Headlights Problems of BMW 325

The reflector bowl on the headlights burns, creating a severely decreased output. This is an issue known by many people in the BMW community. . Read more...

See all problems of the 2004 BMW 325 🔎.

Drivers side low beam started flashing when car hit bumps and while turning the steering wheel to the right. Opened bulb access cover to check the bulb and found that the majority of the wiring inside the headlight assembly has hardened and flaking insulation, exposing bare copper wire and allowing it to short out. Removed the headlight assembly for a more through inspection and discovered the same damage on the high beam wiring and deterioration on the entire wiring harness inside the light. Serious safety risk as well as fire risk.

See all problems of the 2006 BMW 325 🔎.

Tl the contact owns a 2004 BMW 325i. The contact stated that the headlights failed. The contact inspected the vehicle and found that the headlight housing material was deteriorated and prevented the headlights from providing adequate illumination. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 140,000.

Headlights have lost brightness and coverage and do not illiuminate the road properly. Vehicle is equipped with hid xenon lights package and when new were extremely bright but now are very dim. Original equipment with no modifications or accidents.

Headlight right hand side.

See all problems of the 2005 BMW 325 🔎.

Headlight wiring insulation is deteriorating and falling apart. Right side headlight wiring is completely damaged and headlight does not work.

Foot well module and junction box electrical short. Some lights stay on even if the car is off some signals dont work, one low beam headlight does not work, rear windows work sometimes and driver side rear windo does not work a all, ect.

Passenger side headlight bulb on zkw labeled headlight assembly melted reflector badly. Removed headlight bulb due to chance of catching fire. Headlight reflector damaged beyond repair and unable to mount headlight bulb. Issue noticed while driving on interstate where passenger headlight started loosing brightness and shining towards right side of vehicle. Pulled over and smelled burning plastic. Housing is black from burning.

See all problems of the 2002 BMW 325 🔎.

The contact owns a 2003 BMW 325i equipped with zkw bi-xenon headlights. While driving 70 mph, the headlights dimmed and diminished the contact¿s visibility. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who stated that the headlights needed to be replaced. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 80,000.

See all problems of the 2003 BMW 325 🔎.

Oem zkw xenon projectors burned out over time causing extremely low headlight output during nigh time driving. Extremely low visibility during rain in the night due to significantly low light output.

Wiring inside of the headlamp assembly is failing due to insulation that is disintegrating. This is resulting in electrical short circuits that prevent the headlight bulbs from working properly.

Oem bi-xenon headlights (manufacturer zkw) have a burned out bowl (reflector) that has greatly reduced the amount of light that is produced. Changing bulbs has made no difference. Many other owners have reported the same type of problem in various user forums.

The internal wiring in the adaptive bi-xenon headlights gets brittle and cracks with the risk of short circuits, potential fire and headlight failure.

This car suffers from the known burnt xenon low beam bowls, its impossible to see anything at night and is not safe. This needs to be recalled by BMW immediately, headlights have been adjusted properly and new bulbs were put in and does not cure the problem. Its very common for these xenon headlights to have this problem in alot of 2003+ BMW 3 series.

We bought a BMW with adaptive headlight error code. After researching it, we found out the fix is extremely expensive ($1200+) and most people report if you even hit a pot hole in road, it will cause it to malfunction again. The lights remain fixed in a incorrect position therefore causing a safety hazard because the road is improperly lit.

Tl-the contact owns a 2003 BMW 325xi. The contact stated that his vehicle headlights were not working properly and that his bulbs were hanging out of the housing that hold the light bulbs. The vehicle was taken into his local BMW dealer who stated that the entire housing compartment and bulbs needed to be replaced. The repair cost was $2,000 at the contacts expense. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 133,000. Rk.

My current vehicle is a 2003 BMW 325i with bi-xenon headlights manufactured by zkw. Over the last year or two, the light output from the xenon headlights had dropped to the point where I get almost no noticeable illumination of the road at night (in average city levels of street illumination). I turned to using my foglamps to be able to see anything. Mechanic inspected the headlight assembly and the upper portion of the projector bowls are burned. They are made of plastic and painted with reflective paint, but the upper ~60% of the bowl is now browned and nonreflective. This is due to an inability of the paint to withstand the high temperatures generated by the xenon bulbs. Also, this seems to be common to many/all zkw brand headlights utilized in 2003-2004 model years of 3 series (e46) BMW vehicles, according to postings on the BMW-owner forums. Reflector bowls can not be purchased and replaced separately and the entire headlamp assembly must be replaced at a cost of appx $2400. Zkw has changed the design so there is sufficient evidence to suggest that they and BMW are aware of the design flaw and resulting safety hazard.

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 325i. The contact stated that the vehicle emitted a strong burning odor while it was parked. While inspecting the vehicle, the contact found that the front driver's headlight cable was on fire. The fire department was called but a fire report was not filed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware. The approximate failure and current mileage was 60,000.

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 325i. While operating the vehicle, the low beam headlights became dim and it was difficult to view the road. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the zeon projector in the headlight assembly failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000.

Oem bi-xenon headlights (manufacturer zkw) have a burned out bowl (reflector) that has greatly reduced the amount of light that is produced. Changing bulbs has made no difference. Many other owners have reported the same type of problem in various user forums.

The contact owns a 2001 BMW 325i. The contact stated that his dashboard began to illuminate indicating light failure and immediately after the contact turned the headlights on and they began to flash. The contact was able to remedy the failure by unplugging the rear brake assembly. The contact was informed of a recall for this failure but the manufacturer stated that the vehicle was not included. The failure and current mileage was 137,000. . . . Updated 10/17/12.

See all problems of the 2001 BMW 325 🔎.

The vehicle came equipped from the factory with bi-xenon auto leveling headlights manufactured by zkw. The light output of the headlights is below any vehicle that I have encountered on the road. Cars that are over 20 years old have brighter headlights. I have replaced the bulbs and it hasn't helped. Looking at it further, brown scorch marks are visible in the projector when the headlight is on. The rear of the projector is completely brown and burnt. At night, it is becoming very difficult to see. At this point I don't feel safe driving the vehicle. This problem is getting progressively worse.

Headlight wiring insulation on standard BMW headlights is brittle and falling off exposing bare copper wires within the headlight assembly. In order to protect the headlights I have had to wrap the wires in electrical tape and shrink wrapping. This issue has existed for several years.

My BMW 325i xenon headlight bowls had melted and dimmed toa dangerous point, they are all original and unaltered.

The contact owns a 2005 BMW 325i. The contact stated that the headlight warning light illuminated. The contact stated that one of the headlights failed and over time, both headlights failed. Sporadically, the failure would rotate between the passenger and driver side headlights. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was advised that there was nothing wrong with the headlights. The failure mileage was unknown, but the current mileage was 71,000.

Xenon headlight reflectors are melting/burning causing a significant reduction in light output. Very simple problem for which there is no fix other than to purchase new headlight assembles for $2,000. Seems to affect all xenon headlights produced by zwk for the 2002-2004 3 series BMW.

The vehicle came equipped from the factory with bi-xenon auto leveling headlights manufactured by zkw. The past couple months, the light output has steadily decreased. Looking at it further, brown scorch marks are visible in the projector when the headlight is on. On the driver's side, there is also distortion in the upper half of the projector which looks almost as if the top half of the projector has melted and distorted. The light output from the projectors has been reduced to a thin beam of light right below the cutoff, with the driver's side being worse than the passenger. Parked 6 feet away from a wall, this strip of light extends only about 8-12" below the cutoff, putting out virtually no light below that. At night, it is becoming very difficult to see with no light in the foreground; this problem is getting progressively worse.

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 325i. The contact stated that the headlights became abnormally dim, making it very difficult for the contact to see the road and other vehicles. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis where they advised him that the headlight reflector needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000. The current mileage was approximately 100,000. The VIN was unavailable.

My current vehicle is a 2003 BMW 325i with bi-xenon headlights manufactured by zkw. Over the last year or two, the light output from the xenon headlights had dropped to the point where I get almost no noticeable illumination of the road at night (in average city levels of street illumination). I turned to using my foglamps to be able to see anything. After researching this problem on online forums, I examined the headlights myself and found that the upper portion of the projector bowls seem burned. They are made of plastic and painted with reflective paint, but the upper ~40% of the bowl is now browned and nonreflective. Apparently this is due to an inability of the paint to withstand the high temperatures generated by the xenon bulbs. Also, this seems to be common to many/all zkw brand headlights utilized in 2003-2004 model years of 3 series (e46) BMW vehicles, according to postings on the BMW-owner forums. For now, I have tried to remedy this by lining the burnt portion of the bowl with aluminum foil and can now notice some illumination of the road at night. This further argues that the burning/loss of reflective coating is what causes the loss of light output.

The passenger side hid headlight fails to come on. This occurs randomly and seems to happen more frequently in the winter time when the temperature is colder and the air has more humidity. This is not a bulb issue in that I have replaced the bulb several times.

The contact owns a 2005 BMW 325ci. The contact was driving approximately 10 mph when suddenly, the headlights became inoperative. The contact was able to continue driving. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the technician informed that the headlight wiring melted due to excessive corrosion. The headlight wiring was replaced. The failure mileage was 67,000. Updated 10/25/10 when the headlights overheated, it melted the wiring. Updated 10/27/10.

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 325i. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle at night with the headlights turned on, the headlights would not illuminate bright enough to see past the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 55,000.

Low beam reflectors on 2003 zkw hid xenon headlights was burn and scorched and posted as a fire risk. The scorched reflector also reduce the low beam light output and posts as a driving hazard.

The zkw brand of high intensity discharge (hid) headlights equipped in the 2003-2004 e46 model 3 series BMW sedan have a plastic reflector bowl in the projector that has the tendency to have the chrome reflective plating burnt off rendering the headlights all but useless. This makes it dangerous to drive at night because you can barely see the road. The only remedy to this is to replace the entire headlight assemblies for $1200 per side, which is unacceptable for non wear item to occur when the vehicle is between 5 to 7 years old, averaging 50k to 90k miles.