Xenon Headlights and Theft

William330 · Mar 10, 2004

Anyone know about security devices for BMW xenons?

Associated Press
March 08, 2004

NJ sues Nissan over stolen headlights

NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey authorities sued Nissan North America Inc. on Monday, alleging the automaker failed to warn customers that the super-bright headlights on its Maximas were hot targets for thieves.

The suit, filed in Superior Court in Somerset County, also alleges Nissan profited by having customers purchase anti-theft kits that should have been provided for free. The company's dealerships also profited by performing repair work on cars victimized by thieves, state Attorney General Peter Harvey said.

"We allege the company sold cars with these fancy lights, but kept consumers in the dark about how attractive the headlamps were to thieves," said Reni Erdos, director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs, which filed the suit. "Nissan's actions, or lack thereof, rendered consumers vulnerable to the criminals who targeted their vehicles."

"Meanwhile, numerous victims were hit with huge repair bills. We're seeking restitution for those consumers."

The lights cost about $1,800 to replace - not counting repair costs for other damage done by thieves, which can bring the total to $4,000 or more.

In a statement, Nissan said it does more than any other manufacturer to help reduce xenon headlight theft, which also plagues other vehicle makes and models.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8135719.htm

codex57 · Mar 10, 2004

Acuras had a problem for a while cuz thieves were trying to stick the TL lights in Accords. Otherwise, I haven't really heard anything.

The Nissan was particularly bad though. It was an extra simple design that you could like pop out in 5 seconds without any tools or something like that. Most other cars required breaking into the car and popping open the hood and unscrewing a few parts.

jonnyz16 · Mar 11, 2004

I've seen a ford focus on my street missing both headlights and if I haven't read about this earlier I would've never figuered out what happened. Its weird to see big holes in the front facia ...

undien717 · Mar 11, 2004

The BMW xenon headlight system is much more complex than Nissan's, especially since today's BMW xenon systems have a xenon dipped and full beam (bi-xenon headlights). The automatic headlight range control, which adjusts the vertical angle of the beam according to the weight of the car, adds to the complexity of the HID system. Newer bi-xenon systems, like william's '03 ci, come with adaptive headlight technology, which angles the beam left or right up to 15 degrees according the vehicle's steering angle.

http://www.bmw.co.za/Products/FIRST/Active/act-Headlights.htm
-Link to BMW HID innovation

Since BM was the first to implement HID technology in cars, they're always setting a new standard in this area of technology, making BMW HID systems the most complex HID systems in the market. Judging on the complexity of our HID systems, I wouldn't worry about people stealing BMW HIDs.

Few things I just wanted to point out:
*BMW was the first to use Adaptive Headlight technology in '03, and now in '04, Mercedes is using that technology in their cars.
*The BMW 5 Series is the first mass-produced car in the world to have a light alloy chassis.
*BMW was the first to create an all aluminum V8 engine (1954).
*The BMW R 12 and R 17 motorcycles are the first in the world to have hydraulic suspension telescopic forks.

The list goes on...

It's a wonder why some people choose anything other than a BMV.

MrElussive · Mar 11, 2004

Yeah, my car (which is a Nissan Skyline 350GT in Japan) has front corner indicators. They can be removed with nothing more than a screw-driver and a piece of cloth. I don't know why Nissan makes their cars so easy to access this stuff.

CHUMDIGITY · Mar 11, 2004

THATS THE THING THEY MAKE THE CARS RUN FOR EVER, BUT YOU HAVE TO REPLACE EVERYTHING ELSE ON IT BEFORE IT DIES. ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.

MrElussive · Mar 11, 2004

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaalrighty then !!! [hihi]

epj3 · Mar 11, 2004

dude, just press it ONE time. [:p]

CHUMDIGITY · Mar 11, 2004

got it!!!!! force of HABIT.... [8]

codex57 · Mar 12, 2004

undien717 said:

Just to clarify, it was the 04 ci models that first came out with adaptive headlights, not the 03's. But yeah, BMW was the first to reintroduce it and get it out into the marketplace, despite Lexus' marketing language. Adaptive headlight technology was actually first introduced many decades ago on some American car I believe. Of course, it didn't include xenons tho.

William330 · Mar 13, 2004

codex57 said:

The year was 1948 and the car was a Tucker.

http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/showroom/1948/photos.html

There's actually a great movie about Preston Tucker's effort to challenge the US
auto industry during that period with dozens of new automotive innovations. At
that time the US ruled the auto industry, and had no incentive to take risks and
innovate.

But the Detroit auto makers would have none of it -- they forced Tucker out of
business with lawsuits and corporate sabotage.

There were only a few hundred Tucker cars built.

Consumer Reports just issued a report that shows for the first time in decades
American cars have less reported problems than European cars. Looking back at
the crap cars the US produced in the 1970s, apparently competition provides
better products for consumers. CR also reported Japanese are still ranked first
for reliability.

Oddly, the 2003 BMW 7-series was rated the vehicle with most owner complaints!

undien717 · Apr 1, 2004

codex57 said:

Actually- the '03 ci models were the first to have Adaptive Xenon Headlight technology. I've read it in an issue of BMW Magazine, which is given to those belonging to the BMW owner's circle at www.bmwusa.com, and it's also on this site:
http://www.bmwclub.org.hk/news/0021.htm

codex57 · Apr 2, 2004

undien717 said:

that's funny. I drive an '03 ci model withOUT adaptive xenons. Just the regular ones. One of the reasons I had a tough time picking out the car was whether I wanted the LED brakelights, adaptive xenons, and 5 spoke rims vs. the older style front end.

bmwrocks · Apr 2, 2004

undien717 said:

Your confusion is based on the wording in the article. Quote "This intelligent headlight system will be available optionally on both 3 Series Coupes and Convertibles in 2003". Notice it says "in" 2003. That is true because the MY '04 cars came out early in 2003, not late as usual. This was because they didn't want to cloud the release of the X3 and new 5 series with the new version of the 3 for '04.

The MY '03 Ci's do NOT have the adaptive headlights, LED tailights, or adaptive brakelights.

Codex is 100% correct.

Believe me, I own a MY '04 330Ci and looked at MY '03 330Ci before I ordered mine.

William330 · Apr 2, 2004

I bought the last 2003 my dealer had allocated.

Adaptive headlights were not available.

MrElussive · Apr 3, 2004

Yup, Adaptive Headlights first started on the 04 3-series Coupes. The 3-series never had them before that. But do not confuse auto-leveling with adaptive. Auto-leveling adjusts the bulbs up and down, based on acceleration and the angle of the roads (so the Xenons don't blind on-coming drivers). Auto-leveling has been available on the 3-series since I think the 2000 model year, but basically as soon as BMW started doing projector Xenons on their 3-series. Adaptive headlights make the bulbs move left and right, based on the driver's input to the steering wheel so that the lights illuminate what is "ahead" of the road.

Hey, referring to the auto-leveling feature...does anybody feel that this feature is actually useful? It seems like every single night that I am absolutely blinded by an on-coming Audi, BMW, or Mercedes if the road has any kind of "hump" or if the road is at a certain angle (exactly where the auto-leveling is supposed to do its thing).

undien717 · Apr 5, 2004

bmwrocks said:

Thanks for clearing up this issue for me, bmwrocks. I was kind of confused when I heard that you guys didn't have the adaptive headlights after reading in the article that it was released in 2003.

MrElussive said:

Actually, the way auto-leveling works is it "aligns the headlights to suit the load the car is currently carrying.."* If there wasn't any auto leveling and you were fully loaded w/ passengers, the beam of light would be angled higher, glaring other cars. With auto leveling, the angle of light is adjusted according to the weight of the car. You can actually see the light adjusting itself when you turn on BMV (when automatic headlight control is on). The lamp adjustment occurs when you start your vehicle, whether or not you have automatic headlight control, so it doesn't continuously adjust throughout your road trip. Auto leveling also doesn't take into account the slopes in the road, so it is still possible to get blinded by the HIDs. It's not a perfect system, but I think it's fine.

*http://www.bmw.com/generic/com/en/f...articleUrlStartxenon_headlightsarticleUrlEnd*

codex57 · Apr 5, 2004

easy to get confused. Not to worry. I believe MY 04 coupes were being produced in APril of 03 so the article could have come out in early 03 or even 02 because the info was out there.

oregonbmw · Apr 5, 2004

Slightly off topic, but I thought I would ask if you know when MY 05 production starts?

codex57 · Apr 5, 2004

oregonbmw said:

I'm not sure. Best to ask the dealer since they know if they can order it yet or not.

Xenon Headlights and Theft

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