headlight problems plz help

[Ceeker]

Always ALWAYS have a can of this if you own an E30:

that or brake clean; properties are most likely the same. it's a degreaser. I have a small can of that and when I compared it to the evaporation qualities I found it to be the same. I've used brake clean as a contact cleaner and works great!

[E30 Beast]

ok so i was able to get the low beams working by jumping relays but now my high beams don't work the highs im using are the yellows from an mercedes whats ur suggestion on this tried searchin but didn't get far

[Ceeker]

ok so i was able to get the low beams working by jumping relays but now my high beams don't work the highs im using are the yellows from an mercedes whats ur suggestion on this tried searchin but didn't get far

the highs make no difference as long as they are double pronged. pos/neg. that's it. nothing special. If they aren't coming on, again make sure they actually work and if so; check the relay again. swap out the high beam relay.

Do the lows come on with the high beam switched over? see if the lows stay on in high position.

[rickycricketts]

ok I was considering changing up my fuse box to later year; how hard was it to do. I mean looking at all the wires going in let alone pushing all the pins out must be a time consuming task.

Well, I spent about 13 hours on mine. You should use a wire terminal tool. I don't know if mine was just shitty, but it didn't help. Ended up using a small flat tip and a pick most of the time. Using the old clips is a pain because they're so brittle on these cars. It was a huge pain but maybe with the right tools and new fuse/relay clips it would have been easier.

[E30 Beast]

the highs make no difference as long as they are double pronged. pos/neg. that's it. nothing special. If they aren't coming on, again make sure they actually work and if so; check the relay again. swap out the high beam relay.

Do the lows come on with the high beam switched over? see if the lows stay on in high position.

okay so i check the relays and the high beam lights and they are fine did as u said ceeker and the low beams do stay on when i switch to the high beams what could be the situation to that

[Ceeker]

okay so i check the relays and the high beam lights and they are fine did as u said ceeker and the low beams do stay on when i switch to the high beams what could be the situation to that

ok, so you get no lows without the highs on and you get both the lows and highs with the high beam switched on?

well, assuming the low beam lights are double filament and they are "good" then it would have to come down to the relay allowing power to the circuit which is responsible for the lows to come on. When the lights are in normal position the circuit closes for the high beam relay to allow for lows to function.

I would double check the low beam fuses and make sure they are good for a sure contact; bend the prong a bit to make a fairly tight fit.

you wrote:

I recently installed the US ellipsoids but i realized that the owner i bought the car from mickeu moused the headlights and what i mean by that is that the owner had the head lights hooked up to seperate relays so i tried to install the lights with the original harness and nothing do u think it could be something in the fuse box that burned out

Do you mean he didn't have these relays pressed into the fuse box and they were just dangling and had wires running into the box?

[Ceeker]

i did check the socket side of the low and high beam relays and i get power to the highs just not the lows and also just noticed my turn signals don't work so i guess my next step is to go through the harness and look for exposed wire thanks ceeker for all the help in the process

I meant, check the socket side where the low beam bulb plugs in for power. not the relays. if there is no power to the socket and you have power at the relay then it is wiring in between and you have to trace the break somewhere. it has to be wiring...you have to have patience and start testing it for power from the plug towards the fuse box.

you also mentioned jumping the low beam relay to the high beam and got the lows but not the highs. this means the relay on the low side works but you bridged it to the high beam power circuit - borrowing power from that circuit. So, because the high beam relay is not actually working in this position it makes sense you are only getting lows. no lows with relay, lows and highs with high relay. tells me again that something is funky with the wiring going from the fuse box to the low beam wiring side. so, again, I would check wiring on the low beam side.

Also was noted to open the top of the fuse box and look inside for possible burnt or broken wiring.

a wires must be broken somewhere between where you tested positive for power and where power stops. Just follow the yellow brick road. lol

[GunMetalGrey]

it definatly sounds like wiring to me, or a weird relay. I would take a multi meter to all of the plugs with the bulbs out and tap around and see what is going where, refer to the thread I posted up earlier for more direction if you are not quite sure what your doing.