Moisture in headlight, dead Active lighting

[TechieCarGuy]

I bought a used 135i back in November which came with Active headlights and xenon's and have had no issues thus far. That is until this weekend after washing the car (not the first time) I noticed moisture inside the drivers side headlight housing. Soon after I got an inoperable Active headlight error and shortly after that a low beam bulb out.

Upon closer inspection I discovered that the back cover on the headlight was not properly reinstalled and am assuming water leaked into the housing and damage some components.

I've found several other posters with similar problems in the past but am trying to find the best way to trouble shoot it so as not to just be tossing parts at a problem that is bigger than I suspect.

Last night I left the hood open with a box fan blowing on the headlight with the back cover off and now it appears all moisture is gone (that I can see).

Yesterday I bought a replacement bulb from my independent for $75 and installed it this morning and it of course didn't work. I suspect now it is the ballast, which I can get with a new cable (I read that they sometimes go bad) for $90 and I am willing to buy and try this option.

However am concerned that since the adaptive headlights failed first that their might be a bigger problem and before I spend $800 plus on a whole new headlight assembly I am looking for options and suggestions beyond the direction I am going in now.

Does it sound like a ballast would resolve, or is the Active headlight failure offer insight into another problem. Would I get the Active error with a bad ballast? What components are inside the housing that could go bad beyond the ballast. I understand the control modules for the adaptive headlights are in the footwells inside the car. Could the ballast shorting damage those?

If in fact I do require a new headlight assembly, is it possible to retro fit our cars with standard Halogen lights, in essence going backwards from xenon to traditional headlights. I can buy two regular assemblies for half of what I can a xenon w/ adaptive. How involved is the coding, could my independent find the coding modules if he has the factory tech software? Which he does, but it took him way to long to code a battery since he was not familiar with my car.

I can stomach another $90 if it will save me $500 for two new headlights plus coding, or the $800 plus for the new adaptive. I'm just trying to resolve the issue myself and save on the labor... even my independent will charge me an arm and a leg if I let him remove the front bumper to get the assembly out. At a minimum I can do the labor as long as I know what parts to get or tackle.

Thoughts?

[TechieCarGuy]

I tested the bulbs I have in the right side and they still work, so am keeping my fingers crossed that this issue is only the ballast. I ordered a ballast and new wire from a seller online for $87, so am hoping that when I have time to invest a couple of days to do the r&r of the bumper to get to the headlight assembly that the ballast will fix it.

After two days of letting the assembly dry out, I am no longer getting the active headlight error, only a bulb being out warning, so I hope the ballast will fix it. Fingers crossed.

[dsocold]

ok let me get right to it same thing happend to me water got in mine as well.

at minimum to get your low beam to power back up you definetly need a ballast i purchased one on ebay for 38$ used works till this very day.. that will fix the light at most you might need a cable that goes to the ballast to the bulb, i didnt.. now for the auto headlight level system you replace the other black box that the ballast plugs into i've seen them brand new for about 200, it needs to be coded as well which is simple, the people who code the seatbelt chime and all that stuff can do it they did mine, and boom ur set. i did all labor myself besides coding headlight removal requires bumper removal 20 minute task.

[jcoop269]

You need a new FRM, guarantee that...that is if you've replaced the bulb and ballast. I had the same issue about a year and a half ago after going through a car wash AFTER my fiance backed into my driver side fender which unknowingly caused one of the brackets on the headlight cap to break off. Went through the wash and water got right in, threw an adaptive headlight code, low beam out and that was all she wrote. After taking to body shop, they tried everything on their own including two new headlight assemblies, only to learn from BMW that it was in fact the FRM or footwell module that was fried.

[TechieCarGuy]

Well, miraculously.. after letting the car sit for a few days while we were out of town over New Years everything dried out and started working again. I never got around to replacing the ballast, but did buy a new bulb and put it in when it wasn't working. I will watch things and hold on to the new ballast just incase the problem reoccurs or the damage from said water causes other issues. All seems fine now...