[Anwar1995]

So the headlights water condensation issue has been haunting the F10 since launch. There has been many reasons for this but since some models of the F10 now is older than 10 years old, it is bound to enter a workshop in your ownership for any reason. If you are planning to do something that involves removing the front bumper then you definitely want to read through this.

The F10 front bumper is fixed by many screws. Some on the wheel well, some under the bumper and some can be accessed from under the hood. As soon as you open the hood and remove the rubber seal that is on the edge of the top of the front bumper, you will see many screws but focus the the 2 screws on both ends.

These specific screws fix the bumper on the top of the headlight housing and are shorter than the rest of the screws. Many shops whenever they remove a bumper, they mix the screws all together. So when they come back to install the bumper, they might install one of the longer screws on those slots and tighten them, THE SCREWS THEN PUNCTURE THE HEADLIGHTS FROM THE TOP and you can imagine what will happen after that.

After a wash or a rainy day, you will notice condensation on the headlights and as time goes by, corrosion will start and eat up the internal of the headlight and modules and you will end up with thousands of dollars spent to replace them because of this stupid mistake.

As you can imagine, this happened to me but thankfully the shop took responsibility of the mistake and compensated me fully for the headlights so I am good.

Just wanted to make this post since when I got this issue started on my F10, I couldn't find any threads or posts mentioning this specific mistake which can burn a hole in your pocket.

[e4603]

There are some pics in this post
https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/h...-saga.1444527/

What year, model & trim is your car?
I remember my pre LCI 2013 not sports bumper has all the same size screws.

[Anwar1995]

Originally Posted by e4603

There are some pics in this post
https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/h...-saga.1444527/

What year, model & trim is your car?
I remember my pre LCI 2013 not sports bumper has all the same size screws.

My F10 LCI is 2014MY but made in 2013/8. It is a Luxury line but I installed M-sport bumpers all around.

[bake]

Subscribed.

[Unspec]

All 6 bolts used for affixing the top of the bumper are part number 07147212669.

Anyone saying the two on the headlights are longer are either using aftermarket bolts, messed something else up, or just straight up misinformed.

[Anwar1995]

Originally Posted by Unspec

All 6 bolts used for affixing the top of the bumper are part number 07147212669.

Anyone saying the two on the headlights are longer are either using aftermarket bolts, messed something else up, or just straight up misinformed.

It may be correct but not all shops are organized as we wish. Most of the time if you got your car second hand, bolts (especially bodywork related) might not be the same as when you car came from the factory and are mismatched. Most shops just simply collect bolts all together when working on cars and reinstall them back as they see fit. The point of this thread is just to raise awareness on a mistake that any shop could make and to avoid people getting their cars ruined by careless shops. So no need for an attitude here.

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by Anwar1995

It may be correct but not all shops are organized as we wish. Most of the time if you got your car second hand, bolts (especially bodywork related) might not be the same as when you car came from the factory and are mismatched. Most shops just simply collect bolts all together when working on cars and reinstall them back as they see fit. The point of this thread is just to raise awareness on a mistake that any shop could make and to avoid people getting their cars ruined by careless shops. So need for an attitude here.

The post seems to suggest that the OEM bolts are what are causing the issue.

[Dio781]

Originally Posted by Anwar1995

So the headlights water condensation issue has been haunting the F10 since launch. There has been many reasons for this but since some models of the F10 now is older than 10 years old, it is bound to enter a workshop in your ownership for any reason. If you are planning to do something that involves removing the front bumper then you definitely want to read through this.

The F10 front bumper is fixed by many screws. Some on the wheel well, some under the bumper and some can be accessed from under the hood. As soon as you open the hood and remove the rubber seal that is on the edge of the top of the front bumper, you will see many screws but focus the the 2 screws on both ends.

These specific screws fix the bumper on the top of the headlight housing and are shorter than the rest of the screws. Many shops whenever they remove a bumper, they mix the screws all together. So when they come back to install the bumper, they might install one of the longer screws on those slots and tighten them, THE SCREWS THEN PUNCTURE THE HEADLIGHTS FROM THE TOP and you can imagine what will happen after that.

After a wash or a rainy day, you will notice condensation on the headlights and as time goes by, corrosion will start and eat up the internal of the headlight and modules and you will end up with thousands of dollars spent to replace them because of this stupid mistake.

As you can imagine, this happened to me but thankfully the shop took responsibility of the mistake and compensated me fully for the headlights so I am good.

Just wanted to make this post since when I got this [...]

I had this exact problem happen to me when I did the M5 front bumper conversion. All of sudden I started getting condensation inside my right side headlight and when I went to take the headlight off to see I noticed a hex head bolt holding the bumper on driver side and the bolt was slightly longer just enough to puncture a hole in it.
And the shop still denied any wrongdoing

[Blue Angel]

Originally Posted by Unspec

The post seems to suggest that the OEM bolts are what are causing the issue.

From an assembly logistics point of view, there would need to be a good reason for an OEM to use different length screws along a single side of a component. I can see them avoiding this if at all possible, especially if the cost of a mistake is a punctured headlight.

Sounds to me like the shops doing the work are mixing up the screws from the fender with the screws from the rad support/headlights. I can totally see this happening - just another reason to be detail oriented while working.

I bought a bunch of cheap magnetic bolt/screw “bowls” so I have no excuse not to keep fasteners organized while doing larger jobs. Hopefully I haven’t jinxed myself!

This is also a good reason NOT to use power tools when reassembling small screws threaded into plastic. I can see a tech in a rush to get things done, just hammering these in with an impact driver, completely missing the feedback of the screw bottoming out in the hole and just cranking it tight.

Thanks for the heads-up OP, I’ll make a mental check going forward.

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by Blue Angel

From an assembly logistics point of view, there would need to be a good reason for an OEM to use different length screws along a single side of a component. I can see them avoiding this if at all possible, especially if the cost of a mistake is a punctured headlight.

Sounds to me like the shops doing the work are mixing up the screws from the fender with the screws from the rad support/headlights. I can totally see this happening - just another reason to be detail oriented while working.

I bought a bunch of cheap magnetic bolt/screw “bowls” so I have no excuse not to keep fasteners organized while doing larger jobs. Hopefully I haven’t jinxed myself!

This is also a good reason NOT to use power tools when reassembling small screws threaded into plastic. I can see a tech in a rush to get things done, just hammering these in with an impact driver, completely missing the feedback of the screw bottoming out in the hole and just cranking it tight.

Thanks for the heads-up OP, I’ll make a mental check going forward.

The bumper isn't exactly a high stress component, so making the screws the correct length for just the headlight area and then using the same length for the 4 other bolts would make far more sense.

I would be REALLY impressed if a body shop managed to confuse the fender ones with the top bumper ones - they're not even close when it comes to thread pitch. The bumper ones are machine thread, while the fender ones are a super super coarse thread - like, 1cm wide between each teeth. It would take a monumental amount of effort to thread them in. That said, possible, just I find it unlikely.

[Blue Angel]

Originally Posted by Unspec

The bumper isn't exactly a high stress component, so making the screws the correct length for just the headlight area and then using the same length for the 4 other bolts would make far more sense.

I would be REALLY impressed if a body shop managed to confuse the fender ones with the top bumper ones - they're not even close when it comes to thread pitch. The bumper ones are machine thread, while the fender ones are a super super coarse thread - like, 1cm wide between each teeth. It would take a monumental amount of effort to thread them in. That said, possible, just I find it unlikely.

Agreed completely, but I’m seldom surprised anymore when I see something screwed up (punny). There are lots of great mechanics out there, no doubt, but there are some real duds, too, which is why I make every possible effort (and sometimes more) to do work myself.

My first car needed the rear struts changed, and the mechanic forgot to put the nuts back on the upper mounts… the nuts, trim and speaker covers were all sitting in the trunk when I drove away. Since that time I’ve done pretty much every job except warranty work myself, and I’ve even regretted having warranty work done (water pump on my Cruze resulted in blown alternator, and mirror whistle on my wife’s E90 resulted in two bent wheels).

I have several more personal stories, and have heard countless others. On that note, anyone who’s up for a laugh can check out the “Just Rolled In” YT channel for some hilarious DIY mechanic artistry. There are some creative people out there!