Headlight Bulb Out

T2FFN

Senior member
 East Yorkshire
Buggery.

Got in this morning to the bulb out warning light. Coincidentally I'd swapped the reading lights with LEDs last night and had not started the car after doing so, so hoped it was these. It was not.

As the light has been pretty much dry I am hoping its not the ballast, so that leaves igniter and the bulb. (Or the cable has come loose from the igniter - long shot!)

I'm going to use this opportunity to swap both D2S bulbs for new 5000k bulbs, which are slightly whiter than OEM, without the blue tint. I'll also take this opportunity to reseal the headlights as they tend to mist up after a wash, so the seal must be letting something in. :headbang:

Obviously OEM bulbs are £££, so ebay bulbs... with 12mnth warranty.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300651136595?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Should I get an igniter too? How often does these let go?

** I will not be opening the headlights to swap things over in advance due to the high chance of fogging issues afterwards.
 
I would have thought just swapping the bulb over wil be sufficient.

Usually over time bulb output will deteriorate so just a fresh set of bulbs would see brightness back again.
 
I had exactly the same issue last week - even down to the reading lights to LED conversion. I bought a pair of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330781525572?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649, which arrived within 2 days through Royal Mail recorded delivery and were securely packaged. I plumped for 6000k, which are much whiter and brighter than the originals were (although I suppose they were 6 years old, so to be expected) and look great. There is the merest tint of blue that I was trying to avoid, but they have definitely grown on me! I haven't got any photos unfortunately, as my camera and I aren't on speaking terms at the moment...

EDIT: I've just noticed the ebay link I posted claims that the bulbs are for aftermarket HID kits - I hadn't seen that before, but they seem to work as normal in the OEM xenons.
 
teeps...

How bizarre, wonder what the odds are we both just swapped the reading lights to LEDs!

FYI, 6000k are actually less bright than 4300k, but whiter/bluer in colour. The old bulbs may have degraded over time hence but the OEM 4300K provides the most light output, albeit yellowish.

From looking at the colour chart, think I'll stick to the 5000k, but your link is way cheaper than mine. As long as they work (for a long time) shouldn't be an issue I guess.
 
T2FFN said:
Buggery.

Got in this morning to the bulb out warning light. Coincidentally I'd swapped the reading lights with LEDs last night and had not started the car after doing so, so hoped it was these. It was not.

As the light has been pretty much dry I am hoping its not the ballast, so that leaves igniter and the bulb. (Or the cable has come loose from the igniter - long shot!)

I'm going to use this opportunity to swap both D2S bulbs for new 5000k bulbs, which are slightly whiter than OEM, without the blue tint. I'll also take this opportunity to reseal the headlights as they tend to mist up after a wash, so the seal must be letting something in. :headbang:

Obviously OEM bulbs are £££, so ebay bulbs... with 12mnth warranty.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300651136595?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Should I get an igniter too? How often does these let go?

** I will not be opening the headlights to swap things over in advance due to the high chance of fogging issues afterwards.

"This item does not fit BMW Z4 2006 E86 [2006-2012] Coupe " listing says the same for E85.
 
Right, the D2S should be with me tomorrow, so got looking at H7 replacements to match the 5000k D2S, when I spotted these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H7-5000k-White-HID-Xenon-Replacement-Bulb-2-Bulbs-Headlight-35w-Lamps-Light-UK-/270984391750?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f17edac46

Now, surely these cannot be used in the full beams even though they state H7, right?
 
GreyZed said:
"This item does not fit BMW Z4 2006 E86 [2006-2012] Coupe " listing says the same for E85.

It would though. If i put my reg into one of those bulb sites it tells me I have 2x H7 bulbs, but i dont, one is a D2S, so my guess is this is doing the same so is wrong.


Sent from my HTC One X
 
The ballast is shot. Had a small amount of water in it, gave it a clean and dry but no joy.

W@nk.

Sent from my HTC One X
 
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