Headlight beam throw adjuster help needed
Moderators: GRNSHRK, ron, bfons
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qbm35z
Headlight beam throw adjuster help needed
Here is one for the resident panel of experts, I have a 1989 635CsiA Euro spec (155Kw Australian delivered) which must be shy 'cause the headlights point to a spot barely 5 metres in front of the car. The beam throw adjuster which is either vacuum or air pressure operated, I assume, is not working at all, the adjuster on the dash can be turned with no effect. If you have experienced this before, I would sincerely appreciate your thoughts. Thanks in advance, Matt
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horsetan
Re: Headlight beam throw adjuster help needed
I can't remember whether this relies on electric motors or is controlled via hydraulics. "UKDaveJ" should know, as his '89 "Highline" has the same kit as yours.qbm35z wrote:Here is one for the resident panel of experts, I have a 1989 635CsiA Euro spec (155Kw Australian delivered) which must be shy 'cause the headlights point to a spot barely 5 metres in front of the car. The beam throw adjuster which is either vacuum or air pressure operated, I assume, is not working at all....
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Kaotiq635
Re: Headlight beam throw adjuster help needed
Its hydraulic, and it is extremely expensive to fix, It doesn't work on my Aussie delivered '86 either, go for a mechanical adjustment and save your $.horsetan wrote:I can't remember whether this relies on electric motors or is controlled via hydraulics. "UKDaveJ" should know, as his '89 "Highline" has the same kit as yours.qbm35z wrote:Here is one for the resident panel of experts, I have a 1989 635CsiA Euro spec (155Kw Australian delivered) which must be shy 'cause the headlights point to a spot barely 5 metres in front of the car. The beam throw adjuster which is either vacuum or air pressure operated, I assume, is not working at all....
On the web page http://www.bmwcoupe.nu/e24/production_numbers.html
the two rows starting with "635 CSi Cat RHD" & "635 CSi A Cat RHD" are the aussie cars, not many of them.
just my 0.20c worth,
Iain
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UKDaveJ
Re: Headlight beam throw adjuster help needed
The adjustment mechanism is hydraulically operated, as correctly pointed out by Iain.qbm35z wrote:Here is one for the resident panel of experts, I have a 1989 635CsiA Euro spec (155Kw Australian delivered) which must be shy 'cause the headlights point to a spot barely 5 metres in front of the car. The beam throw adjuster which is either vacuum or air pressure operated, I assume, is not working at all, the adjuster on the dash can be turned with no effect. If you have experienced this before, I would sincerely appreciate your thoughts. Thanks in advance, Matt
You will see a pair of small diameter white/opaque hoses coming from your one side of your headlights back up to the scuttle area. These hoses invariably split & break.
'ron' has posted on this subject before & has attempted to fix his.
Someone on this forum (might have been ron) advised how to manually adjust these remote adjustable lights. You might have to use the forum search facility to try & find any relevant posts Matt.
Good luck! :)
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qbm35z
Thanks for the quick response, I will pull them apart tomorrow and look at converting to manual screw type adjustment. It seems odd that this feature should be built by BMW into a car that is built with SLS. One would think the SLS negates the need to adjust headlight beam height. Cheers, Matt. (Having said that, my SLS system is now in a box in the corner of the garage, having just been replaced with Eibach and Bilstein Clubsport with Whiteline Sway bar on the way.)
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TorQue_635
Ooohh another Aussie with an update 6er.qbm35z wrote:Thanks for the quick response, I will pull them apart tomorrow and look at converting to manual screw type adjustment. It seems odd that this feature should be built by BMW into a car that is built with SLS. One would think the SLS negates the need to adjust headlight beam height. Cheers, Matt. (Having said that, my SLS system is now in a box in the corner of the garage, having just been replaced with Eibach and Bilstein Clubsport with Whiteline Sway bar on the way.)
I too have an update and like you my head light adjustment is also non functional.
You dont need to convert it. They still have manual adjustments on them. To adjust them you need to take the head light covers off in the engine bay. Look down toward the bottom of the assembly, you should see a black tubular knob attached to the lenses (about 1 inch in diameter). Turn it to adjust height. To adjust how far from center it points (ie left and right) you need to play with a screw on the front of the lens (accessable from the grill of the car). These screws are located on the outer top side of the lens.
Hope that helps.
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qbm35z
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qbm35z
.......found the adjusters but still not enough height so I pulled the headlight clusters out to have a look..... found the culprit....both adjusters were minus a small circlip which probably rusted out over the years, this circlip prevents the return spring pulling the headlights too low....as it is a public holiday here nothing was open so I made two circlips from some cupboard catches... these work fine...will replace them with proper ones soon. Thanks to all for the info. Car going to be tranferred to Queensland registration tomorrow. New Plates " Q. BM 35. Z in the Euro Style Plates.