BMW 3 series e40 2011 halo / angel eyes

Question

The halo lights or angel lights or day time running lights have gone on one side. I was wondering if this was a bit job or a BMW job. I've looked at the rings and it's not led it just looks like a fiber like glass which has a feed from a bulb under the wheel arch.

Is there anyway of telling if it's a bulb or the actual ring? Strange both rings have stopped working on the right hand side.

Answer 1

On the pre-LCI (06-08, I believe) e90 3 series, the rings are illuminated by a bulb which is below the headlights. The rings have a beveled edge at the bottom where light shines into and illuminates them. The bulbs on these are annoying to replace, requiring removal of the fender liner to reach them.

On yours, the post-LCI e90(or 1 or 2), they moved the bulb for the halos directly behind the flasher lens, and made the rings more of a "fiber" like you describe. It looks like the bulb should be easily accessed, especially compared to the previous version. See the diagram below:

Answer 2

Going from very simple first principles, just try and eliminate possible causes:

• First, look at the bulb itself. Even partially removing it should let you see whether it lights.
• If not, swap the left and right bulbs - does the problem follow the bulb? If it does, replace the bulb. If it's not the bulb, it's something wrong with the ring itself - perhaps the light guide is broken.