e36 - low beam failure on single headlamp

[Cheeseburger]

It appears I have a low beam failure unique to this headlamp position. I'm running stock halogens, not HIDs.

New bulbs = no fix. Flipping the bulbs from left to right = no fix. Hi beam = works fine.





Seems like a simple continuity issue (considering the other side works fine, and hi-beam from the same light position works fine), but i'm not sure what the problem wire is, or where to start. I have a multimeter with a continuity checker somewhere in the house.

Any suggestions?

[JDStrickland]

You need to break out your volt meter. Do you get an error on the Check Control Module (On Board Display)? If no message display, then my money gets piled high on the headlamp switch itself.

[Cheeseburger]

No fault messages observed at the OBD.

Likely a headlight switch fault? Yikes - I just googled the switch to see what i'm dealing with. I hope the pins are labelled.

I'll dig out my DMM and a wiring diagram and attempt to follow the path to the fault.

[XnWarden]

You circled the high beam in your picture. Why arent your parking lights on with your headlights turned on? They should always be unless its been modified

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[Cheeseburger]

You circled the high beam in your picture. Why arent your parking lights on with your headlights turned on?

That's exactly the fault i'm trying to correct. In low beam mode, the headlamp as circled is not projecting as it should. In high beam mode, the headlamp is working fine.


Low beam mode:



High beam mode:

[shogun]

do not hotlink pics, just a link is enough, then it might work

[JDStrickland]

You circled the high beam in your picture. Why arent your parking lights on with your headlights turned on? They should always be unless its been modified

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

Picture? there's no picture.

The car has four headlamps, the outboard lamps are low beam, the inboard lamps are high beam. When you use the Flash feature of the turn signal stalk, the inboard lamps are turned on without turning the outboard lamps on. If the headlamps are on, then you have the outboard lamps until you push the turn signal stalk forward, then you get the inboard lamps in addition to the outboard -- all 4 lamps are on. If the Fog lamps are switched on, they only light if the high beams are not on.

[XnWarden]

Picture? there's no picture.

I see two pictures he linked in which his headlights appear to be functioning mostly normal

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[XnWarden]

These are the photos OP posted

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[ultimatetester]

Do you know the car has separate fuses for each headlight bulb? Check all your fuses!

[JDStrickland]

Using the photos in Post #9 as my guide, I see no problem with the headlamps. Certainly no issues that comes from a blown fuse. All lights should be on when the light switch is on and the high beams are selected with the turn signal stalk (combination switch) is pushed towards the dash board. The OP is in Australia, this may or may not have a bearing on the situation. It's also pointed out that the parking lamps (corner markers) should be on in the pictures provided, this should be a clue.

When the car is driving in daylight hours and no lights are on, pulling the combo switch to the steering wheel will light the inboard lamps momentarily as long as the combo switch is held.

When the headlamps are on, the outboard lamps are on in Low Beam operation, when the high beams are on, then the inboard lamps come on with the outboard lamps (all four lamps are on). If the fog lamps are being used, they go off when the high beams come on. The corner lamps should be on at all times when the headlamps are on.

[Cheeseburger]

Thanks for the pic update guys... I didn't realise they weren't visible.

There's definitely a problem with the headlamps. Until about two months ago all four lamps were working in low beam mode *. Now, only three of the four are emitting light in low beam mode, with the circled lamp being the, ummm, non-emitter. And it's not the (Philips Halogen H1 55W) bulb itself, as I can swap bulbs around but the problem only manifests itself in that particular bulb socket.

Not sure what you mean by corner markers - indicators (orange) or fog lamps (closest to the road) - either way, they're all working fine, and have their own dashboard switching independent of the main headlamp array. If you're unfamiliar with this arrangement (as US folks) I suggest it must be a Euro-spec thing.



* Low beam mode: The outer lamps throw their full power (55 watts) down the road regardless of low or high beam selection. The inner lamps are two mode - in low beam mode they perform more of an aesthetic function and throw ~10 watts down the road. In high beam mode they throw their full 55 watts down the road. As can be seen in the picture with the circled lamp - in low beam mode, it's opposite is emitting a ~10W glow, whereas the circled light is not working at all.


Still ratting around trying to find my DMM. In the meantime, i'll check the fuses.

[datto62073]

looks like a bad city light bulb to me. i run the same basic lights on BOTH my 36s. look to see if there is a smaller 194 bulb that's burnt out. or a wire that's disconnected for said bulb.

[Deus Ex Machina]

Yeah, your high beams shouldn't be on at all on low unless you have city lights, and that is what I am seeing. It's a small bulb, you should be able to see it through the front toward the bottom.

[MParallel]

Do you know the car has separate fuses for each headlight bulb? Check all your fuses!

This.

Fuses should always be your first check. Always.