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Thread: low beams not working have treid and checked everything! HELP ME PLEASE!!

  1. #1
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    low beams not working have treid and checked everything! HELP ME PLEASE!!

    alright well my sister has a 94 318i and the both low beams jsut stopped working one night. ive checked and replaced both relays, head lights switch, bulbs. Nothing has helped, high beams, fogs parking lights all work, just no low beams. am i missing something here? anyone give me a hand.

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  3. #3
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    no, no those are good as well....... do they have a separate ground or something>?

  4. #4
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    I know I'm crazy reviving an old thread, but I search everrrryywhere and can't really find an answer.

    my friend is dealing with the same thing:

    -high beams and fogs work
    -swapped headlight switch (the one built in to the vent) and mine is definitely good, his will work my lights fine
    -all fuses are in tact
    -no message on the OBC
    -sometimes they'll come on at complete random, if he turns off the car, they usually won't come back
    -they're both out at the same time or on at the same time

    I don't know what relays are what, so I haven't checked them, but I don't think it is (can someone tell me which relay to swap, just to be sure?)
    E82

  5. #5
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    i still have not figured the problem out lol car jsut sits in the driveway now

  6. #6
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    Yea same thing happened to me, there is no power in the Low beam Positive wire...I just tapped into the turn signals constant power wire for the low beams...Works fine.

  7. #7
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    OK, you guys need to get a copy of the Bentley Manual if you want be DIY'ers.

    The headlight schematic is pretty simple, on p.ELE-190 is the one for 1995-96 318ti's, but they're all pretty similar.

    The Low Beam Relay is in the Power Distribution Box, position 6. It gets battery Hot At All Times on socket 6 (pin 30 on the relay). And 12V from the Light Switch is applied to socket 8 (pin 86) to energize the coil of the relay. The coil is grounded on socket 4 (pin 85). If the coil is not getting power, then there is something wrong with the Light Switch or Fuse 25.

    If the relay coil is energized, then 12V appears on socket 2 (pin 87b, and also on 87a). That goes to Fuse 11 for the left Low Beam and to Fuse 12 for the right Low Beam. If both those fuses are good but no Low Beam Lights, then the problem is upstream somewhere: bad relay or Light Switch, corroded contacts, broken wire, blown Fuse 25, ...

    Get a copy of the schematic, a meter, and check each out one at a time. You'll find the problem. Good luck
    -Jerry

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by berkeleyEE View Post
    OK, you guys need to get a copy of the Bentley Manual if you want be DIY'ers.

    The headlight schematic is pretty simple, on p.ELE-190 is the one for 1995-96 318ti's, but they're all pretty similar.

    The Low Beam Relay is in the Power Distribution Box, position 6. It gets battery Hot At All Times on socket 6 (pin 30 on the relay). And 12V from the Light Switch is applied to socket 8 (pin 86) to energize the coil of the relay. The coil is grounded on socket 4 (pin 85). If the coil is not getting power, then there is something wrong with the Light Switch or Fuse 25.

    If the relay coil is energized, then 12V appears on socket 2 (pin 87b, and also on 87a). That goes to Fuse 11 for the left Low Beam and to Fuse 12 for the right Low Beam. If both those fuses are good but no Low Beam Lights, then the problem is upstream somewhere: bad relay or Light Switch, corroded contacts, broken wire, blown Fuse 25, ...

    Get a copy of the schematic, a meter, and check each out one at a time. You'll find the problem. Good luck
    -Jerry
    Thanks man, I have a bentley floating around somewhere but you made a lot more sense of it than I could. . . electrical stuff is way outta my league.

    I'll take a look later on today
    E82

  9. #9
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    i got a manual as well , if i remember correctly i already swapped the relay out.... i will try again when i get a chance. thanks

  10. #10
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    I am experiencing a similar problem but not sure if its the same that is happening to you. When i turn on the car light do come on. I believe those are the day lights. at night i turn the switch 1 step and the dash lights come on but i cannot notice any change in intensity for the beams. move onto the next switch setting and dash lights come off. but beams still on with the same intensity. High beams and fog lights work just fine. I am wonering if this is the way is suppose to be or if the beams shouldhave a higher output when you use the switch for low beams. Not sure if its the same problem you are experiencing. I been driving with this on on the city and i able to get by but highway with no street lights gets pretty bad.

    I got a 92 325is and I think headlights are stock.

    Thanks

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by CoLoMbIaNo View Post
    I am experiencing a similar problem but not sure if its the same that is happening to you. When i turn on the car light do come on. I believe those are the day lights. at night i turn the switch 1 step and the dash lights come on but i cannot notice any change in intensity for the beams. move onto the next switch setting and dash lights come off. but beams still on with the same intensity. High beams and fog lights work just fine. I am wonering if this is the way is suppose to be or if the beams shouldhave a higher output when you use the switch for low beams. Not sure if its the same problem you are experiencing. I been driving with this on on the city and i able to get by but highway with no street lights gets pretty bad.

    I got a 92 325is and I think headlights are stock.

    Thanks
    First position should be all lights off, second should be marker lights and dash lights, third will be low beams, markers and dash lights. That's how it is in the US, other countries have permanent-on running lights or city lights.
    E82

  12. #12
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    CoLoMbIaNo, we're talkin' Canadian cars here, eh?

    With the daytime running lights, your schematic on p.ELE-180 is more complicated. Check it out.
    The Low Beam Relay operates the Low Beam Lights same as I described. But the circuit to energize the coil of the LBRelay is more complicated specifically for 1992's.

    If the schematic is right, it appears the Low Beams are on when the Light Switch is OFF (position 1), the LB's are then OFF when the Light Switch is in PARK (position 2, why would BMW do that???), and the LB's are back on when the Light Switch is in Headlights (position 3). Is that how yours work?

    The Light Switch in position 3 has its own wire running from the Switch to a diode called the Daytime Running Lights Coding Diode (1992 only) and from the Diode to the coil of the LBRelay. I have no idea where that diode is, but if it is blown (open circuit or broken wire) then you'll not have Low Beams when the Light Switch is in Headlights.

    For 1993-94's, the coil of the LBRelay is hard-wired directly to fuse F25, which is Hot in Run and Start. If you can get to the underside of the Power Distribution Box and are handy with a soldering iron, you could add that short bit of wire and solve the whole issue. Looks to be what BMW did after 1992 for Canadians.
    Good luck
    -Jerry

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by berkeleyEE View Post
    OK, you guys need to get a copy of the Bentley Manual if you want be DIY'ers.

    The headlight schematic is pretty simple, on p.ELE-190 is the one for 1995-96 318ti's, but they're all pretty similar.

    The Low Beam Relay is in the Power Distribution Box, position 6. It gets battery Hot At All Times on socket 6 (pin 30 on the relay). And 12V from the Light Switch is applied to socket 8 (pin 86) to energize the coil of the relay. The coil is grounded on socket 4 (pin 85). If the coil is not getting power, then there is something wrong with the Light Switch or Fuse 25.

    If the relay coil is energized, then 12V appears on socket 2 (pin 87b, and also on 87a). That goes to Fuse 11 for the left Low Beam and to Fuse 12 for the right Low Beam. If both those fuses are good but no Low Beam Lights, then the problem is upstream somewhere: bad relay or Light Switch, corroded contacts, broken wire, blown Fuse 25, ...

    Get a copy of the schematic, a meter, and check each out one at a time. You'll find the problem. Good luck
    -Jerry
    Sorry to revive an old thread, but I just went through this situation and figured I would add some vital info... My car is a 325is 3/93 prod date. After spending a couple hours tracing lines from relay 6 and finding that even with new fuses, switches, relays, ect, I still had no power on terminal 86, I pondered my next move. I opened up the power distribution box (under the fuse/relays). Humm, thats odd, I've got a white wire on terminal 86, not yellow. White is what the high beams have according to Bentley. Upon digging a bit more, I find a yellow wire going to term 86 on relay 7. NFW, say it ain't so... Sure enough, swap a new relay into position 7, bingo, low beams now work... So at least for some builds, the low beam relay is #7, not #6 as specified on page 610-2 .

    I was getting ready to tear into the wiring under the dash, figuring my car might have had the crash control module shown on ele-182, which would cause the same symptoms. No power on 86....

    Hope this saves someone some time... I did a lot of searching on this topic and never once saw relay 7 mentioned as a solution. It's wired the same way as position 6 so Jerry's diagnostic steps work (which leads you down a frustrating path if you think #6 is the correct relay).

    Just need to add a new step 1 for this set of symptoms. Swap the relays in 6 and 7 and see if the high beams now fail. If yes, replace offending relay, job done.

  14. #14
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    By the way, there is an in-line fuse in the passenger side rear of the engine bay, if you clamp it with vice grips (squeezing the fuse further into its socket) it fixed the issues I was describing before.
    E82

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