One of my ballasts has failed on my M and wondered what the options are when it comes to replacement. Has anyone tried wiring an aftermarket ballast in or are there any other ways without buying one from bmw or second hand off ebay? I don't fancy paying 50 quid for a used ballast tbh so would like to hear of your experiences. Thanks in advance.
Factory HID ballast failure options?
- Thread starter Sim_Simma
- Start date
Good question! I am in the same boat at the min (due to being lazy not fitting anything it's been a month or so!)
Did some research and on eBay you can get the DS2 (think that's what they are) ballast replacements that are not OEM but claim to do the job but at half the price. I've been through a few ballasts now an each time I have bought second hand so now don't fancy going down that road again!
Will find a link I was looking at and pop it here
Did some research and on eBay you can get the DS2 (think that's what they are) ballast replacements that are not OEM but claim to do the job but at half the price. I've been through a few ballasts now an each time I have bought second hand so now don't fancy going down that road again!
Will find a link I was looking at and pop it here
Yeah that could be an option for you but tbf you don't need a d2s ballast. Non of them plug into the factory plug so all you need is any 35w ballast and wire it into the factory wires or factory plug on the headlight. The only difference between those ballasts you speak of and any universal ballast is it has an adapter for the d2s bulb but you already have one in your headlight so you wire it to the existing d2s plug. If that makes any sense haha.LukeMace said:Good question! I am in the same boat at the min (due to being lazy not fitting anything it's been a month or so!)
Did some research and on eBay you can get the DS2 (think that's what they are) ballast replacements that are not OEM but claim to do the job but at half the price. I've been through a few ballasts now an each time I have bought second hand so now don't fancy going down that road again!
Will find a link I was looking at and pop it here
Without doubt I'd buy an OEM or direct replacement as it just plugs directly onto the base of the light. I'd not start bodging an aftermarket part into the light unit. Just makes things harder to maintain and messier, assuming it will even work correctly with the OEM igniter
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I'm not sure on that one as far as I'm aware igniter is another name for ballast or maybe the igniter is part of the ballast (more likely) the only thing I'm not sure about is the wiring to the factory ballast. There are 6 pins on the ballast plug on the headlight. 4 I can account for (2 power to the ballast, 2 from the ballast to the bulb) but the 2 unaccounted for are part of the bulb plug aswell so there are 4 wires going to the bulb instead of 2. Not sure why. Could that be the igniter that connects to the bulb? I have experience with aftermarket hid kits so am a bit unfamiliar with oem ones.LukeMace said:
How much is an oem ballast though? Over £100? Theres not much to them and once I work out whats what I am more than capable of doing it. My headlights are off the car and in bits anyway from modification and can see where all the wires go and get to them for any modifications.cj10jeeper said:
From what I can see with the oem setup, the igniter is seperate to the ballast and is connected directly to the bulb wheras the ballast is plugged to the bottom casing of the headlight. The aftermarket ballasts have built in igniters so maybe I would need a plug adapter like you was talking about. That way you can do away with the factory igniter. In theory lol. I know I have a spare universal ballast somewhere so I may just buy a d2s adapter for 6 quid and try it. Would still like to hear other people's experiences if there are any though??LukeMace said:
To confirm the ballast is under the light and igniter is the cube in the back of the bulb holder.
Not sure about Jag. I have an XF and they are totally different - Ford I think.
May have some spare ballasts if you run out of ideas and stick to oem.
Not sure about Jag. I have an XF and they are totally different - Ford I think.
May have some spare ballasts if you run out of ideas and stick to oem.
Hi guys - this is the correct part
http://bit.ly/1eUD1wC
Ballast is also know as the control unit on realoem
As above, don't try and fit anything else - the above is 3.5 times cheaper than BMW direct
My car is under warranty but they argued my failed control until was not covered due to water ingress - boll0x!!!! However I was under mot time pressure and didn't have time to start fighting it out immediately. Hence why I bought this and fitted myself - easy job.
Next week I will be writing to Bmw to argue my warranty claim.
Water getting into these units in/around the seal is common!
Jamie
http://bit.ly/1eUD1wC
Ballast is also know as the control unit on realoem
As above, don't try and fit anything else - the above is 3.5 times cheaper than BMW direct
My car is under warranty but they argued my failed control until was not covered due to water ingress - boll0x!!!! However I was under mot time pressure and didn't have time to start fighting it out immediately. Hence why I bought this and fitted myself - easy job.
Next week I will be writing to Bmw to argue my warranty claim.
Water getting into these units in/around the seal is common!
Jamie
Winner - fantastic bit of detective work and money saving too...
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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
I had one headlight from my previous car sorry! If you look on ebay though it seems loads of different manufacturers use the same ones. Ie the new one someone linked on here was listed for a vauxhall astra. I'd seen some new ones for less than 70quid on ebay.LukeMace said:Sim_Simma said:That one that you had to hand or did you order it?
Happen to have a second one by chance?! Drop me a PM!!
