BTW, i love my AiB V3's however it took me a realy long time to put on and im not as surprised by the brightness as i should be, maybe i didnt screw them in enuff. my right headlight seems to be brighter than my left headlight in person.

 

Aside from the obvious tool placement changes, what are your tips for installing? I have mine on the way and would love to hear suggestions or tricks. Did you take the lights off or did you just take off that radiator cover? Any special tools that you would suggest would be great...maybe I will find some in the middle of the road somewhere? Thanks.

 

I suggest taking out your headlights to make the overall process easier. It's not hard to do, just time consuming. You're gonna need torx bits to remove the two screws on top of the headlights and an 8mm socket with about a 8" driver extension to remove the bolts below/behind the headlight. I'd also suggest a magnetized head or one of those telescopic magnets to pick up the bolts so it doesn't fall into the engine bay like bimmer530iguy's.

I know some of the guys on this forum were able to install the lights with a long pair of needle nose pliers and a little bit of elbow grease, but I will quote Calton on this one, "you need hands the size of an ewok" to be able to fit your hand in there. I took out my whole headlight assembly and it still gave me trouble! Be patient when you're removing the headlight and putting it back in the bumper. It's like a jigsaw puzzle, so pull it out carefully to avoid scratching the paint. Good luck!

DIY: Remove Headlight Guide

 

Honestly i think it will be a lot cheaper to replace your 2 wrenches then taking your car to a dealer and having them charge you who knows maybe even an hour of labor to find it. Just drive the car like nothing happened and im sure everything is going to be ok. If it was me i would drop the lower shields myself and get the tool but since you sound like that task is just way too scary and hard for you go and pay someone to do it. The lower sheild is held up by about 10-16 little 8mm screws and 2 phillips screws. Give it a try dont be scared of your own car.

 

Sorry to hear this
It has happen too me before too and I know how you feel
here a tip for tools
1st never leave tools on the car and 2nd I alway keep my tools on the ground or in my back pocket.
Jack the car up and take the bottem panel off and see if it drops out, it mite be at the bottum, if not then you need some help from some pros.

good luck.

 

Last summer a little plastic bottle fell in my engine bay, between the engine and the bumper .
The engine was hot and I was worried it could melt . Finally I succeded in getting it with an umbrella and a stick

 

If you don't want to do it yourself, how about taking the car to a quckie oil change place and asking them to take the panel off and look for the tools?

 

Thanks for the advice man, but i recently changed my oil less than 1,000 miles ago.

 

Thanks for the laughs.

 

Last year I opened the washer fluid cap on my X5 and it fell backwards into the engine compartment and.... dissappeared........ I looked everywhere.... no where to be found so I just got another one ( I didn't buy it ) I think the black pit exists in there , oh well no burning plastic smell so I guess all is fine Cheers and good luck