Xenon Headlamps - Intermittently Won't Switch ON

Group 63
Lights

Bulletin Number
63 03 00

Woodcliff Lake, NJ
September 2000
Service Engineering

SUBJECT:
Intermittently, Xenon Lamp does not Switch On

MODEL:
E38 (7 Series) with Xenon - Vehicles produced 9/98 to 10/99
E39 (5 Series) with Xenon - Vehicles produced 10/98 to 10/99

Situation:
Xenon headlamps intermittently may not switch on, even though the light switch is in the "headlamps on" position and the ignition is switched on. The situation occurs typically, if the head lamps are switched on when cranking the engine. The situation does not occur if the headlamps are engine is running.

The affected headlamp(s) can only be switched on by turning the light switch to position "0", and back to "headlamps on" after waiting for at least two seconds.

Cause:
Low starting pulse voltage at the Xenon headlamp caused by momentary low electrical system voltage resulting from the use of electrical consumers such as the starter motor, when the headlamps are switched on, and before the engine is running. No additional starting pulse is provided in the event that the headlamps do not turn on.

This cause only applies when the headlamps are switched on, and not in the event of xenon headlamp failure during operation.

Procedure:
In case of customer complaint, recode the lamp control module (LCM), with DIS CD version 22.0 or later. This recoding causes the Xenon headlamp to be provided with the starting pulse (3) times.

Warranty Information:





Covered under the terms of the BMW New Vehicle Limited Warranty.