Buttoning up the front of my car, I wanted to "fix" the headlight leveling setup I had on the car. The setup on the Z4 is pretty hokey. Unlike the E9x which has a boss on the arm to mount the headlight leveling arm, the E89 uses a metal strap (which of course does not fit the M3 arms, and the boss on the M3 is on the driver side versus the passenger side leveling unit on the Z4).
My previous bracket had broken, in part because the bracket has slits which leave very little metal. As a result when trying to wrap the bracket around the bigger M3 arms, and using some other means to clamp it in place (wire ties, coolant clamps, etc) it is easy for the metal to flex and break.
My new setup uses a
T304 stainless steel wire tie, which is thin enough to feed through all the bracket slits. This helps distribute the stress (hopefully this one won't break).
A couple things on the install.
- I flattened the bracket somewhat, where it goes across the top of the control arm. Couple needle nose pliers help.
- Toward the end of the bracket, on one side, is a big square indent (probably for the clasp. I pushed it through to the other side which helped in running the wire tie through. This is obvious once trying to put this together.
- I went through two wire ties, having a hard time cinching it the first time. The second time, I used locking pliers to push the bracket tight against the control arm (top to bottom). I then used pliers to help pull on the stainless wire tie while I used a screwdriver pushing against the wire tie clasp, to help cinch everything tight. Unlike a plastic tie, I discovered that one wants to pull the stainless tie parallel (straight) from the clasp. If one pulls at an angle it is easy to bend the inside clasp mechanism, and the tie will not hold securely.
- As insurance, I put a black plastic wire tie on either side of the arm (stretching it nice and snug) to make sure nothing moves around.
Filippo
Here's how I routed the wire tie. Note that the top is flattened, and the little tab at the top is now pushed out versus in, so the wire tie goes through easily.
Mounted. (yes the arm looks oddly bent - that's how these come from BMW)
Here's the part number, for those looking: 37146783206
