Headlights Problems of BMW 330 - part 2

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 330i. The contact stated that the illumination of the headlights was extremely dim. The reflector was discolored and burned, causing improper illumination. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.

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Projectors for the zkw headlights have deteriorated making night driving difficult and dangerous.

Tl- the contact owns a 2004 BMW 330xi. The contact stated that the headlights dimmed while driving at various speeds. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where it was found that the reflectors had deteriorated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 61,000. The VIN was not available. Mh.

The contact owns a 2001 BMW 330ci. The contact stated that the headlights and tail-lights began flickering abnormally. The failure was recurring and often, the lights would appear to have weak illumination. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer for a diagnostic test. The dealer stated that the ground wire for the taillight harness had a short and caused the headlights to blink constantly. The vehicle was repaired however, the headlights continued to repeatedly flicker on and off. The contact did not take the vehicle back to the dealer for further inspection or repairs. The failure mileage was 135,000.

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The headlights on the car seems to be very dim. The amount of light that comes out of the headlights looks slightly brown and pretty dark as compared to many other cars on the road. I believe that the headlights were designed with plastic and which case the bulb would cause things to burn over time.

See all problems of the 2003 BMW 330 🔎.

Tl-the contact owns a 2004 BMW 330i. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, both projector headlights failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the p projector headlight lenses needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 190,000. Djr.

Burnt bowl in the headlights causing the xenon light to have diminished light output. Night driving is very difficult due to the headlight not being bright enough anymore. Replacement of the assemblies will only fix this temporarily until the bowls but again and the problem returned.

Zkw brand xenon headlights - the back of the projector bowl is made of plastic (vs. Metal in the al/bosch brand, also used by BMW), which over time burns from the heat put out by the headlights. The burn turns the plastic from white to brown/orange, which severely reduces light output, making night driving dangerous. The headlight from my car is so poor that at night I can see the shadow of my car produced from cars behind me. Severe tire damage has been caused due to poor light.

See all problems of the 2005 BMW 330 🔎.

BMW e46 equipped with zkw brand headlights suffer from a burnt, melted, and cracked reflector bowl dramatically reducing the bi-xenon light output, making it difficult and unsafe to drive at night. This is a very common issue and needs to be resolved for drivers and others safety during night.

The contact owns a 2005 BMW 330i. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the headlights were activated but appeared very dim. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where the technician stated that the headlight assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 130,000.

Both bixenon headlamps assemblies have failed on the vehicle they emit little to no light due to the known bowl burn issues with the plastic reflectors (should have been fabricated from metal), inside these headlamp assemblies. In looking at the light assemblies, they seemed to have failed a long time ago. This is a very unsafe and hazardous situation that renders the vehicle basically inoperative at night to the owner, because fellow drivers, pedestrians, and/or bicyclist may be not able to see your headlights. This could cause or may have already lead to fatal vehicular accident(s) or the death of a pedestrian(s) and/or bicyclist(s) because of the low to no light emitted by these faulty headlamps. While performing in depth research on the internet discovered that this is a very common and known problem on this make and model at all mileages. The BMW forums are full of complaints about this problem and an open complaint seems to be open and in process with NHTSA since 2009 some three years ago. Neither BMW or its supplier of this faulty part make a reasonably priced service part that can be purchased to correct this known product and safety problem. Not even the aftermarket industry makes a service part to correct this product problem. To correct this issue, you must purchase two new complete head lamp assemblies at a cost of approximately $ 1,200. 00 each from BMW which is outrageous especially for such a know product and safety problem. I can't understand why a recall has not been initiated for such a known problem on so many vehicles that has been on going for so long. . I contacted BMW north America for relief with this know safety and product problem and they could not help me with this issue because there is no open recall for this known product and safety problem.

After purchasing my 330i in north salem, NY, I spent about 30 hours driving the car home to florida. I made it home late at night and pulled the car into my garage. Once inside, I noticed small wisps of smoke exiting the hood, just above each headlight. I opened the hood and smelled a faint burning plastic smell. Through online research and investigation on the vehicle, I found the projector headlight reflector bowls were severely 'burnt', something very common on these style headlights on this car. I researched more and found that these reflectors were made of plastic, and over time would overheat and burn, losing their reflective coating. This loss of reflective coating eventually leads to severely diminished light output. I researched how to replace or repair the lights, and eventually retrofitted newer metal projector bowls from a 2006+ BMW. This retrofit while not permanent, has helped. This is a very serious problem. In addition to the lack of headlight output, there is a serious fire hazard involved with this design flaw.

Burned headlight reflector bowl on 2003 "zkw" headlight housings. Headlamp output severely diminished. Also equipped on 03-05 3-series.

Purchased the car in April 2012. Noticed that the xenon headlights were not outputting as much light as I thought they should. Inspected the area behind the headlights (the reflective bowls) and discovered that they were burned. Upon researching online, I have found that this is a common problem for the zkw xenon equipped BMW 3 series (e46) vehicles, and the NHTSA has many complaints about this problem already. This is a safety defect in my mind. Headlight reflectors should not burn from their designed usage. This will cost thousands of dollars to replace the headlight assemblies. BMW should issue a recall for this serious problem .

The headlights of the car get progressively dimmer over time. Changing headlight bulbs (xenon hid d2s 4300k) does nothing because the reflective coating on the headlight bowls has melted / burnt off. There is a scent of hot plastic with the headlights recently on and protective covers removed. The headlight bowls appear darkly charred just above the bulb area.

It appears that a design defect has caused housings for bi-xenon headlights to be subject to heat stress, resulting in discoloration and cracking. As a result visibility during nighttime driving is significantly impacted when using both low-and high-beams. Approximate cost for replacement parts is in excess of $2,000, not including labor.

Purchased a used 2004 BMW 330i. The headlight output is very dim, and upon research into the matter, have learned that the supplied zkw headlight assemblies contain plastic reflector bowls that are prone to melting and/or burning. I inspected my headlight assemblies and found this to be the case. The reflector bowls in my headlights are burnt, and consequently my headlights are not nearly as bright and effective as they should be. This is a safety hazard - nighttime visibility is something that should be taken seriously by a manufacturer.

Bi-xenon headlamp projector back-bowls are made out of plastic and have had their reflective coating burnt off of them from normal headlight usage. Due to the lack of reflectivity on the projector bowls my headlights have become significantly more dim over time as more of the reflective coating is burning off. It has become harder and more dangerous to drive at night due to the severe lack of light my headlights now produce.

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 330i. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked and he noticed that the low beam headlights were illuminated with an inadequate amount of brightness. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis and the technician stated that the plastic reflector bowls were poorly designed. The technician also stated that these bowls melted over an extended period of time due to heat exposure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 56,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Reflective coating melted inside the headlights, rendering them useless. Extremely expensive to replace.

The oem factory zkw headlight reflector bowl is cheaply made and is known to burn out. The cheap plastic used cannot handle the heat of the bulb and the metallic reflector film eventually starts to go bad causing very poor headlight visibility. This is a safety hazard and concern. BMW needs to be accountable and should find a replacement option without using the poorly made oem zkw reflector bowl.

My headlights are not very bright and it looks like the reflective coating inside the light has been cooked off. I had a 2001 and the lights were much better they were the same hid xenon type . Thank you.

Dramatically reduced headlight output due to defective factory components.

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 330i. While driving approximately 65 mph, the contact noticed that the visibility of the headlight reflectors was very poor. After inspecting the headlights the contact noticed that the area around the headlight reflectors was burned. The contact replaced the bulb. The failure continued after the replacement of the bulbs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the headlight assembly would have to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 117,000.

BMW zkw headlight defect. Burnt bowls causing unsafe nightly illumination.

The reflector portion of the vehicle's xenon headlights appear burned/discolored, which significantly reduces their brightness thereby reducing nighttime visibility.

2004 BMW 330i sedan: xenon headlight reflector bowls (zkw brand) are scorched practically eliminating any light output from the headlight.

I own a 2004 BMW 330i m-performance edition. My headlights are manufactured by a company called zkw. I am canadian and my car is a canadian car but the faulty part in question is common to both us-spec and cdn-spec BMW 3-series. My headlight output is extemely poor. In inclement weather, this issue is compunded. I now must always run with my foglights on to aid the headlights. This is not a safe solution to the problem. Foglights are designed to help the driver see your more immediate surroundings. The distance that the light is shone is much shorter than it should be. I am not able to see more that 3-5 meters in front of my vehicle. The 'incident' date noted above is when I had struck a raccoon with my vehicle that I should have seen much much sooner, giving me more time to react or make an evasive maneuver. This is significant because I was not travelling faster than 60-70 kph. The result was a $1,200 repair to my front bumper and bumper trim which sustained damage from the animal. From what I understand, all 3-series purchased in 2003 and 2004 which feature xenon-headlights made by zkw suffer from a design flaw with the reflector bowl. Over time this reflector bowl, which is made of plastic, tends to get fried and discoloured as a result of the heat eminating from the xenon bulb. This causes the reflector bowl to lose it's reflective properties and as result, light output is extremely poor. For model year 2005, BMW went with a different headlight manufacturer which offered headlights which featured and aluminum reflector bowl which is more resilient to the temperatures caused by the xenon bulb. To me, this shows BMW acknowledging the design flaw, especially since model year 2005 was the last year BMW made a 3-series sedan in this chassis.

Headlights have inadequate light output due to manufacturing defect.

In 2002-2005 BMW 330i sedans with the xenon headlight feature, BMW opted to use zkw brand headlight assemblies instead of al/bosch brand assemblies. The zkw brand assemblies have plastic projector reflector bowls whereas the al/bosch assembies have metal projector reflector bowls. As a result of constant heat and concentration of the xenon bulb on the plastic projector bowl, the reflective surface begins to deteriorate. Soon enough (after a few years of use) the bowls receive brown/blackish burn marks from the concentration of light. The burn marks no longer reflect the xenon light and cause the output from the xenon zkw headlight assembly to be fainter than original state. Numerous individuals on the BMW car forums have experienced similar problems and have made note that this is the cause of their failure. Note: some 2002-2005 330i sedans did come with al/bosch brand headlight assemblies.

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 330i. The contact stated that both front headlights illuminated very dimly. The contact examined the headlights and noticed that the front driver side headlight bulb burned a hole through its housing. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed. The contact replaced the bulbs himself, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The contact was informed that the entire headlight housing needed to be replaced. The failure mileage was 65,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Zkw reflectors on hid headlight assembly degrade, greatly reducing the headlight efficiency at night. The plastic of which the reflector bowls are made degrades from headlight heat, and the reflective coating burns.

The head light reflecting bowls on hid headlights are burning out thereby resulting in poor lighting under all conditions.

Xenon reflectors in zkw headlights are burnt, and are cracking. This is significantly reducing light output of the vehicle.

Recently I bought a 2003 BMW 330i with xenon projector headlights. The low- and high-beam output of these lights is very poor, with very little usable light when driving on lit or unlit roads at night. Compared to standard halogen lamps on my other cars (1990 BMW 525i, 2004 Saturn ion) I would rate them at 40% and 30% output respectively, and both of the other cars use standard halogen lamps. Research on this issue found the headlamp reflector used by BMW for these lights (zkw branded) is made of plastic instead of metal and begins to overheat and melt over time, reducing light output and eventually failing completely. BMW does not offer replacement reflectors, plastic or otherwise, and the only option using manufacturer parts is to replace the entire unit at a cost of approximately $2000 (for the pair). I find this completely unreasonable considering the headlights are critical components for driving at night, and a $2k 'wear part' is grossly excessive.