[entendu]

Originally Posted by Caveno

I’m not sure on the 24. I haven’t got condensation yet, they may have fixed the issue but will update the forum if I run into this. I love the way they look!!

Mine got condensation after a car wash but it evaporated fine. I haven’t seen it happen since.

[EWL5]

Originally Posted by entendu

Mine got condensation after a car wash but it evaporated fine. I haven’t seen it happen since.

Kinda disappointing to hear from a $2100 option ($8k+ replacement)!
I expect it to be near airtight at these prices!

[Wiedzmin]

It is hand-built. Probably the seal is also hand-made with some silicone or whatever. And probably some clumsy Austrian does a poor job creating this seal. This also explains why some units are better than others. Some have major condensation, some minor and some none at all. Poor workmanship and poor quality control.

BMW should stop saying it is "normal". It is not. They should make ZKW replace every faulty unit and pay for the labor to replace the headlights.

[RSouthern]

The same problem happens with the W222 Mercedes S-Class (2013-2020) LED headlights in the USA. Some headlight assemblies would get condensation, some wouldn't. It seems more related to the environment and use than assembly. From what I remember, the unit has some vents in it. Drive around in hot humid areas, or in rain storms (or a car wash) and you'd get fogging on the inside. Do it enough, you'd get a small puddle.

Apparently LEDs or, I guess LASERs in BMWs, don't make a lot of heat, so any humidity in the air can condense when you get temp changes (hot to cold or vice versa). The water can't escape via drains since these are "sealed units", and there isn't enough heat from the bulbs/projectors to turn it all back into vapor. And you end up with a captured puddle inside a sealed unit that can cause fogging at random times.

The Mercedes solution was to drill a hole in the housing and drop in desiccant packets (silica gel) to absorb to moisture. However, for those experienced with silica gell, you know that works until they are full and you need to put them in an oven to dry them out, except these are dropped into the light and can't be retrieved. It was a 1 time "fix". I think MB figured the problem would be resolved for the duration of the lease/warranty but the next owner would have to figure out a solution for themself.

My lights had a small amount of fogging from time to time, usually after washing the car and pulling it into my garage, usually in the summer evenings (hot outside to relatively cool garage).

I haven't seen it happen yet with our 2020 X7 with LASER lights, but it's pre-LCI. It's possible the LCI light units have different ventilation and are more effective at capturing the moisture.

[SMKS]

The crystal headlights cause condensation if you live in a humid or rainy area.
They do go away but it will get worse .
So it needs to be addressed amd changed.
It's hand made. It's nearly impossible to make it air tight so what they doing now is trying to have it sealed by a machine properly. This was told by me by my SA.

[EWL5]

I could see crystal headlights being a luxury item exclusive to the Alpina but it being available for the mass market X7 is asking for trouble IMHO.

[Wiedzmin]

They should watch ChrisFix for some know-how.

It is not rocket science to get it right. It is not an easy task, I would for sure not be able to get it right, but it is possible. If they charge so much for them, they should find a way to test it in their ZKW factory before shipping. If Toyota is able to get it right in Corolla...

If this exceeds the BMW's abilities, then maybe they should move to some lower-tech industry? Like producing wheelbarrows for example.

[MystroX5]

Originally Posted by EWL5

I could see crystal headlights being a luxury item exclusive to the Alpina but it being available for the mass market X7 is asking for trouble IMHO.

They build the XB7 on the same manufacturing line in South Carolina as any other X7.

[EWL5]

Originally Posted by MystroX5

They build the XB7 on the same manufacturing line in South Carolina as any other X7.

Understood. Hindsight being 20/20, I bet BMW wished they made the crystal lights more exclusive to reduce the number of angry/disappointed customers!

[MystroX5]

Originally Posted by EWL5

Understood. Hindsight being 20/20, I bet BMW wished they made the crystal lights more exclusive to reduce the number of angry/disappointed customers!

At the very least, BMW should have brought back all the premium options like RSE, Night Vision, Ambient Air, etc…like we had on 2020 X7’s and offered it on the XB7. That way it would have made the XB7 a more premium upgrade and would have cost very little for these already proven top tier options.

[hersh67]

pics wont do it much justice. you'll have to see it in person, or at least check out youtube vids.

https://youtube.com/shorts/r1grHy4zF...yPkb8naPlqbT3C