Found out after a 350 mile jaunt yesterday that my 4th low beam had gone out. For those who haven't done this, its just a matter of time before the plastic retaining clip slots disintegrate. I think one slot went away on the last low beam that failed; but this time I took out the remaining slot fumbling around in there. This means there's no way to secure the pivot end of the clip and its h7 lamp, though high beam will suffice in an emergency You wouldn't want to do this at night on the side of the road. Its near impossible to see the work area with your hands in there, and with clips and such flying about you won't be successful, or happy. Here's a pic, notice the boss on the right has the remnants of 2 slots for the pivot end of the clip, but the rest disintegrated, and the screw and washer won't hold it. very frustrating. So i dug through the old parts, and found some kind of mounting plate to serve as retainer. I widened the hole, and hammered a bend into it before taking a hacksaw to it. During the trial fitting, a small magnet is highly recommended, as the retaining screw will invariably a) jump into the hole vacated by the old lamp b) fall underneath it. You can jam a paper towel under the lamp enclosure to prevent b, but the clip will be flying around, so work in a well lighted area. easier access might be had from the bottom. I had to file my new retainer down, it was keeping the lamp from fully seating. Once you've cursed and sworn the proper amount, you will arrive at this point. hopefully, you'll get this done before the breaking down on a long road trip. I spent about as much time fixing this as anything else i've done on the bike. It may have been easier to remove the whole headlamp assembly to facilitate this and keep the flying parts to a minimum PS 52k miles, 4 low beams, can't remember changing a high beam
Just found my was broken by the PO. I can secure it now with the screw but will fassion something like this for the next replacement. Thanks!
Had this happen to me a couple nights ago. Took it into the dealer today. Fortunately it's under warranty, so BMW gets to fork out the $550+Labor for a new one. Thanks for the tip, though. I'll be sure to craft a couple of your replacements. This is the third major repair they've had to do on this bike and it only has 22K on it. I'm beginning to think about replacing it with something else. Maybe a V-Strom or a KTM.
