# BMW HID Headlights/sel leveling **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** bmw, headlights\ **Created:** [December 20, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/bmw-hid-headlights-sel-leveling/8492 "2007-12-20T00:01:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mike\_Irwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Mike\_Irwin](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mike_Irwin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/bmw-hid-headlights-sel-leveling/8492/1 "2007-12-20T00:01:46Z")
2003 BMW 325xi. The left headlight doesn’t work 10% of the time. The curious thing is that the annunciator will show the headlight inoperative even when it wouldn’t be on anyway - daylight. Other times it works great. I don’t understand how these things work. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![wagonfan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wagonfan/32/134_2.png) [@wagonfan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wagonfan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/bmw-hid-headlights-sel-leveling/8492/2 "2007-12-20T15:38:32Z")
Mike, I don’t have the HID’s, but I know who does… check out [e46fanatics.com](http://e46fanatics.com), someone there should be able to help who has them and/or can guess at the answer. The 10% problem is probably a problem with the “ballast”, or voltage amplifier, that starts the headlamps needing to be replaced, the annunciator is checking a circuit in the system that isn’t functioning properly and that is why you are getting a inoperative warning.