BMW Headlamp Switch Replacement
Wayne R. Dempsey

Difficulty Level: 4
Difficulty scale: Adding air to your tires is level one
Rebuilding a BMW Motor is level ten

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     It’s not uncommon to experience a failure of your headlamp switch. Years of repeated use and abuse have a tendency to take their toll on the switch. Some symptoms of a faulty switch include headlamps that won’t turn on, inoperable fog lamps, and strange chimes coming from the dashboard, just to name a few. In addition, there’s a small light bulb that’s contained within the switch itself that often burns out.

     Replacement is very easy and only requires about 30 minutes of your time. See Photo 1 for the breakdown of the replacement procedure. The only tricky part for some people may be removing the plastic nut that fastens the switch to the vent housing. If you have a 22-millimeter deep socket, you can simply place this socket on the nut and turn it by hand. If you don’t have access to a deep socket this size, you may have to resort to a pair of needle-nose pliers to remove the nut.

     The part number for the replacement switch is 61-31-1-393-395. The part number for the mini-light bulb contained within the switch is 61-13-8-360-844.

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