Why do E9 headlights cloud?

Mal CSL 3.0

Well-Known Member
Site Donor
Messages
543
Reaction score
234
Location
Sydney, Australia
Does anyone know why E9 high beam headlights (the central 2 lights) have a propensity to cloud up over time (The outside 2 headlights lights don’t seem to). I have sseen a few E9s suffering this affliction.

And any advice on how to arrest this and ideally remove clouding? Aside from replacing the full headlight/sealed beam unit,

Many thanks for any advice.
 
interesting topic. Mine 'cloud' up for sure too.
I don't mind it too much, but will also like to know why they do and then how to prevent it.
 
interesting topic. Mine 'cloud' up for sure too.
I don't mind it too much, but will also like to know why they do and then how to prevent it.
 
Common on pretty much all of the round BMW Hella lights. From what i've heard it's the fumes from glue holding the glass to the metal bucket.

Was told to clean by using panel wipe, which resulted in removing some of the silvering from my brand new hi beam. So don't use that!
 
Last edited:
the super way to do them is get mcquires 100 prospeed compound and use a rotary polisher
promise they will be like new
 
This is a write-up by Daniel Stern a respected lighting guru. Drying them in the oven is the key here. They don't spot. I did mine a few years ago.

"Work with one lamp at a time. Remove the bulbs. Fill the lamp about 1/2 full of warm-to-hot distilled or filtered(!) water, then pour in a splash of "Multi-Surface" Windex or Simple Green cleaner.

Cover the bulb hole with your (clean) thumb or palm, or simply reinstall the bulb to cover the hole. Vigourously shake/slosh/swirl the lamp to agitate the hot soapy water. Do
this over a sink, and hold on with both hands so the lamp doesn't slip
from your grip, fall and break. Then uncover the bulb hole, turn the lamp
bulb-hole-down, and swirl the lamp to cause the water to drain from it in
a circular fashion. Repeat this cleaning step, then rinse the lamp
repeatedly with warm-to-hot distilled or filtered(!) water until all
traces of soapsuds are gone. Hold the lamp firmly with lens facing you and
shake/snap vertically to force out more loose water.

To dry the lamps, place them lens-down in your clean kitchen oven, on the
rack about 1/2 to 3/4 of the oven's height up from the lower element.
Close the oven door. Turn the oven to Bake/350 for 3 minutes, then turn
the oven off and leave the door closed. In about an hour, your lamps
should be thoroughly dry with minimal or no watter spotting -- any minor water spots remaining will be inconsequential to beam performance"
 
Steve’s wife is going to love this
To dry the lamps, place them lens-down in your clean kitchen oven, on the
rack about 1/2 to 3/4 of the oven's height up from the lower element.
Close the oven door. Turn the oven to Bake/350 for 3 minutes, then turn
the oven off and leave the door closed. In about an hour, your lamps
should be thoroughly dry with minimal or no watter spotting -- any minor water spots remaining will be inconsequential to beam performance"
 
Weird, he could have said buy new headlights from me and be done. New ones are never fogged.

I tried the alcohol thing on my Fulvia but accessing the inside glass is hard.

This is a write-up by Daniel Stern a respected lighting guru. Drying them in the oven is the key here. They don't spot. I did mine a few years ago.
 
I used soft dish soap mixed with warm distilled water and orbital moves in the end flushed also with warm distilled water. Dish soap is not aggressive, so was no damages and in the end after drying also was na streaks.
I didn't use glass beads, but i think Eriks method should be very effective and in combination with dish soap with distilled water it should work perfect.
 
Last edited:
Thanks all. Great news there is a relatively easy fix to this E9 headlamp issue. I will give it a try. (Thinking of using a hair dryer rather than the oven suggestion though) Hopefully once I have done the recommended cleaning technique it doesn’t cloud up again a few mths later.

Now if only there was also a simple solution to the E9 warped, droopy glove box phenomenon.....
 
If we drove with our high beam lights on all of the time I was told we wouldn’t have this condition. The heat must keep it from clouding.
 
Maybe it has to do with the lower life expectancy of annoying jerks that drive with the high beams on all the time...

If we drove with our high beam lights on all of the time I was told we wouldn’t have this condition. The heat must keep it from clouding.
 
Now if we could solve the mystery of the foggy temp/fuel gauge!

Do you drive at night? Tap a hole in your defroster duct and install a vacuum fitting. Run a vacuum tube to your temp/fuel. Drill a hole in a rubber stopper and install a barbed vacuum fitting. Stick it in the lightbulb hole. You wouldn’t get much air but perhaps enough to to keep things clear. If it actually worked (I’m skeptical) you could drill a small hole in each case.
 
Back
Top