Pass. Low Beam Dead After LED Bulb

[Slug Kid]

I put stupid parts in my e30 and broke it.

Vehicle: US Late 1989 325i with Depo Smilies.
Issue: Passenger side low beam is out (not just bulb)
Story:
I have been running Depo smileys with traditional H1 halogens for a few years without issues and decided to upgrade/try something new. First mistake lol.

Got these bulbs because at 30w per bulb, I thought the wattage would be low enough to try them out without doing much harm.

So I put in just the passenger side bulb (not the drivers) and turned the low beams on. The low beam LED did not work, I didn't see it come on at all, but when I pulled the switch I got an immediate little pop and figured I blew a fuse—but none were blown. The driver's side low beam, both city lights & turn signals, and both high beams still work fine. But the passenger low beam which I installed the new LED into is not working and the check panel gives me a low beam code. Maybe I just broke the new LED bulb. So I put the working halogen bulb back in, but it does not illuminate. All other lights are still working.

Next I swapped in new 7.5amp fuses (same as before) for both low and high beams but the passenger low beam was still out.

So I inspected the wires in the engine bay and found nothing wrong with them. (will do again to be sure)

Then I pulled the low beam relay; looked okay from the outside, no burn or char on the prongs. But shaking it there was a slight rattle. Like a single very small piece of something came loose. So maybe that’s it? It blew the relay? That's my best guess for now.

And in putting this post together I found out that the bulbs I got were actually 32v

So I am going to order a new relay, but is there a way to test to see if the relay is actually the issue? I don’t have any extras of the low beam relay on hand, not even any duplicates in the fuse box. I am searching for my multimeter too, but I don't actually know how to use it for this scenario.


Any other diagnostics I could do? Any idea what the issue is? All help appreciated!

[roguetoaster]

Pop the top on the relay to inspect it for physical damage/melting. You can also energize it to see if the electromagnet moves the switch, and if that's a real circuit that it makes/breaks if it does move the armature. You can also jumper the pins on the relay socket if you want to bypass the relay for testing, but if you have a short somewhere you no longer have the secondary safety the relay provides.

[Panici]

You can also jumper the pins on the relay socket if you want to bypass the relay for testing, but if you have a short somewhere you no longer have the secondary safety the relay provides.

You can make a fused jumper for testing.
I used to have one but think I lent it out, never to be returned.

[roguetoaster]

True, good thought.

[Slug Kid]

Thanks guys. I still can't find my multimeter, but I pulled the relay apart and found out that the little rattle was about fifty dead ants inside the relay...But uhh.. Aside from the ants it looks fine. I put it in the fusebox without the plastic cover and activated the lights to confirm the electromagnet moves the switch and both contacts fully engage. All that looked good. So I guess it's not the relay? Is there another fuse in there that would only affect one light if it was blown/damaged?

I was hopeful it was the relay, because now I have the terrible feeling that it has to be a short/break in the wire or maybe the headlight itself? Since the fuse and relay both seem fine.

You can also jumper the pins on the relay socket if you want to bypass the relay for testing, but if you have a short somewhere you no longer have the secondary safety the relay provides.

If I did this and jumped the fuse what is the worst that could happen since I 'no longer have the secondary safety the relay provides.'?
Could I use two speaker wires and a 15amp fuse to jump the terminals "safely"? Would I need more wire ends since it's a five pin relay? Or can I go from straight power to the passenger low beam?

[roguetoaster]

You only need a single wire with a fuse, as I was reminded, to jump between power input and power output legs. You generally can ignore the switched input that activates the relay for this type of test.

Ideally in this position you need to find your multimeter and start testing for where voltage isn't when the relay is energized. Start with the relay, then go right to the end connector at the light and work back through the middle of the circuit is there is an issue.

[ADEN]

I put stupid parts in my e30 and broke it.

Vehicle: US Late 1989 325i with Depo Smilies.
Issue: Passenger side low beam is out (not just bulb)
Story:
I have been running Depo smileys with traditional H1 halogens for a few years without issues and decided to upgrade/try something new. First mistake lol.

Got these bulbs because at 30w per bulb, I thought the wattage would be low enough to try them out without doing much harm.

So I put in just the passenger side bulb (not the drivers) and turned the low beams on. The low beam LED did not work, I didn't see it come on at all, but when I pulled the switch I got an immediate little pop and figured I blew a fuse—but none were blown. The driver's side low beam, both city lights & turn signals, and both high beams still work fine. But the passenger low beam which I installed the new LED into is not working and the check panel gives me a low beam code. Maybe I just broke the new LED bulb. So I put the working halogen bulb back in, but it does not illuminate. All other lights are still working.

Next I swapped in new 7.5amp fuses (same as before) for both low and high beams but the passenger low beam was still out.

So I inspected the wires in the engine bay and found nothing wrong with them. (will do again to be sure)

Then I pulled the low beam relay; looked okay from the outside, no burn or char on the prongs. But shaking it there was a slight rattle. Like a single very small piece of something came loose. So maybe that’s it? It blew the relay? That's my best guess for now.

And in putting this post together I found out that the bulbs I got were actually 32v

So I am going to order a new relay, but is there a way to test to see if the relay is actually the issue? I don’t have any extras of the low beam relay on hand, not even any duplicates in the fuse box. I am searching for my multimeter too, but I don't actually know how to use it for this scenario.


Any other diagnostics I could do? Any idea what the issue is? All help appreciated!

Since the driver side low beam works ok then relay is ok, But there is another relay inside fusebox board stands between low beam relay and fuses 13 and 14 so if you have voltage to fuse 13 and no voltage to fuse 14 then the fusebox is your issue if you are ok with soldering then open it and check soldering connections for cracks or just replace the whole fuse box.