then filled the hole in the underdash panel where the control was and covered this with leathercloth,looks very smart!
If you must have adjustable headlights from the dash,E34 will provide a system that can be adapted,once again,a search here will turn up an article.The conclusion from the zoner who did this was that it was not worth all the time and effort put in.The difficult bit was adapting the E30 switch to work the power system.
As BMW themselves did not carry this system onto any other car,they obviously also did not like it!