splitting 01' headlights for adjuster repair?

**nightkrawler** · 12-07-2007, 06:00 PM

who actually has done this? any tips on what temp to bake that at etc etc? tia

**Wicked A2** · 12-07-2007, 06:30 PM

preheat oven at 200 degrees and bake lights for 5 mins. You can use a wide spatula to help remove the lens

**nightkrawler** · 12-07-2007, 06:34 PM

are they difficult to pry apart once they are heated?

**tomDinan3** · 12-07-2007, 06:50 PM

From your sig it looks like you have the EURO version... if so, you may be in for a hurtin as I hear those do NOT seperate easily even under heat. They use some kind of different glue.

**nightkrawler** · 12-07-2007, 06:55 PM

nope, just got a set of 01'+ hellas. though i've the depos apart many times and they are very easy to dissasemble.

**tomDinan3** · 12-07-2007, 07:06 PM

oh, in that case... then just use the "bake in oven at 200 degrees F until lightly brown" method.

**nightkrawler** · 12-07-2007, 07:20 PM

just tried them after 5min in the oven and they're not even budging, this sucks..

**E39 M Power** · 12-07-2007, 07:27 PM

did you search? i think there are a variety of posts on this... maybe check m5board.com too.

let us know if you develop a new and improved way...

**nightkrawler** · 12-07-2007, 08:15 PM

i searched but its the same stuff, put them in the overn and pry em apart. news flash.. it is NOT nowhere near that easy. the silicone used on these is very strong. i may be making a bit of progress but it is minimal so far.

**BMW1023i** · 12-07-2007, 09:38 PM

i did it and it was a pain in the ass... on top of that i broke a few peices of plastic off....

i didnt exactly heat mine in the oven... i heated them as much as a could with a heat gun and then with a knife and other various sharp or curved objects i started to pull the glue out piece by piece... also i used a solvent ( sry dont know what it was it wasnt in its original can) and with Q tips and whatever else that go the solvent in between the crack where the glue was....

be carefull tho..the solvent i used was harsh and seems to melt alot of things and take of paint easily too....

after that tho its jsut all about patience and time prying it open...

goodluck

**e39dream** · 12-07-2007, 11:34 PM

it's not easy. It is possible though.

What you want is a hot light to work on, set the oven on 240 and leave it on. Put thelight in there until it's very warm to the touch. Use a wide short putty knife with a stout blade on it and use a twisting motion to open the light from the top near the high beams. You want pop the light back in the oven every few minutes as it cools fast, otherwise use a heat gun or hair dryer to keep the area warm you are prying. The light cover is sandwiched in the goo from high beam and tucks into the turn signal area, it's easiest to start near the curve by the high beams and unfold the cover out of the corner. Once you get enough space to get your fingers in there I heat it again and then use some grunt to pull the halves apart. The glue on these could withstand a nuclear blast.

There is a black plastic lip all around the "goo". Some of this will crack/break off from the top edge, nothing you can do about that if you want in there. the light will still seal fine to the goo and the back edge of that channel.

**nightkrawler** · 12-07-2007, 11:58 PM

they must have used different types of sealant on some of these cause from what i've been reading, some people say they got them off rather easily. the sealant on this one is like silicone. i already cracked the lip you're talking about in a few spots... royal pita.

**howejt** · 12-08-2007, 07:27 AM

Huh, I didn't have much of a problem getting the lights on my 530i apart. Baked in the oven for 10-15 minutes, then used a heat gun around the edges to soften things up further. Make sure you remove the screw down in the corner by the turn signal.

**nightkrawler** · 12-08-2007, 01:12 PM

i got the lens off last night but not without breaking the housing. luckliy i had a junk headlight at work that i can use the housing from. this sealant is crazy strong, its like silicone and jb weld mixed together. you guys who have opened them must have had lights with a more pliable type because there just no friggin way...

**MPOWER228** · 12-08-2007, 03:13 PM

Nice work, I'll be pullin mine apart soon.. uhg..

**e39dream** · 12-08-2007, 04:10 PM

the sealant on mine was black and was very tough. Carefully applied heat was the best thing I found to open them.

**nightkrawler** · 12-08-2007, 04:38 PM

if anyone is thinking about doing this, i would check the sealant on the headlight first and see if its rubbery like silicone. if it is, order a used light from ebay and save the old one for parts. im in the process now of getting the cracked lens of the parts light i found to use the housing from it. it's slow going. i cut most of the lens off with a dremel and am slowly getting whats left of it off the sealing chanel. the main problem is that the bead of sealant is not only on the top lip of the lens, its all along the bottom of it as well. you can't reach that area normally. i only can cause the front is open now due to the lens being cut off.
e39dream, i think you got lucky with yours. trust me on this guys, im a first class jerry rigger and if i can't get these off with out destroying the light... lol

**e39dream** · 12-08-2007, 04:52 PM

I've sold about 30 e39s adjusters, some of the guys never have an issue, others are struggling. One guy gave up while I coached him on the phone. I know for fact there's 2 adhesives used at least. the black goo and some clear super glue looking stuff. From what I gather the black goo ones will open with effort, teh super glue ones will not.

You are not looking to remove that adhesive, in fact you re-use it and it never leaves the light backing. Get it hot so it's stringy and pull the halves apart. No luck required.

**e39dream** · 12-08-2007, 06:51 PM

I remember swearing a bit when I did mine and breaking away the upper part of that channel while doing mine. I was worried that the lights would not seal right afterwards but they have never fogged once, and I park it outside.

What I am thinking is you have this channel and the glue is put in there from the factory, then the lid pressed on by a machine so that the goo is on both sides of the lens all the way around.

When you are heating the lights the upper layer of goo becomes pliable and you end up breaking that channel. The goo on top and the thickness of the lens insulates the goo on the inside and it never heats up enough to easily remove the lens.

**Shardul** · 12-08-2007, 08:03 PM

i tired opening head lights on a 2003 E39. The damn thing would not open so i left it before i f@$& something else up.

**quacktoduck** · 12-08-2007, 08:38 PM

i did mine... black goo... i heated it for 10-12mins... it was fine.... then i took off the lenses... sometimes you gotta bake, get it like 5mm to release from the clips... then bake again to pull apart.... its easier when warm.. almost hot... as you all know the lights go through more heat and weather in hott places like arizona and nevada... and im sure none have melted in the heat... and thats like 2-300 bakin within the housing.... so bake alil longer see how it goes... and if it rains alot.... like here in seattle... go ahead and press together heat then put together... heat again and pulll together one more time... without a good seal they will fogg... ask me how i know

**nightkrawler** · 12-09-2007, 09:07 PM

well, the hellas are in and working fine.. thank god. used the housing(black part) from a junk light cause i broke the original one. all i can say is royal pita. you guys must have differnt sealant cuz there is no way these would seal aging by reheating them. this stuff is like silicone. once its cured its not going to stick to anything again. i used 3m window weld to seal the light back up. i did learn a few things in the process of taking these lights apart.

1)the xenon and halogen(donor light i used the housing from) facelift lights are almost identical on the inside. people say the projectors are different.. not really. both xenon and halogen use the same lens, same shield, only difference is the bowl, the part that holds the bulb. i compared part #'s on the lenses/shields and they were the same.

2)auto leveling, this is pretty weird. the halogen has a what looks like an adjuster where the solenoid would be, but it cant be turned. i had to remove that and replace it with the xenon motor/solenoid. so for you guys who have converted the halogens to xenon, you could retrofit the leveling feature if you wanted to. pretty cool eh...

**E39 M Power** · 12-30-2007, 08:03 PM

just got done doing one of my headlights. it's a shame bmw didn't use a higher quality part- it would've been an extra nickel per car to avoid this issue.

anyway, these directions were great:
http://www.odometergears.com/subpage...dlight_FAQ.pdf
note- i used the replacements from CA Auto through e39dream's group buy, and you do not have to do the break-in procedure described in the pdf.

i just have some minor clarifications and suggestions below. if i had my camera i would've done a full write up to improve on the above pdf, but my wife took the camera today.

-be patient. when i first pulled my light out of the oven it didn't seem like the black goo had any give to it. a couple of minutes of working my way around the lens body started to reveal some movement. i did the top half, stuck some wooden toothpicks in to sort of prevent the lens from going back to where it was, put it back in the oven for 5 minutes, and finished the bottom half.

-i found a fairly good sized regular screwdriver worked best in getting the lens off.

-when pulling the black bezel out (after the lens is off), i found it easier to start at the top and use the wiggle/pull method

-when trying to get the adjust motor out, line up the light so your eyes are looking at the corner light, then the low beam and then the high beam (straight shot). now look behind the reflector and you'll see the ball that is described in the pdf i linked to above. while looking at the ball, use your hand to gently move the motor so that the ball pops out of the socket it's in. it's easier than it sounds.

-when it talks about removing the rubber boots behind the lights, they just lift off of the chassis. once off, fold them so they can go through the front with the rest of the assembly.

-i guess it took me about 2 hours to do. after reading about the two types of sealant, i wanted to make sure i didn't force anything. but, i can confirm that my '01 has the black goo.

-as a side note, get yourself a telescoping magnet like this one:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...keyword=magnet
it's $6, and it's a real lifesaver when you need it. i dropped one of the four screws that hold the headlight on. i could barely see it, and there was no way i could get my arm down there without taking a bunch of stuff apart, but i had it out in less than a minute with my magnet.

thanks again to e39dream for getting me the parts.