2005 BMW 330I Exterior lighting Problems

“I brought my car to Bmw freeport was a tail light recall & they refused to fix my vehicle. Said the harness & wires were melted too much & it would cost $1400 to fix. Now I have a safety hazard as I'm driving with no tail light or my wires could catch on fire. This should be covered for free under a recall from 2011.”

“Over the last several years, the light intensity has steadily declined in both headlights of my car, to the point where they no longer function. My mechanic has looked inside the headlights and found that the projector bowl reflector has prematurely worn out -- it has lost its reflective ability. According to the mechanic and based on multiple reports in online group discussions, this is a known issue with these zkw xenon headlights. This defect in the headlights compromises safe operability and increases the risk of a night-time accident. …”

“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.”

“Dash mounted warning light indicated tail light issues. Checked the light and all the bulbs were fine but the entire tail light was not working. I then noticed the the brown wire in the connector had melted through the case and was touching other wires in the connector which caused it to short out the entire light. The brown wire has visible signs of melting. I have since found out that this is a common problem with my type Bmw and a recall has been issued. Right now my VIN number does not fall under the notice but I have no tail lights.”

“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. …”