headlamp lens replacement - 2008 MY S40

[RollingThunder]

Hi everyone, I noticed that the headlamps seem to have the glass lenses clipped into place, like my old 940s - am I right in thinking they can be simply unclipped and replaced?

The reason I ask is that the drivers side lens seems to be etched/crazed on the inside surface, possibly by a bulb overheating, and I'd like to replace it rather than replacing the entire headlamp unit, which is perfectly fine otherwise.

Thanks as always.
RT

[PaddyB]

There's a sticky on here about cleaning & upgrading lights. The silver reflective coating can burn off which causes a lot of issues.

[RollingThunder]

Thanks Paddy. I don't think I explained myself very well though...

Its the large outer glass that covers the marker light, indicator, dipped beam, high beam, etc that I'm interested in, not just the circular lens over the dipped beam.

edit - just found this - https://www.bimmerjakes.com/en/home/...ic-covers.html which has a note saying 'special glue required for replacement', so I guess they are bonded on after all

[LizardOfBodom]

Originally Posted by RollingThunder

Thanks Paddy. I don't think I explained myself very well though...

Its the large outer glass that covers the marker light, indicator, dipped beam, high beam, etc that I'm interested in, not just the circular lens over the dipped beam.

edit - just found this - https://www.bimmerjakes.com/en/home/...ic-covers.html which has a note saying 'special glue required for replacement', so I guess they are bonded on after all

I thought you meant lenses as well :P
The plexi shield indeed needs to be baked off, but its easy to find repair kit for your FL model, I saw it sold on ebay (replacement shields+bonding agent etc) and I saw few threads with people baking those off so its defo possible.

[andy_d]

bake em,, BUT wait till the misses is Out and going to be Out until you have finished AND cleared the oven ,,,

[PaddyB]

I've done similar when I detango'd the headlights on my other car.

They were too big to fit in the oven so I had the door open a bit when the lights were in. I thing I had the oven set to ~100C. Others have done similar with a heat gun. I used a large washer to run down the sealant seam & pry the 2 halves apart.

Be careful tho - I found that whilst the lens cooled quite quickly & could be handled without gloves - the back part was still as hot as a McDonalds apple pie. I swore a lot that day.

[RollingThunder]

Brilliant, thanks for that everyone . Another job on the to-do list then

[cejones]

This is a useful video demonstrating how to replace the lens on the XC90. The commentary suggests the "oven" approach wont work on these. Has anyone had any success with this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMvlG7T0dgs