locomotiveBart

I bought a 2007 530i as a replacement to my soon to be bought back Passat TDI. To be honest, I drove it home and tore it apart to add satellite radio and a full nav retrofit (had mask). All in and all code and working. I was looking at bmwvin tonight and see that I have adaptive headlights (and yes, I have xenons). Problem is, they never move. Have yet to drive it at night, but while running, and in auto headlight mode, they never move. The green led lights up (and does not blink) but turning the wheel does nothing. Even when turning on they do not go up and down (self leveling). Years ago (when I first joined) I had a 545 with the same lights and they would point to the direction of the wheel. Am I missing something simple here? Perhaps something in coding (NCS) that got overlooked? I have no way of knowing if they worked when I bought it, because as I've said, it came from the lot to the surgery table.

twh

They should move up and down briefly when you start the car. Check for that also.

locomotiveBart

I see no movement at all and no errors showing. I remember the movement being quite obvious on my 545.

RCB

See my response here.....
https://5series.net/forums/e60-discu...-issue-145555/

locomotiveBart

I'll check the wires, but my LED is steady green and not flashing.

locomotiveBart

So it's been a while but I checked the wires which all look fine. My green led lights up solid. I used NCS to check my VO and I indeed have $524. The right light seems to point a few inches higher than the left but they make no movement whatsoever. I even recoded my LMA module with a blank man file to reset it. Would love to figure this out but nothing mine does matches any other problem I can see that anyone has ever had...

cmyachtie

Have you driven at night yet?
They might only work in the dark. mine work fine but never noticed movement in daylight.

DanielFD

There are 2 auto light modes in our car that switch automatically when the green light is lit.

The first mode "twilight mode" is when the auto lights turn on but there is still light out. In that settings the light turn on but the lights dont swivel.

The second mode "dark mode" is when the auto lights turn on but its actually nighttime outside so the lights turn on and the lights swivel.

locomotiveBart

I've driven many times in the past two weeks in total darkness. I live in a somewhat rural area so there aren't even many streetlights. Did not know there were 2 modes though. Even in a completely dark garage they will not do the up down initialize that i've seen on my 545.

DanielFD

Yea read it on one of those technology pdfs the other day on e60s. If they dont move up in darkness when you turn them on the first time (After ignition, after the first time they calibrate they no longer move when you turn them on) then there is something wrong.

They have replaceable actuators.

RealOEM.com - Online BMW Parts Catalog

#14 part. Seems like they might break down if they are replaceable.

Though i would think both sides wouldn't break down at the same time.

Its very possible your previous owner had an issue with them and probably found it cheaper to have them coded out then have them repaired. If your inclined check the VO on the car using NCSExpert the code you should be looking for is "$524".

Look for it in both the CAS and the LMA module, its possible an amateur coded the car and hadn't written the VO code on both modules.

Also its possible the "amateur" coded them out manually and not through the VO so check your LMA and look at adaptive headlight values. Maybe the owner disabled them manually, even though that would be much harder.