BMW Repair: xenon high beam problem, xenon headlights, bmw assist


Question
I have a 2006 325xi with xenon headlights.  When the temperature is about 20 degrees or less the high beam comes on and cannot be shut off unless the headlight switch is turned off.  The stalk on the column has no effect on the beam.  Within 10 to 25 minutes the high beam turns off by itself.  This has happenned twice in the last month.  The dealer and BMW rep can not find a cause and have done nothing.  As an aside the radio also went dead with absolutely no display about two months ago during normal temperatures and would not come back on even after turning the car off and on. The car showed an SOS failure code but the sos system worked fine. The next day the radio worked fine.  Please help.  Thanks.  

Answer
Robert, the light problem is difficult because it rarely gets that cold were I am at. The BMW FSE (rep.) and the service department most of the time have to see the problem happen or catch it happening to diagnose the problem. Faults are not stored all the time. As far as the control display issue it may be related to the SOS malfunction. Take the car into the service department and tell your service writer that the SOS warning was on the dash and the BMW assist inactive warning message was in the control display. They should reprogram or replace the Telephone control module and the rest of the car with the latest software. Just make sure you have an active subscription to the BMW assist services. This will at least get the car the newest software.
-Evan