Adaptive headlight water damage warranty issue

brotato · 09-17-2012, 10:47 PM

Hey guys, just wondering if someone could shed some light on whether warranty should work in this case:

I bought my 135 two months ago pre-owned at a dealership in SoCal. For the first time last week I went to the car wash and got my car cleaned, but less than five minutes after I left I got the adaptive headlight failure sign and found that my driver's side headlight was out.

After a few searches on this forum I saw that it was a common problem that had to do with the back headlight cover not being fitted properly so I decided to take a look for myself. I took off the headlight cover just to take a look, didn't know what the heck I was looking for, so just gave up and called to make a service appointment at the dealer I bought the car from. I put the headlight cover back on but in the process one of the two clips that hold the headlight cover fell off and having spent thirty minutes trying to put the cover back and cutting up my hands like crazy I said screw it and left the one clip off.

I took the car in the next day and after an inspection by one of their engineers they said they needed to order a control unit because water had caused it to die. They gave me a loaner for the weekend and all was fine until this morning when I received a call from my service adviser saying they can't fix it under warranty because they found a clip missing which they see as an external issue. There's no way I can pay $2700 to replace one headlight, so I called up BMWNA to see what they could do. The agent helping me called up the dealer and talked to the service manager, who says absolutely no water damage can be covered under warranty.

Now I'm confused because I don't know whether it's that water damage isn't covered or because the clip was missing when I brought it in. I then called the service manager myself, and the way he explained it to me was that under no circumstance is water damage to the headlights covered under warranty. If that's the case then so be it, but I've read at least a few different people with the same problem as me getting their headlights replaced under warranty by their dealers with no issues.

phrenetiK · 09-17-2012, 11:57 PM

Install cover correctly before going to BMW if you want to try to claim it on warranty. this is common sense.

you have two options.

hope they didnt completely void your car from headlight warranty. install it CORRECTLY. and then take it to another dealership.

buy a whole new one on ebay for 300 dollars and install it yourself. easy install, takes about 3-4 hours.

brotato · 09-18-2012, 12:55 AM

Yeah, it was completely dumb to not put that clip back on. To make matters worse, I can't for the life of me find that stupid clip in my garage.

I've been in contact with someone at BMWNA who told me she'll try to see if there's anything they can do to help me out. Hopefully something good comes from that.

If I do end up going to another dealer, this warranty denial is probably already in their computers right? I have a feeling I'm going to end up going with option 2 in this case and buy a headlight off Ebay.

Would this work?: http://www.ebay.com/itm/08-2011-BMW-...5d2b9c&vxp=mtr

I wouldn't even know where to start for the install, and I've heard there needs to be some re-programming done afterward as well. Is there a guide for this anywhere? Thanks for your help.

09-17-2012, 10:47 PM	#1
brotato New Member 0 Rep 5 Posts Drives: 2009 135i Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Los Angeles, CA iTrader: (1)	Adaptive headlight water damage warranty issue Hey guys, just wondering if someone could shed some light on whether warranty should work in this case: I bought my 135 two months ago pre-owned at a dealership in SoCal. For the first time last week I went to the car wash and got my car cleaned, but less than five minutes after I left I got the adaptive headlight failure sign and found that my driver's side headlight was out. After a few searches on this forum I saw that it was a common problem that had to do with the back headlight cover not being fitted properly so I decided to take a look for myself. I took off the headlight cover just to take a look, didn't know what the heck I was looking for, so just gave up and called to make a service appointment at the dealer I bought the car from. I put the headlight cover back on but in the process one of the two clips that hold the headlight cover fell off and having spent thirty minutes trying to put the cover back and cutting up my hands like crazy I said screw it and left the one clip off. I took the car in the next day and after an inspection by one of their engineers they said they needed to order a control unit because water had caused it to die. They gave me a loaner for the weekend and all was fine until this morning when I received a call from my service adviser saying they can't fix it under warranty because they found a clip missing which they see as an external issue. There's no way I can pay $2700 to replace one headlight, so I called up BMWNA to see what they could do. The agent helping me called up the dealer and talked to the service manager, who says absolutely no water damage can be covered under warranty. Now I'm confused because I don't know whether it's that water damage isn't covered or because the clip was missing when I brought it in. I then called the service manager myself, and the way he explained it to me was that under no circumstance is water damage to the headlights covered under warranty. If that's the case then so be it, but I've read at least a few different people with the same problem as me getting their headlights replaced under warranty by their dealers with no issues.
	Appreciate 0 Tweet Quote

09-17-2012, 11:57 PM	#2
phrenetiK Banned 36 Rep 357 Posts Drives: 08 135i Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Houston, TX iTrader: (4)	Install cover correctly before going to BMW if you want to try to claim it on warranty. this is common sense. you have two options. hope they didnt completely void your car from headlight warranty. install it CORRECTLY. and then take it to another dealership. buy a whole new one on ebay for 300 dollars and install it yourself. easy install, takes about 3-4 hours.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

09-18-2012, 12:55 AM	#3
brotato New Member 0 Rep 5 Posts Drives: 2009 135i Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Los Angeles, CA iTrader: (1)	Yeah, it was completely dumb to not put that clip back on. To make matters worse, I can't for the life of me find that stupid clip in my garage. I've been in contact with someone at BMWNA who told me she'll try to see if there's anything they can do to help me out. Hopefully something good comes from that. If I do end up going to another dealer, this warranty denial is probably already in their computers right? I have a feeling I'm going to end up going with option 2 in this case and buy a headlight off Ebay. Would this work?: http://www.ebay.com/itm/08-2011-BMW-...5d2b9c&vxp=mtr I wouldn't even know where to start for the install, and I've heard there needs to be some re-programming done afterward as well. Is there a guide for this anywhere? Thanks for your help.
	Appreciate 0 Quote