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Silikon
02-05-2021, 07:46 AM
Hi All,

This is my first time trying to post.
Recently the E34 530i M60 had some error messages showing up while being driven.
At times, it randomly "pop" error messages the like of "dip beam" and etc.

Since I have a spare LKM, I decided to swap it and it did not cure the issue.
As time goes by, the error is producible by adjusting the beam height.

One clear day, I started to inspect the whole system starting from the headlight.
This is where I found the problem.
Booom......it was the disintegration of the of headlight cables' insulations inside the headlight caps.
The insulations have turned to dust basically.
At this time, my guess was due to the age of the car.

So, I ordered some brand new caps from a supplier that I trusted with all my restoration.
Few days later the DHL box with the new parts arrived.
I opened it up and to my dismay I discovered that even the wires in the new caps will disintegrated when you touch them or move them.
Note that these cap need to be plug and twisted for locking.

Since I am an engineer by trade, I started to experiment with the old ones.
The ground and power cable were soldered to a joint at the base of the caps.
First, I unsoldered it.
Instead of filling with the connectors and crimpers, I decided to sleeve the "naked" wires with silicone tube...very small ones that is 1 mm in ID.

After I assembled the units, the LKM problem was gone!

- - - Updated - - -

Since this is my first time...I am still trying figure out how to upload the photos :)

- - - Updated - - -

The offending item...
685043

Silikon
02-05-2021, 07:57 AM
By the way forget to mentioned that error was caused by the wiring short-circuiting to each other.
Since the cap is rotated to lock and when the car is being driven these "naked" wires will touches momentarily hence creating the error.

The state that I found after removal.
All 4 other were like this...

685044

A close up...

685045

One of the wires after unsoldered from the cap...

685046

The Silicone tube used to replace the insulation...

685047

Silikon
02-05-2021, 08:02 AM
The wires re-attached with their new insulation.

685049

The new cap where the insulation of the wires started to disintegrate at the joint between the points and the wires...

685050

closer look...

685051

So here we go folks....the cause of the LKM error could be not the dib beam adjuster but the "naked" wires inside that are touching each other when the dip beam is adjusted or when it touches each other due to road vibrations.

Cheers!

shogun
02-05-2021, 08:33 AM
Good info with the silicone tube. Had the same problem on my E32 750 with the EURO headlights with H1 bulbs 55W. Low beam wires were blank in that cap. That time I soldered in new wires. Cover cap p/n is 63121378333 and the other cap is 63121378367 for EURO headlights E34 and E32.