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2003 BMW 325I Exterior Lighting Problems, Complaints and Defects

Issue ID	848292
Internal NHTSA #	10389681
Manufacurer	BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC
Brand	BMW
Model	325I
Model Year	2003
File date	09/03/11
Component	EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Product type code	VEHICLE
Description of the problem	My current vehicle is a 2003 bmw 325i with bi-xenon headlights manufactured by zkw. Over the last year or two, the light output from the xenon headlights had dropped to the point where i get almost no noticeable illumination of the road at night (in average city levels of street illumination). I turned to using my foglamps to be able to see anything. After researching this problem on online forums, i examined the headlights myself and found that the upper portion of the projector bowls seem burned. They are made of plastic and painted with reflective paint, but the upper ~40% of the bowl is now browned and nonreflective. Apparently this is due to an inability of the paint to withstand the high temperatures generated by the xenon bulbs. Also, this seems to be common to many/all zkw brand headlights utilized in 2003-2004 model years of 3 series (e46) bmw vehicles, according to postings on the bmw-owner forums. For now, i have tried to remedy this by lining the burnt portion of the bowl with aluminum foil and can now notice some illumination of the road at night. This further argues that the burning/loss of reflective coating is what causes the loss of light output.
Vehicle Mileage at Failure	75000
Number of Occurences	1
Source of the issue	NHTSA WEB SITE
City and State	HOUSTON, TX
VIN pattern	WBAEV33403KXXXXXX
Was vehicle invloved in a crash?	N
Was vehicle involved in a fire?	N
Was incedent reported to police?	N
Was medical attention required?
Was part original equipment?
No. of injured persons
No. of fatalities
Date of purchase	07/08/26
Was original owner?	N
Anti-lock brakes	N
Cruise control	N
Number of cylinders	6
Drive train type
Transmission type
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DoT tire identifier
Tire size
Location of tire code
Type of tire failure code
Was defective tire repaired?
Date of manufacture
Type of child seat code
Type of restraint
Dealer's name
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Dealer's city
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What is Recall?
A recall is when a product is removed from the market or a correction is made to the product because it is either defective or potentially harmful.
What is Failure?
Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. Product failure ranges from failure to sell the product to fracture of the product, in the worst cases leading to personal injury, the province of forensic engineering.
What is Defect?
Non-conformance of a car component with the specified requirements, or non-fulfillment of user expectations, including the safety aspects.

Last decoded VIN:

WBAKR0101J0X63981 WMW52DK0X02R78561 VAFLY19AB3762HE12 YV1MS682752083162 VN1F9BUH632007439 LGWCBE370KB615627 KMHK281GUNU156391 MA3RYHK1STH843580 1UYFS2538AA911841 JYARP15E1CA008180 WB10E5104N6E73000 WAUZZZ8U8JR009130

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2003 BMW 325I Exterior Lighting Problems, Complaints and Defects, Recalls and Failures

2003 BMW 325I Exterior Lighting Problems, Complaints and Defects

What is Recall?

What is Failure?

What is Defect?