Drying out your Aux LEDS

Andy B

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The problems of OEM LED's packing up are well known. If your bike is in warranty that's one thing. If it's not, the cost of replacement OEM LED's is eye-watering! I've had a couple of mine pack up but I've been able to get them working again and so far they have been fine. When they have stopped working I have been able to see moisture on the inside front of the lens so I know that water ingress is the issue.

If you can use a screwdriver then you can repair them too.

Start by detaching the lamp from the crash bar and gently release the unit from its cable with an electrical screw driver. This does not need force. If you find the release clip it will pop the release.

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Once the whole unit is removed undo the three screws (T10) holding the bulb unit to the heat sink. (The bulk of the light unit as a whole is a heat sink although I have never noticed any amount of heat given off by these bulbs.)

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(Note the 'HELLA' logo on the bulb. I've have tried every source I can think of including Hella to get replacement bulbs. The closest I got was a company that would only sell me batches of 100 at a time!)

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The bulb unit and front cover come away from the body of the light unit. Be careful with those three pesky screws! They will fall out and bounce around! I have lost one in the past!

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Slowly prize the front plastic cover away from the bulb unit, releasing the little tabs that secure it over the front of the bulb so you are left with the three constituent parts of the aux light.

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The back of the bulb unit may have some sort of grease on it (more later). Clean off and then put the bulb unit in a warm place. I put mine in the airing cupboard for a couple of days with the socket facing upwards.

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Once you are satisfied the bulb unit has dried out putting the whole light back together is a reverse of the de-construction.

I used thermal compound and Contralube as part of putting the unit back together.

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Thermal compound on the back of the bulb unit where it reseats to the main body of the light.

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Re-attach the bulb unit to the body. Watch those little screws! They are fiddly so don’t drop them! The front plastic cover can either be remounted before securing the bulb unit to the body or afterwards.

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Liberally apply the Contralube to the pins and spades of the connectors and re-attach.

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Re-fit and cross your fingers!

Link HERE to a pdf version if you want to print this off.
 
Cheers Andy B,

will give this a try if my request for a goodwill replacement is not successful!

Jonno :beerjug:
 
Thanks for posting the info Andy.
Very helpful
 
I would have thought it a good idea for these lamps to be designed to keep water out. Come on BMW, sort it out!!!
 
I bought some Chinese clones of the BMW lights which seem to be very similar in construction. One of these let in water and filled halfway up, though amazingly kept working. I took it apart and replaced the sealant around the front transparent cover with some fresh black silicon sealant, and also drilled a small hole in the underside of the cover near the front, so that any further ingress of water could drain out. I think it very unlikely that any significant amount of water would enter upwards through the drain hole, especially as I have the lamps pointing slightly downwards, but even if it does it will quickly drain back out. I think this also allows the heat of the lamp to vapourise any condensation and vent it though the hole. They survived the last 150 miles back to Calais in heavy rain in the summer without a problem.
 
I would have thought it a good idea for these lamps to be designed to keep water out. Come on BMW, sort it out!!!

I noticed at the bike show last week that BMW has changed the design of the LED aux lights. They are also using a different type of connector.

Time will tell as to whether the new ones are properly waterproof!!
 
I noticed at the bike show last week that BMW has changed the design of the LED aux lights. They are also using a different type of connector.

Time will tell as to whether the new ones are properly waterproof!!

My Chinese clone lights, though otherwise almost identical to the BMW ones, have the connectors on flying leads terminating in waterproof connectors rather than having a connector built into the body of the light. It means the connections can be tucked away under the bodywork and are are not exposed to the elements. The point where the cable comes out of the light seems to be well sealed.
 
Fred - Did you post a link to them? If not any chance?
Thanks
Mike

I was alerted to these by someone else who posted about them on here. My original seller isn't now on eBay, but this item looks identical, down to the good quality wiring loom which has a switch which I found conveniently bolted on using the left mirror lower retaining bolt. I mounted my lights on my crashbars and however you angle all the parts, a slight sideways tilt seems unavoidable with the supplied clamps due to the slope of the crashbars, but it doesn't bother me enough to buy some better more adjustable clamps!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-Auxi...0GS-R1100GS-/152757050273?hash=item2391079ba1

Hope that helps.

Fred

PS: I paid £80 for mine so they are now a bit less!
 
I've just recently had a pair of very similar aux lights (BMW) fitted by a main dealer. I mentioned to their guy about water ingress, as I'd heard about it, but he said they should be fine. I'll wait and see!! Also FYI, they said they would fit the next version of these lights which is supposed to be brighter. However when I pitched up they said they could only fit the older version as BMW havnet supplied them with the new looms yet. Seems a strange approach, but I've learnt that BM have very strange and inconsistent ways about them. Ordinarily I'd fit my own, but the bike is under warranty so wanted them to sort them. I tend to use the PCM fuse box, which is a nice bit of kit and avoids any canbus issues. Alistair
 
Update/Idea

So last weekend the bike got a decent clean and aftwards the nearside LED was out.:mad: Over-zealous use of the pressure washer on my part is the only explanation! Pop it back in the garage, unplug the socket into the back of the light and leave it to dry out. Back to bike yesterday and everything working again.

Now I'm standing looking at the OEM cable to the light and something feckin obvious stikes me - the wire into the back of the LED is slopping downwards! What a stupid design! Photo below shows you what I mean and that small locating clip (red circle) on the crashbar is the cuprit. The arc of the wire from that clip into the back of the light inevitably means the wire slopes down and water runs straight into the back of the socket.

I haven't had time yet but I will be relocating those clips or modifying the design so that water can't travel uphill!

What a silly design! :augie
 

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I agree with your observation, although you’d think that they’d make the rear cable entry properly weatherproofed regardless of cable angle.
 
I noticed at the bike show last week that BMW has changed the design of the LED aux lights. They are also using a different type of connector.

Time will tell as to whether the new ones are properly waterproof!!

My bike is four months old, well looked after and only 1500 miles done. One of the new style lights has just been replaced after water ingress
 


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