Lampf. disintegrated connector

[boxerboy81]

11/05 K1200r.

lampf. ?

I get that about every 10Kkm. I carry a spare under the seat. It's a 5 minute task to swap them out.

It happened again today. This time however I noticed the black H7 connector had heat damage on one side.? The connector disintegrated when removing the dud H7?.

I installed the new H7 and used electrical tape to cover the now exposed connector. That side however didn't "connect" as well as the other side and upon inspection seemed loose internally.

Anyhow, even with a new H7 the lampf continues. I've sourced a new connector with the two wires attached. Are there any "gotchas" in doing this or is it as straight forward as a connector change?

[cabnfvr]

Welcome! We had a LAMPF error in Texas years ago from a failed H7 headlight. Replacing the bulb fixed the headlight but the LAMPF error remained. That evening I pulled the negative battery cable for a minute and reinstalled. LAMPF out!

As for the connector failures, I'd suspect a weak ground. Unfortunately I don't know where that ground grounds. If you find that, remove the ground and lightly sand the connector and frame the reassemble.

[R111S]

Good tip on checking the ground!

In the photo it looks like the plastic connector melted? Heat is I2R (Current squared times Resistance). This melting suggests there's something resistive going on in the flow of current localized to the connector body. Make sure the terminals of the connector and bulb are free of oxidation.

Also look at the wire crimps on the two connector terminals. Sometimes the wire insulation isn't properly stripped prior to terminal crimping. This makes for a poor crimp and thus creates resistance.

[Lee]

Good tip on checking the ground!

In the photo it looks like the plastic connector melted?.

I know 2 guys that had the plastic part crumble after 3 years or so on the R1200RS.
At least it's one of the repair cables you can buy from BMW.

[Capnrip]

$49.76. That's about $1.50 worth of shit.

[Rob]

[boxerboy81]

Mine wasn't perfect either, but a bigger washer kept the clip captive.

[boxerboy81]

I've sourced a $OZ7 connector made by Narva. It looks very similar to the oem one.
The dud connector had clean terminals and the wires to the connectors look well crimped too.
I did have a cheap backup H7 in there for a while, would that cause an issue maybe?

[Rob]

[jargon]

[boxerboy81]

That's the loom. Fiddly to get out, though headlight removal easy enough.

[boxerboy81]

Thanks for the replies.

I have a Narva connector to use. It's also cheap plastic but it should last a wee while hopefully.
I've got a ceramic H7 connector coming...hopefully it'll provide better reliability.

[FR4N]

Interesting! I used to get the lampf every 10k or so. Used to call into my dealer and they'd change globes for me on the spot. Funny how its such a common problem.

[Lee]

I've got a ceramic H7 connector coming...hopefully it'll provide better reliability.

Could you post a picture of the ceramic connector when you receive it?

[boxerboy81]

Ceramic connector is "in the post". When it arrives I'll make another loom.

In the meantime I have a second hand loom and added it. The lights now work but the lampf warning persists , though it doesn't flash. I did disconnect the battery for a while. No change.

Does it need the GS 911 thing to reset it?

One thing I noticed when reinstalling the H7 is that it doesn't seat firmly against the flat plastic of the headlight despite the springs being in good position. There's a slight rocking and I suspect it'd cause the globe to bounce a bit. I'm wondering if that's the cause of the inevitable early globe failures I've experienced every 10Kkm or so? Twisting it a tad helps remove some movement but there is a location tab so it doesn't rotate far.

[boxerboy81]

The lampf failure message stayed on even after I'd fixed the headlight.
The park light was also out.
I replaced that with led. A 5 minute job.

Left one is the blown oem, middle is very bright and blue but too long, right works just fine.



lampf gone.

Still waiting for the ceramic connector.

[Capnrip]

Nice tech tip!

[Lee]

The lampf failure message stayed on even after I'd fixed the headlight.
The park light was also out.
I replaced that with led. A 5 minute job.

.

The blown parking bulb will trigger a lampf.
Some LED parking bulbs will also trigger the lampf.

[boxerboy81]

The blown parking bulb will trigger a lampf.
Some LED parking bulbs will also trigger the lampf.

Yes, and it did. I didn't notice.
So far, so good

[boxerboy81]

Some LED parking bulbs will also trigger the lampf.

Yep, proven today that single LED still causes the lampf warning to stay on. So a new oem type went back in and all is good now. Lights are all on, lampf has gone.