[Paul13F30]

I retrofitted my F30 halogen head lights with OEM xenon adaptive head lights a few years ago now and they worked flawlessly until today. I started the car and as it was warming up, the message ADAPTIVE HEADLIGHT MALFUNCTION popped up on my Kombi. The idrive insists I visit my service center but considering this was a DIY retro fit and the car is out of warranty, I doubt I'll find much help without some explaining.

I noticed that my halos were off on the driver side and the adaptive functionality no longer works. I checked my wiring and everything checks. I swapped the control modules front passenger side and the driver side still does work. The passenger functions fine. I checked my coding and everything is good. I re coded for kicks and still no go.

Any suggestions or advice? Anyone in Northern Jersey with a spare xenon head light for me to plug into?

Thanks!

[Paul13F30]

Anyone have this happen?

Last night the ADAPTIVE HEADLIGHT MALFUNCTION cleared and it presented me with VERTICAL AIM MALFUNCTION. I was out and about and since my previous attempt at recoding the adaptive headlights back to the car reset some of my previous codes, I figured i disable the vertical functionality. However, walking up to the car and opening the doors, he drivers side LEDs did not light up. When starting the car, ADAPTIVE HEADLIGHT MALFUNCTION returned along with VERTICAL AIM MALFUNCTION. This morning, just VERYICAL AIM MALFUNCTION.

I'm thinking there maybe some water damage in the head light but would it cause sporadic functionality?

[madmonkey]

If you've checked your work and coding and connections are fine, I would think that the headlight itself is the problem. The only real way to check this would be to get a known good unit and swap it out to see if the error clears and the light functions.

However, these things are damn expensive - maybe if you have a buddy / forum member close by that's willing to be the donor for testing, you could go this route. Otherwise it's buy a new or used unit and swap it out. Try calling some salvage yards to see if they've got a headlight unit available.

Sporadic functionality could also be caused by a short in the wiring - check harnesses for obvious signs of damage or corrosion inside the connectors. Sometimes reseating connectors can fix that - or spraying electrical contact cleaner. Just make sure you've disconnected your battery before doing any of that type of troubleshooting.

[Paul13F30]

Originally Posted by madmonkey

If you've checked your work and coding and connections are fine, I would think that the headlight itself is the problem. The only real way to check this would be to get a known good unit and swap it out to see if the error clears and the light functions.

However, these things are damn expensive - maybe if you have a buddy / forum member close by that's willing to be the donor for testing, you could go this route. Otherwise it's buy a new or used unit and swap it out. Try calling some salvage yards to see if they've got a headlight unit available.

Sporadic functionality could also be caused by a short in the wiring - check harnesses for obvious signs of damage or corrosion inside the connectors. Sometimes reseating connectors can fix that - or spraying electrical contact cleaner. Just make sure you've disconnected your battery before doing any of that type of troubleshooting.

Thanks for the reply. I think I may have posted this in the wrong section.

Here is what ISTAP came up with


It does list the TMS as a possible problem but I did switch from passenger side to driver side and it hasn't fixed it. I suppose I'll recheck the wiring harness and make sure the ground wires are secure.

[Paul13F30]

MODS feel free to move this to the mechanical section

[Solidjake]

Replaced my headlight module with the same part number for adaptive headlights. I still have the adaptive headlight malfunction and vertical aim malfunction. I'm unable to clear the codes for the affected headlight. I have no idea what else to do. I checked all of the wiring and I don't see any corrosion/frayed wires anywhere.

[psyki]

Originally Posted by Solidjake

Replaced my headlight module with the same part number for adaptive headlights. I still have the adaptive headlight malfunction and vertical aim malfunction. I'm unable to clear the codes for the affected headlight. I have no idea what else to do. I checked all of the wiring and I don't see any corrosion/frayed wires anywhere.

Zombie thread! Might want to make a new thread for this, or at least tell us what codes you're seeing in ISTA. Are the codes the same before and after you replaced the module? I would expect you'd need to code the module after replacing it.

[Solidjake]

Originally Posted by psyki

Zombie thread! Might want to make a new thread for this, or at least tell us what codes you're seeing in ISTA. Are the codes the same before and after you replaced the module? I would expect you'd need to code the module after replacing it.

Did my part and searched the forum


Yea it looks like the same codes as before. I only have bimmercode for coding so I doubt that will do the job. I need to find someone local who's done it before which will be tough.