Seems like all new cars are using plastic headlight lens covers that become sandblasted in short order. It doesn't help living in New England with all of the sand applied to road surfaces during the winter. Anyway, has anyone ever replaced a lens. I looked at the drivers side and got into it but stopped cause I didn't want to break any more parts (I broke the lower plastic tab that holds the rubber seal in place)? Are there some instructions available somewhere? Thanks
The Robert Bentley E46 repair manual has instructions - get a copy from eBay, Amazon, etc.. When was your car produced? Some have covers that can be replaced relatively inexpensively v. replacing the entire unit or having the covers polished. E46fanatics.com and the E46 portion of bimmerforums.com have plenty of DIY info. http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=609558 http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=639475
Try simple stuff first... This is a recurrent issue for just about everyone. I had great results with a DIY lens polish kit by 3M but there are several others out there. It took about 30 min, looks great & I have not yet noticed a tendency toward rapid deterioration. Even if it does not work you're only out $25
bit of work... Usually you have to remove the whole headlight assembly in order to replace the lens. This can be quite a bit of work... both to remove and to reassemble and realign. Pay close attention to shims and where they come from in removing the headlight assembly. Mine were plastic and having an indelible black sharpie on hand to label them with as you remove them makes reassembly easier. You will need to access a book such as the one recommended in the prior message of figure out how to access one of the several electronic databases available to technicians. The best of those is BMW's TIS database, but difficult to secure a CD for your car. If you search the internet hard enough you may find one somewhere. Some may be pirated and there is significant risk in obtaining the information from one of these sources. Chuck
try here If you have the correct browser, try here... http://www.bmwtis.com I don't have the correct browser so I don't know if it can be accessed without a password. Chuck
This site requires a password, but you can get access for $30/ day... which isn't bad if you know what you need to do and have a printer handy. Chuck
buy it on ebay... Here's the CD on EBAY for a Very reasonable price... I'm going to order it myself even if I don't really need it with full warranty coverage for a couple more years just because it is so inexpensive! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-...70697546753QQptZMotorsQ5fManualsQ5fLiterature Chuck
