Oh my god, wtf...car shuts off when I turn on headlights

[ashylarry]

oh my god, if its not one thing its another...

well, here is the latest...it started one day when I drove home from work and while im driving, everything shuts off (lights, radio, cluster, etc.) as I merge to the right everything powers up again...

I exit and drive again, it shuts off again but I can still drive and accelerate with no lights, radio, cluster, etc. and as I pull into my driveway it starts again...not wanting to deal with it as I have an e39 daily driver, I let it sit for a few days.

today I start the ti up, and everything is fine, I pull the headlight knob and it cuts off...

I take out the key and there is a constant "dinnnnnnnng" noise as if you have your door open with the key in the ignition, but there is no key.
trying to stop the noise I put the key in and turn it and noise goes away, take out key noise comes back...

I pull the headlight knob to the on position and the noise goes away...

now I cannot start car, there are no dome lights, or trunk lights...

I know its an electrical problem, but where do I start???

I tried unplugging the headlights completely and it still does the same thing...any input??? thanks in advance