BMW 3 Series E30

since 1983-1994 release

Repair and operation of the car

Or how to achieve the most effective lighting

Let's talk about why over time headlights begin to give dim light, perhaps, and sufficient on the desert highway, but absolutely inefficient on recovered, especially, if the counter flow is big.

Sometimes sin on the generator and the regulator of tension, in it there is a grain of truth: malfunctions of these devices are noticeable by the "movement" of a light stream as if submitting to quantity of turns of the engine. It is clear, that unimportant operation of the generator and regulator of a napryadeniye influences not only on efficiency of headlights – first of all the accumulator suffers, or not receiving a full-fledged charge, or opposite – receiving it there is a lot from what electrolyte "boils". Headlights in this case play only an indicator role though excess tension strongly reduces a resource of lamps. Constant dim radiation arises for other reasons: or strongly the reflector becomes soiled or becomes covered by corrosion, or the internal surface of a flask of a lamp becomes covered by a dark raid.

If durability of a reflector depends on many factors about which we still will talk, then even quite serviceable lamp "gathers" a dark raid for some 30–50 thousand kilometers. Efficiency it in that case percent is 20 lower than new.

The reflector "lives" longer. In modern cars the reflector and glass of a headlight are, so to speak, an integrated whole that in the first, of course, turn provides the most optimum light bunch, and in the second – tightness. The lack of tightness promoted penetration in a headlight of dust which burned then on a reflector and reduced its vsetootdacha. The same happened also to the moisture which was actively condensed on a reflector that caused corrosion.

Tried to fight against corrosion in some improbable way about five years ago, filling in red brake fluid in a headlight. The fashion for this, rather harmful, than useful invention passed, but other extreme – pleksiglazovy "points" on glasses appeared. Except that such protection reduces luminous efficiency, "smearing" the direction of beams, it causes strong heating and an obgoraniye of a reflector. What in that case use from the glass protected from stones if the reflector suffers – not clear, especially, how it was already told, glass and a reflector nowadays represent an integrated whole? By the way, therefore there is no sense to buy "lens" separately: never to achieve good light from such headlight.

At last, as for adjustments. Even the most excellent headlights supplied with halogen lamps can be on the way useless if they are adjusted somehow. Not everyone and not always has an opportunity to make adjustments at the stand. Therefore very quite good results are yielded by the old, well tested ways of "house" adjustment. The car is installed on the flat platform, measure 30 meters and put on a mark, let us assume, a brick. One of headlights included on passing beam something is veiled, and in the second – rotate adjusting screws so that vertically to bring limit of illumination to the put brick. The same is done also with other headlight. Driving beam is regulated in the horizontal direction, but already without brick: here it is important to achieve that bunches from both headlights did not fork and did not meet in the middle.