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Originally Posted by ocbrad1
2016 X5 x-drive 35i with the standard HID lights. Just before I rolled it over 100k miles, I noticed a lot of oncoming drivers flashing their high-beams at me. I had turned off the high-beams, verified by the fog lights coming back on. Unfortunately, whatever the mechanism is that adjusts the single HID bulb between low and high-beams (just give us the separate high-beam bulbs in the otherwise vacant inboard locations) is sticking on the driver's side. The passenger side "rotates down" (or whatever the actual function is, a filter?) but the driver's side stays in the high-beam position. But because it thinks that it's gone back to low-beams, the fog lights do come back on. Unfortunately, the driver's side lights (closest to oncoming traffic, natch) stay in the high-beam position. I can get out of the car with the headlights on, hit the top of the light housing with my fist, and it will rotate into the low-beam position. I don't know what the mechanism is that makes the shift between low and high, but presumably it is some sort of actual mechanical function that is sticking. I went to my dealer in the hopes that they would be able to find the right hinge or whatever to lubricate and I'd be on my way, only down a few hundred bucks. Nope. They said that it's broken, can't be fixed, and a new housing will only set me back $3200 or something ridiculous like that.
There has to be something mechanical that actuates the shift between low and high beams, because I can look at the light beam projected on my garage door when I hit the light housing, and I watch the beam literally angle down into the low-beam position. I don't know if there's some visor or something that normally sits over the top quarter of the projection that rotates up when high-beams are activated, or if the actual socket/housing that the bulbs are situated in itself rotates up or down based on whether high-beams are turned on or off. It seems weird enough that it's probably a common problem. Any thoughts out there?
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HID lights are cheaper, you can probably just get new headlight off Ebay for $300-500 and just replace it, it sounds like the the shutter is stuck on one side.