general problems of the 2004 BMW 3 Series

Reflector bowls in xenon headlamp assembly burn and discolor, making low beam lighting almost negligible. Doesn't even seem lights are on. Very dangerous to drive at night without high beams on.

Recently purchased said vehicle and it came with zkw hid bi-xenon lighting system which appears the inner plastic bowls are burnt to a crisp with detriment light output making it almost impossible to clearly see unlit roads at night, this is a huge safety concern and needs to be reviewed and solved in a timely manner as it affects thousands of similar vehicles on the road. I'm afraid the reduced light output might appear to other drivers at night that my vehicle is further away that it is in reality giving the possibility of them crossing into my travel path incurring an accident. I know you have been reviewing this for quite some time but we need a resolution soon. . . Thank you.

Zkw hid xenon low beam reflectors burnt or corroded causing a significant decrease in light output that BMW wants ~$3000 to fix. Lights were a premium option and cannot be corrected by xenon bulb replacement. The output has dimmed as to be unsafe.

Thought I had a light problem fixed it first time. Signal on the dash did not go away but the light was on. Went to a different place and fixed it again. And the signal still would not go away. The light works but still show on the dash as if it's broken. I'm afraid by time it's time to get a new registration sticker that it will not pass.

The very first time I tried to drive the car at nighttime to go back home, my wife and kids were on board, and we were more than 200 miles from home. After I turned on the low-beam head lamps and started rolling, I could barely see the road because the headlamps were not properly illuminating. I flipped the switch several times to no avail. ¿ putting lives and properties at risk, I continued driving until we got home, all the while driving with the high-beam lamps on and apparently getting the others drivers on the road fuming. I took the car to both a lamp-adjusting station and a BMW dealer where I was told the lamps could neither be adjusted nor their bulbs merely replaced because the problem was the reflector bowls were defective and had lost their ability to project light properly. I was also told that both that the reflector bowls could not be replaced individually, and that both (left and right sides) assemblies must be replaced at a total cost of more than $2000. 00. Many posters in the BMW forums have voiced out exactly the same problems, and I wish that all would file a complaint to NHTSA. I never drove this car again at night until I had – in August 2014 – purchased and finally received and installed the head lamps assemblies in October 2014. I have in my possession the headlamp adjusting station's invoice and recommendation plus the receipt and invoice for the new headlamp assemblies that had to be specially ordered from germany. On November 17, 2014, by certified mail, I sent BMW of north America my request for reimbursement, but I have yet to receive a response. Due to this defect which affects safety, I strongly and respectfully suggest that a recall be issued on this BMW model, or some sort of directive be issued for BMW to reimburse those owners ¿such as i¿ who had already replaced their lamp assemblies at their own expense.

The xenon projector bowls are made of plastic, which eventually burns. This diminishes the light output so drastically that it is incredibly difficult to see at night. The "burning" of the plastic bowl also seems like it might cause the bowl itself to melt or catch fire.

2004 BMW 325xi sedan; taillight fails intermittently according to dashboard indicator, then failed solid. The wires melted inside the connector to the light housing and melted housing post - no easy way for home repair as this is not just a bad lightbulb. BMW has service bulletin on repair, but is a pure design defect from the factory. There is no owner-induced problem here. They will not accept responsibility for repairs or recalls. A "google" reveals that this is a widespread issue with BMW 3-series and some 5-series cars. They should be forced to recall these cars for repairs.

Extremely low output. Very dim.