[RichP]

So, I had a little time off today, and decided it was time to take apart the headlights and remove that orangy goodness which is the US-DOT headlight reflector. After about an hour of struggling with bumper and light removal, the headlight assembly was in the oven.

I started at 225 for about 10 minutes, usually sufficient to begin breaking the adhesive bond to remove the front lens. Take it out, begin to pry..nothing. Plastic was bending, the glue seemed cold. Upped the heat to 235; baked for 20 minutes. I took the headlight out and realized I was beginning to approach the heat limit where the black plastic itself begins to soften and deform. Try again, nothing. Usually the glue is stringy and these things come apart with ease. This glue was totally formed.

So, I cut a small piece of excess adhesive off the headlight, and began to experiment. Held it down with some pliers, and put a heatgun to it. The wood scrap I was working on began to brown, but the glue only softened slightly, and had no adhesive properties whatsoever.

The moral: the headlights cannot be dis-assembled without destroying the whole thing.

Note, my car has Halogens made by Valeo. Perhaps a headlight from a different manufacturer will yield better results.

M*THER F*CKER! :mad: :mad: :mad:

[E90Fleet]

your DOT probably told them to make it impossible to easily remove them

[Jason]

Mark had the same result with an E90 halogen headlight. The glue indeed seems tougher than that used on other cars. Are you still able to use your headlight Rich?

[RichP]

Jason,
Yeah, I attempted on the bottom of it, and I could tell right away that the glue was not the stuff that was used in the past. Ive taken apart lights from a variety of manufacturers, so the experience was helpful in realizing that this wasnt possible.

Wish Mark told me...wouldnt have wasted the morning!

[Jason]

Sorry man, didn't know you were gonna be trying that. Woulda definitely told you ahead of time. Ah well, at least you're still able to use the headlights. Whew.

[stressdoc]

Any chance of using a laser to burn out the amber?
Does the turn signal bulb put out an amber color on its own?
I.e., would one be screwed if they fried the amber plastic because the turn signal would not be easily seen? Or is there a separate turn signal bulb that is replaceable with a euro version? Sorry to be so naive -- I have not looked at the headlight unit yet.

[Mark]

damn! rich wish I knew you were attempting to do this

Yea basicly the new headlights have a very thick, but more importantly deep and long layer of glue in them which is basicly too much to be disassembled by hand. I believe old headlights had a very very thin layer of glue so that heating it in an over was enough to take it apart, but not these things.

I end up completly melting the headlights, so i basicly took these things to the limit, and the sad part is that while the plastic was melted (it was deforming in my hands as i removed it from the oven) the damn glue was only slightly less hard.

Its too bad, I really hope someone comes up with a solution, because if not BMW really delt us a bad hand... grr

another thing I wanted to try was to get my hands on some nitrogen and freeze the things and then crack the glue open.. but that might be a real technical challenge because the glue sits in a groove also.. i personally agree with rich, its impossible to open these lights.

Hope someone proves this wrong

[Mark]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

Any chance of using a laser to burn out the amber?
Does the turn signal bulb put out an amber color on its own?
I.e., would one be screwed if they fried the amber plastic because the turn signal would not be easily seen? Or is there a separate turn signal bulb that is replaceable with a euro version? Sorry to be so naive -- I have not looked at the headlight unit yet.

there is a separate piece of plastic inside the headlights that is colored orange, thats the key to the problem. the orange light can be changed to silver easily, but its the orange plastic inside thats the real challenge

[RichP]

Its a different type of glue in other headlights, more like a tar; get it up to around 180-200 degrees, and it comes apart pretty easy. The stuff in the E90 lights is chemically cured and that is it, no reforming it. I think, beside the fact it would be quite a difficult DIY, freezing with liquid nitrogen is not going to yield results that are going to allow reassembly.

Could always just get the euro ones i gue$$...

[RichReg]

Originally Posted by RichP

Its a different type of glue in other headlights, more like a tar; get it up to around 180-200 degrees, and it comes apart pretty easy. The stuff in the E90 lights is chemically cured and that is it, no reforming it. I think, beside the fact it would be quite a difficult DIY, freezing with liquid nitrogen is not going to yield results that are going to allow reassembly.

I know I won't be the first to say this but,......

THAT REALLY SUCKS!

[stressdoc]

Right Mark, I was thinking that with the right tool one could selectively fry/toast the piece of amber plastic that is inside the headlight assembly. Might leave a melted glop, but with the right laser and the right plastic, it would be possible to shrivel up the amber signal plastic, perhaps even leaving the headlight unmarked.

[inline6]

So what's the deal here? You're trying to remove/unglue a plastic backing piece? Why not just cut it off (or part of it) and glue it back together after the operation?

[hwkdrvr]

I have not looked at the light, but what about drilling a small hole along the glue bead, then use a small knife, saw or dremel tool to cut the rest of the bead? Just a thought.

M.

[bozo5521]

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

your DOT probably told them to make it impossible to easily remove them

Sounds funny, but could very well be an accurate statement. Everyone gets in on this, and make out big time from the aftermarket purchases...

[cdheaven]

Originally Posted by hwkdrvr

I have not looked at the light, but what about drilling a small hole along the glue bead, then use a small knife, saw or dremel tool to cut the rest of the bead? Just a thought.

M.

we did this on my little brothers 99.5 audi a4. it seemed to work well. i would be very scared to do it on such a brand new car. but this did work. we drilled two holes, and with pliers and a screwdriver and other random pieces, broke the amber up into enough pieces to pull out the hole. then when we were done we sealed the whole up with caulk. they NEVER leaked, and from the outside, you cant see the holes.

[odiesback]

Sorry to hear about the headlights

I am glad I dont have a DIY mentality.
The car was bought to be driven and once you tamper with
sealed materials you are surely bound for disaster if it doesnt work.

dont blame DOT or BMW for it. The did not sell you a kit...

just my 2ctz...