Foglight and High beam lense replacement

[brendanm]

Hey all

This forum has been extremely helpful in answering my questions, and I'm hoping the community can help me once again. I've got a 1990 - 535i, and the front right foglight and high beam lenses are broken. I've ordered replacement lenses from BMWLights, they were recommended and way cheaper then any other source. Although they haven't arrived yet, I thought I'd find out what's entailed in replacing the lenses once they get here.

Can someone either refer me to a site or forum that answers that question, or give me a brief run down on the operation. How best to remove the old lenses, and what materials etc... will be needed to install the new lenses.

Thanks in advance.

B.

[shogun]

it is on their website
http://www.bmwlight.com/bmwlightinstallation.htm

[brendanm]

That's it?! Bust the old bugger out of the housing, clean it up, and paste the new one into place? What do you recommend for sealing the new lens into place?

Do I have to remove the high beam from it's spot, or can I do it in place?

[shogun]

Well, that is how it works theoretically.
Never done that, so I cannot comment on the sealant/glue you should use.

But in any case I would remove the lights from the car and replace the glass then, probably much easier.

[mikell]

Use silicone seal adhesive - any hardware store will have it.

[RallyD]

i did all 4 on wifey's 530 and one high beam on my 525
on mine i used an old lens from the 530 to match the vintage and used all new plastic lenses on the 530. For the 530 I removed the assembly and used a product called Marine Goop. It was a little thin and runny but filled all the void and there is no moisture entering and the lenses haven't fallen off.
On the 525 i just used clear silicone with the lamp still on the car.
Make sure you clean out the groove well to remove the old seal and you'll be fine.

[Paul in NZ]

wtf?is this because the US cars have some kind of sealed beam unit or something,and you are replacing just the glass?or does this also apply to eurocars witht H1 lamps

[mikell]

US cars no longer require sealed beams - that went out in the mid-80's, I think. US e34's don't come stock with H-1s, but use 9005 & 9006 bulbs. The buckets in which the lenses are set are similar to the euro units, so the glass lenses can be broken out and replaced with acrylic. It's much cheaper than replacing the OE Hella buckets that have glass lenses.

[BMWCCA1]

One of the nicest attributes of the E34 is that it is the last BMW series available in the U.S. that doesn't have plastic headlamps. IMHO, of course.