high beams not working right?

[conez0]

Not sure if whats going on in my car is correct or not.

I didnt notice this before but I just upgraded my low beams to Hella H4 Lamps. The output is much nicer and they look awesome but I noticed that when I switch the highbeams on the drivers side inner light and passenger side outer light are used instead of both inner lights.

I can figure out why the passenger (right) side is using the low beam high filament instead of the high beam. I suspected maybe that side high beam was bad so the car uses the extra high beam. I tested this by unplugging the drivers side high beam and the low beam hi filament did not illuminate.

Any ideas? I dont like the thought of my car not being symmetrical.

[FredDeuel]

Just covering the base here: are the light wiring leads going to the correct lights?

[conez0]

I believe so, the wires dont seem long enough to get switched. Also the low beams are working fine.

[Bert Poliakoff]

am not a wiring guru by anymeans, but when I converted my car back to H1s and H4s with the city lights, I used relays for both hi beams and low beams. Infact i built a new harness using 14 gauge wire as my lights are set up so on hi beam all 6 filaments are lit. Sounds to me as if a wire is crossed or it is somehow backfeeding. You might want to try replacing the sockets which are generic as something could be shorted in them

[Micha]

same happened to me - the change to h4/h1 means all 4 lights are used when the high beam comes on. this results in a bigger current draw and trips one or both of your fuses for the high beams. put one size bigger fuses in and you are good to go.
really, go try it out :-)

[conez0]

I didnt install the H1 lights only the H4s

I'll inspect the wiring as good as I can but I dont think current draw should be an issue.

[Micha]

Just try my suggestion anyway. If it doesn't work, check the wiring. I do know what I'm talking about, I spent hours troubleshooting my car for this very symptom. Fuses fixed it.

[Flash635]

Personally I'd wire up the H4s as hi - lo and fit laser beams in the inners on a separate switch.
And I'd use relays for everything and don't forget to beef up the ground wire.
I'd run the ground straight off the bulb to earth.

[conez0]

Will check the fuses when I come home from school. If there is a problem would it be a blown fuse?

Also if there is not a fuse box diagram in the bently maual anyone know where I can find one?

[Bert Poliakoff]

same happened to me - the change to h4/h1 means all 4 lights are used when the high beam comes on. this results in a bigger current draw and trips one or both of your fuses for the high beams. put one size bigger fuses in and you are good to go.
really, go try it out :-)

One size bigger fuses means fire potential. The wires in the light harness are hi gauge( thin) to begin with. If BMW felt it safe to go to a higher amp fuse, they would have done it.

[conez0]

Just checked my fuses. None of them were blown so I doubt replacement with a bigger fuse would change anything except for as bert mentioned increasing the risk of fire.

Just so I'm clear this is NOT normal operation right?

heres a picture of whats going on incase its unclear...

Hella H4s installed on outer lights, low beams switched on, low beams illuminated:


High beams switched on and drivers side illuminated but passenger side is not, instead its using the high beam filament in the H4 bulb.

[CW6er]

Normal operation:

Low Beam:
Low beam filaments light in outer dual filament bulbs (fuses 13&14 - High beam filament off).

High Beam:
High beam filaments light in outer dual filament bulbs (fuses 1&2 - Low beam filament off).
Inner single filament High beam bulbs light (also fuses 1&2)

So in your last photo the High beam bulb on the passengers side and the high beam filament in outer dual filament bulb on the driver's side are both off (all 4 bulbs should be on).
_____

There is a fuse box diagram in the ETM. Download your ETM from the "Goodies Page". It has links to Online (or PDF Downloads) of the Factory Workshop Manuals, Wiring Diagrams (ETM's), Parts Manuals, Online Suppliers, etc.:
http://bigcoupe.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10410

[conez0]

I dont know why the drivers side outer high beam isnt working then. That is the brand new H4 bulb. As I said I checked all my fuses and they were good. I'll check to see if the old sealed beam unit works on high and low beam both.

I checked the continuity of the passenger inner high beam and it seems the filament is good. I also tried plugging in a different bulb. It seems that power just is not going to that particular bulb.

[GarmaZabi]

Im having an odd issue with my high beams as well. When i switch from low to hi my lows cut out and only the high (inner lights) illuminate. Don't really know where to start.

[conez0]

Im having an odd issue with my high beams as well. When i switch from low to hi my lows cut out and only the high (inner lights) illuminate. Don't really know where to start.

I had understood that was the correct operation. Guess not?

[GarmaZabi]

When the high beams are on all
4 headlights should be illuminated.

[Bert Poliakoff]

Check your emegency flasher. I don't know up to what years this applies to, but the erarlier cars had their lighting running through the emegency switch. Are your turn signals and parking lights working correctly??

[conez0]

Ok, I replaced the Hi beam relay. K3 I believe is the one. Picked up one and the u-pick-it.

Headlights work fine now.

[conez0]

Soo...the lights stopped working again. Fuse 2 blew. When I get a chance I'm going to trace the wires and see if there is a short somewhere

[CW6er]

With the screwy way the lights were coming on, check for a PO fiddling about with the wiring?

[conez0]

Replaced fuse 2 again. Lights worked fine until I tried to pull the car out of the driveway. I suspect the current draw for the lights might be just a bit much for the 7.5A fuse.

After I inspect the wires I will be trying a 10A fuse if there are no problems.

[CW6er]

7,5 amp is the correct fuse, so if it is blowing, something is wrong. I wouldn't put a bigger fuse in. What wattage are your old and new bulbs?

[conez0]

Its been awhile, but I'm still working on this.

I believe the H4 bulbs are 100/80W (from amazons information, could be wrong) and the sealed high beam units are 50W units.

In comparison the sealed hi/low beam units are 35W.

based on this I'm definetly drawing more current than before. What I dont understand though is why only one of my 7.5A fuses (fuse 2) are blowing. Fuse 1 has been 7.5A this whole time with no issues whatsoever.

To my understanding when the high beam is switched on two lights run off fuse 1 and the other two lights run off fuse 2. Each fuse's circuit includes one H4 and one sealed beam. The total power on each circuit should be 80+50=130W.

Understandable then that a 7.5A fuse would blow, but why only fuse 2 and why not both fuses?

Also I've observed that my fuse 2 does not blow unless the engine is revved above idle speed. I coducted a test and was able to keep the high beams on for 10 minutes while just idling.

Could it possibly be something with my alternator output?

[tonym427]

I've got a question, my low beams went out recently and i have checked the fuses and relays. both are good. when i switch on the low beams i do hear a click from the relay, but still get nothing. Any thoughts?

[dcains]

Bad ground? Trace the brown wires back from the bulb contacts.