HID Low beams STUCK ON (Relay working)

[hidproblemkid]

I recently bought a set of Depo HID headlights for my 1998 BMW 323is and installed them pretty swiftly. However, once I turned my car on (with the light switch in the off position on the dash) the low beam headlights turn on immediately.

The high beams function as intended, only turning on via the steering wheel lever and the angel eyes also function as intended and only turn on when my daytime running lights are switched on (the 2nd position on the switch inside the car).

I thought maybe the low beam relay was blown, so I switched it with the high beam relay and still no change.

To make sure the wiring isn't faulty, I plugged an old stock halogen headlight unit back into one side of the car and it functions normally, turning off when the switch is in the off position, and on in the on position. However, the HID remains on constantly while the vehicle is powered on.

I have not installed a relay wiring harness with my HID kit. I am using all factory wiring other than the ballasts that came with the HID kit.

Am I missing something here? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[XAlt]

ballasts still receiving power?

[hidproblemkid]

Yeah, ballasts are receiving power. I'm thinking the ballasts are overriding the switch somehow?

[XAlt]

Yeah, ballasts are receiving power. I'm thinking the ballasts are overriding the switch somehow?

Seems so

[Saii]

With the orignal bulb did your daytime running lights power the same bulb because hid lights you can't see the half power state on most of them so they look on when your day time running light circuit is powering them.

I don't know your lighting configuration but I know hid's

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[boarder2k7]

Also be careful if you have the OBC. The inrush current from HIDs has been known to blow out the section that senses head light failure.

[hidproblemkid]

The original Halogen low beam headlights were not powered on by the day time running lights. The corner signal lights and tail lights were lit when the DRL were switched on.

The new low beam HID's are now fully powered on when the switch is in the:

1) Off position
or
2) DRL position
or
3) Headlight position

[Saii]

Pull the headlight relay and see if there still on....I want to make sure we're dealing with jest the light circuit. What I'm suspecting is the ballasts are backfeeding the relay somehow and energizing it but I want to confirm there isn't another circuit in the works

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[adamnur]

Something isn't right....

There is no DRL control via any switch if it was fitted from the factory. DRLs run automatically.

Factory DRL from my knowledge that we got here in Canadia are:

1) Early E36 (ie, 1992) DRLs function by turning lows, corner lights all on automatically. This was the first iteration of DRL.

2) Later E36 DRLs function by as soon as the car is running (or in position II of the ignition, not sure), low power is applied to the high beam bulbs. These will shut off once the low beams are turned on via the interior switch (second turn from off position). At this point, you should have parking lights, angel eyes (if wired to parking lights), and low beams on while the high beams/DRLs will be off completely.

The "DRL position" you're referring to is likely the first turn (from off) of the interior switch, correct? That is for parking lights, so corners, angel eyes and tail lights will come on.

It sounds like either you somehow have the early E36 DRL version, where lowbeams and corner lights are on no matter what, but then your low beams would have been on with the original headlights as well, which I assume is not the case.

Is it possible that you plugged the new HID low beam plug into the factory high beam wiring? This would cause the lowbeams to turn on as the DRLs and be on all the time and this would not be good for the ballasts.

[hidproblemkid]

@adamnur

Yes, the DRL I'm referring to is the 1ST TURN from the off position.

3 options: OFF ---> DRL ---> LOW BEAMS

With the switch set to the:
- 1ST position ("OFF") inside the car. Only the low-beam headlights are powered on.
- 2ND position ("DRL") inside the car. My angel eyes, corner lights(dimmed), tail lights, and low-beam headlights are turned ON.
- 3RD position ("LOW BEAMS") inside the car. Nothing changes from the previous setting at the 2ND position. This is where the low beams SHOULD be signaled to turn on(The factory halogen low-beam headlights turned on at this point)

I tried swapping the stock 9005/9006 low-beam power cable with the high-beam power cable and it results in the high beam halogen lights being on all the time and the low beams turning on only via the high beam lever behind the steering wheel.

- - - Updated - - -

@saii

with the low-beam headlight relay pulled from the fuse box. The low beams do NOT turn on regardless of the position of the switch inside the car, as to be expected.

- - - Updated - - -

Could the switch be faulty? is this a DRL module problem?

[Saii]

If you put everything back to stock and it all works as intended then it's not bad....problem is the comparability of the hid to the current system...are you sure they gave you the correct hid for your car



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[adamnur]

So when your stock equipment is on and car is on but switch position is OFF, are your high beams dimly illuminated?

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[hidproblemkid]

@adamnur

If the power input for my high beam halogen headlights are connected to the stock low beam(to test if the problem is strictly HID related) power output cables, the high beam headlights are on as soon as the car is powered on. This is with the low beams completely disconnected.

Perhaps the switch is faulty?

This would explain the constant power output by the low beam power cables. It must have happened when I first installed the HID's, since my old all halogen setup worked fine with the switch inside.

I'm going to disconnect my light switch from inside the car tomorrow with my high-beam halogen headlights hooked up to the low-beam power output cables (black male connector to grey female connector) and see if the high beams are still powering on without the switch. Hopefully the lights won't turn on and I'll know its the switch.

Again, I'm testing with the high beams to make sure I have a working switch with halogens first (low-beams are HID's).

[adamnur]

I'm assuming this latest test was with the new headlights.

You said that you connected the halogen Highs to the low beam connector coming from the car, and the highs come on as soon as the car is started --but do they come on full brightness? Or are they noticeably dimmer than full brightness?

If they are at full brightness then could be switch.

If they are dimmer than full brightness, then do this: when the car is on and you turn the headlight switch all the way on to the low beam position, do the illuminated Highs now shut off?

If so, that connector from the car is the high beam, as that is how the stock DRL function. Edit: or see my edit comment below.

If they do not shut off, then again switch or something else is off.


Edit: how are your new headlights wired up? It is possible the high and low are switched inside the new headlights if the 9005/6 plugs are coming from the plug and play twist connector.

[hidproblemkid]

@adamnur

Yes, the latest test was with the new headlights.

After testing with no headlight switch connected, the lights still remained on.

I'm thinking I need an external relay harness and error cancelers(capacitors).

Since the car isn't meant for HID's, the OBC thinks the lights are not powered on(since Xenon lights are using less power than halogens) and sends out a "low beam failure message." To rectify this, it(the OBC or some control system?) sends out constant power to the low beam bulbs in an attempt to power them on.

That's my latest guess anyhow. Maybe something in the OBC is messed up or got fried when I initially installed my HID's.

[adamnur]

Really sounds like a bad relay if they are able to draw constant power.

But if the stock system did work normally for sure, I would suspect the ballasts somehow doing this...though I don't know how they could draw power when the switch is open, doesn't make sense to me.

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[hidproblemkid]

@adamnur

Yeah, this makes no sense, so I decided to install:

- external relay harness
- 2 error cancellers (capacitors. 1 for each headlight)

As you may have guessed, the low beams still remain on as expected...

I have my external relay harness directly connected to the positive terminal under the hood and the negative grounded to the chassis.

The relay harness outputs power to the two low beam headlight units and has one female input connector that takes input from the stock power connector (from either of the two sides) and acts as a switch.

Yet, the low beam headlights STILL remain on...

I feel like the OBC is doing something here, since it's still outputting the "low beam failure" message with the error cancellers installed...god damnit lol.