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Headlight condensation.

550 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  jbanks15, 
krustaceon
Can condensation behind the headlight lens be rectified by resealing?
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jbanks15
Might not be the fix :D
Problem been there across the board

SUBJECT: Model 170, 171, 203, 208, 209, 210, 211, 215, 220 and 230 Moisture in Headlamp(s)

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krustaceon
jbanks15 said:
Might not be the fix :D
Problem been there across the board

SUBJECT: Model 170, 171, 203, 208, 209, 210, 211, 215, 220 and 230 Moisture in Headlamp(s)

Click to expand...
Very helpful, thank you.


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M4rCu5
krustaceon said:
Can condensation behind the headlight lens be rectified by resealing?
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Yes ;)

The seal sits in a channel, the lens sits on the seal and is then clipped into place. What happens is that over time, water runs down (gravity) and finds its' way into the bottom of the seal channel and becomes trapped, heat from the bulbs / sun / engine bay then vaporises said sitting water and you get the condensation on the inside of the lenses (y)

A Butyl Rubber Strip rather than new seals is the way to go IMHO

Such as:
BUTYL RUBBER GLUE/TAPE HEADLIGHT SEALANT RETROFIT SPEAKER 9.5MMx4.57M CAR VAN 5081949819156 | eBay
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H
jbanks15 said:
Might not be the fix :D Problem been there across the board SUBJECT: Model 170, 171, 203, 208, 209, 210, 211, 215, 220 and 230 Moisture in Headlamp(s)
Click to expand...
That link no longer works.
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M4rCu5 said:
Yes ;)

The seal sits in a channel, the lens sits on the seal and is then clipped into place. What happens is that over time, water runs down (gravity) and finds its' way into the bottom of the seal channel and becomes trapped, heat from the bulbs / sun / engine bay then vaporises said sitting water and you get the condensation on the inside of the lenses (y)

A Butyl Rubber Strip rather than new seals is the way to go IMHO

Such as:
BUTYL RUBBER GLUE/TAPE HEADLIGHT SEALANT RETROFIT SPEAKER 9.5MMx4.57M CAR VAN 5081949819156 | eBay
Click to expand...
That item no longer exists on ebay unfortunately.
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Picklemonsta
Had a similar problem on a previous Z4 and one of the "fixes" suggested on there was to drill a couple of small holes in the bottom of the headlight unit.
Dry it out with a hairdryer through the bulb hole, and then once refitted, the holes stop the condensation coming back.

Not sure if that would help here or make it worse?
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M4rCu5
hugo said:
That item no longer exists on ebay unfortunately.
Click to expand...
4M/13FT Butyl Tape Rubber Glue Headlight Sealant Retrofit Reseal Headlamps Door | eBay
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Picklemonsta said:
Had a similar problem on a previous Z4 and one of the "fixes" suggested on there was to drill a couple of small holes in the bottom of the headlight unit.
Dry it out with a hairdryer through the bulb hole, and then once refitted, the holes stop the condensation coming back.

Not sure if that would help here or make it worse?
Click to expand...
Interesting. This is my latest problem, caused I believe by the guy who said he could restore the lens on the headlamp. The condensation was not present when I brought the car to him. Is there any issue with potential for electrical problem for the moisture being in contact with the bulb, for example?
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jbanks15
hugo said:
That link no longer works.
Click to expand...

yes we know.. Bill taking a break

Taking a break...
It's been years since I've had time to regularly update my pages.

As PHP and other tools have marched on, it's time to refactor and come back in a different form. In that time, some new areas of interast have come up as well. Parenting. Autism. School admin shenanigans. New self-awareness, as I have become aware of my own Autism.

I can't promise when it will happen, but it didn't make sense to be paying A LOT extra to keep the old basically static site up because it required a very old PHP version to run. Perhaps having it fully down will give me inspiration to get something back up in it's place.
Until that time comes, you know hwere to find me!



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