From what I've been reading in the mini forums, this is a very common issue Mini has, there are lots of replies relating this problem, and nearly all of them having problems with the left one
It seems that your dealer is completely correct, nearly all of the owners had to send it to their dealers and replace the whole unit
Here are some replies I think you would like reading(from other threads regarding your same problem......I used the search mode for the very first time
, but I also posted a new thread
)
-Sounds like the unit then I agree.
The gearing inside has probably thrown a wobbly. They are ultra sensitive and unfortunately the lights design is such that once assembled, disassembly without damage is difficult, so rectification is by means of replacement.
-i had this problem the other week. Took the car in and they fitted me a new headlight. Apparently the headlight ajustment motor is an integral part of the unit.
Hope this helps.
-update - its booked in on thursday for a complete new headlight unit
-
Now the little "home solution" you could do
-i have had the same problem i took the headlamps out and greased the motor driveshafts and hey presto they work again it is a fiddly poxy time consuming job but cheaper than buying a new light
PM me if you need advice on how to go about it
(((I could PM him if you want more info Mike
)))
Another solution was this one
(not so attractive but it may work
)
-This time i could only fix it by opening and then slamming the bonnet!!
-Hi Guys.
My 01 Cooper has an offside light which has has wound it self fully down but I worked out a way of getting it back and a way of stopping it happening again, (well so far any way).
My car works like this. If I turn the lights ON with the ignition OFF, the headlights wind down and then come back up to the level set. If I turn the lights ON with the ignition ON the lights DO NOT go all the way down and back again, if the level switch has not been moved the lights do not move.
Now the fix that worked for me on the 3 occasions when my Offside headlight has wound down and got stuck is a follows. With the ignition and lights OFF I unplug the Nearside headlight, then with the ignition still OFF I turn the lights ON, the Offside headlight can be heard and seen to shake and move up. I then turn the lights of and reconnect the nearside light. With the ignition ON the lights can be turn ON and the level system seen to be working.
I now only ever turn the lights ON with the ignition ON and so far it has not done it again. But I have only had the car for just over a month.
-i don't know will this help u or not,
i try to play around with the level system, because i try to adjust the headlight too high (turning the screw out too much) the auto leveling stop working, once i turn the screw in abit more.. the auto leveling system work again..... but thats on my car only.. so don't know it help u or not.
-Ok.... so this may not work for anyone else - but ....
In the light there is the self adjusting rear reflector and a fixed front reflector that joins the glass of the light. The rear reflector with the bulb holder moves in relation to the front fixed one.
I removed the flexible rubber caps from the back of the light and then put my fingers inside and gently pulled and pushed the top of the rear reflector assembly inside the unit and it then moved up to a postion slightly above that of the other side. I then pulled it down so that it appeared level against the fixed inner reflector. There were NO undue crunching / breaking / etc type noises during the pushing / pulling about. Just a slight 'ratchety' noise.
To be honest I would have been happy for it to just stop where it was now, and not self-adjust ever again. But on trying the lights it self adjusted just like the other side.
Thats it !
It works now !
THIS ONE COULD BE A GOOD SOLUTION::
Hi All,
it seems that no real solution was found for this problem yet
Im my 2001 Cooper first the left light failed to level from time to time, now it happens on the right side. Since it fails only sporadically, it's hard to find the fault.... Plug/unplug it, shut the bonnet hard and it works again... not really helpful to trace it.
Unfortunatly I did not find any technical explanation of the problem yet. Since my car is out of warranty changing the lights is not really an alternative ($$$), at least if I am not totally sure that this really solves the issue.
So I use the following trick now:
First I disconnected the manual adjusting switch (simply unplugged). This keeps the lights in their lowest position and avoids that somebody accidentially turns the switch afterwards.
Then I adjusted the (now way too low) lights back to a normal position with the adjusting-screws.
The result: if one of the lights does not move when turning the ignition and lights on, it just remains in the lowest position. But if it moves, it is still only marginally lifted. Since both options give a good light-pattern it does not matter now if they move or not.
The drawback: I loose the manual levelling feature. But since I seldom drive fully loadeed there is no real need to adjust the lights manually down.
As an engineer I don't really like this solution, but at least it works. But if somebody ever finds the real fault please keep me posted
Regards
Wolfgang/Stuttgart/Germany
Give me a day or two, and I'll probably send you a way to adjusted manually...Just send a PM to a mini member, that he sorted this issue manually
hope the above "story" helps
