I have just installed ZKW ellipsoid headlights (no DDE) and they were perfectly clear. Tonight I took the car out in dry weather and when I came home the inside glass was partially fogged. I have searched this board and I see other people have had this happen. Does this go away eventually? I'd really hate to take them out and have to take them apart...


One other odd thing. I don't know if this is from the ZKW headlights or not. Since I installed them, when I get over 65 mph I get this wind noise whistle. It's not very loud though but it is noticeable. Anyone else notice this or am I going crazy?


Any help is appreciated...

Thanks

Stock lights have the nodules on them, i believe for this reason.

Pics of ZKW's show none as well as I can remember.

Fogged up glass? Moisture in the air when you did the install condenses in the housing when the air temp drops.
Also, movement in cool air will exacerbate this condition.
That is, cool the trapped air even more.

Ever try to remove water from the windows in the cool of the evening?
Much harder than in daytime.


I am not sure that this can be solved permanently by anything other than a vent hole.

Yes it is common for new ZKW's. It will go away in a day or so

Thanks guys.

If the rain ever stops here in the Northeast , I will park the car in the sun and hopefully that will help.

Do not worry about the fogging part it will go away after a week or two. The culprit, as discussed before, is a component of the silicon sealer evaporating into the housing. I had the same problem and just left the lights as is and sure enough the fogging issue was gone.

Now, the whistling sound occurs at around 60mph on mine. During install, I removed the air box and the subsequent vent tubes going to the side of the right kidney grill and the round tube which connects to the Mass Air sensor. I have to check again if I installed them correctly esp. that duct going to the side of the kidney grill which was a little hard to put in place with the airbox. Do you think that whistling noise comes from air sneaking through the crevices between the hood and ZKW HL? Or perhaps the turn signal lights? I will also try aiming my lights again and see if it needs to get tilted up to specs.

1. Fogging will go away eventually. Driving with the lights on (heat) as much as possible, even in daytime, will speed it up. Park the car facing west too, if possible, so the afternoon sun can heat them up.

2. Those 'nodules or nipples' on US lights are to attach the aiming device on them that the factory uses. They are positioning points just like the small holes in the hubs of BMW wheels are for attaching alignment machines.

3. Whistling can be alleviated by loosening all of the mounting screws and moving the headlight physically closer to the grills and retightening. This is the usual problem but can be caused by ANY wide gap around the 3 sides of the headlight. The parking lamp side is never an issue since they are attached and the gap is not variable.

Thanks Jim.