Missold a car with Xenons

M

Marc'sCoupe

Member
Ok so I feel a bit stupid only noticing this now, 3 weeks after buying the car but I hadn't done any driving at night until last night and thought blimey these xenons aren't up to much! I remember the advert at the dealership saying it had xenon headlamps and this was a main requirement for me in my search for the right car!
So confusing because until you have the lights turned on, from the front they look like xenon bulbs so when I was told they are them...I (stupidly) presumed that they were :|

Im not sure what I can do, I guess I can ring up the garage and say you sold me a car with xenons but they aren't xenons...but im not sure what I could possibly gain out of that, its very unlikely that a garage would retrofit a set of xenons into a car that didn't have them as standard as I believe there is a lot of messing about with ballast and wiring etc.. Its also very unlikely that they would say oh ok then yeah our mistake here is some cash...

soooo, basically looking for a bit of guidance of what to do or say before I ring them?

Thanks
 
If it was approved used or reputable independent I'd go back ASAP with some evidence and stand your ground (not as described). Prep your case in advance (all teh materials you can find, website screenshots whatever) and take a look at the sales invoice too.

Bombsite / backstreet camelhair-coated "dealer" or trader-from-home I might think twice.

The lamps are I think a swap plus a change to the config file, but no expert on this.
 
I've tried looking on ebay but doesn't seem to be any for sale, only for the newer shape car so I cant really get an idea on price, the ballast control units are looking to be roughly £130-150 per side though and basing it on the new shape headlights being 400-600 per side then its definitely not going to be a cheap fix!

Handily I do have a screen shot of the original advert on my phone when I sent it to my mate to have a look so at least I do have proof that the advert did say Xenon Headlamps
 
Realistically i would be prepared here to either return the car for full refund as it wasn't as advertised, or get a little cash back but no where near enough to cover the cost of a retrofit.

As said above get all your evidence together, perhaps even speak to BMW and get hold of a build sheet, then go armed with everything you have to the garage and see what they will do.
 
If it was a private sale, forget it - not worth the hassle.
Was this a private garage or BMW dealer? The latter should know better...

At the end of the day you have to decide what you want to do about it.
If Xenon's are a deal breaker then you can return the car for a refund. Be prepared they will say no and you may have to take them to court.
If you want some cash off (perhaps to teach them a lesson) then you can go back and ask. They will also probably say no (with or without laughing and/or expletives) - if you then wanted to take them to court you'd have to try and prove the amount you've overpaid, prices for similar cars with/without xenon's. I doubt you'll be able to do that.
If you want a Xenon retrofit then you could also ask. But the many hundreds it will cost to do it properly is unlikely to come your way.

I doubt you could go down the route of misrepresentation as the detail is small and has minimal effect.

What do you want out of it?

Me, I'd be asking them nicely for £55 to cover a HID kit! And count myself lucky if I got it.
Put your VIN into http://www.bmwarchive.org/ and you'll your factory fitted options.
 
Its obviously an error on their behalf but if your happy with the car then why worry,the xenons on my z4 are not that great really,not a patch on the ones in my old Focus,try some osram nightbreaker bulbs you will see an improvement with those. If the lamps in your z4 are h7 configuration I have a xenon conversion kit I ordered for my old Audi but never fitted if your interested. You may get a couple of quid off if you go back and complain but they are not going to take the car back and give you a refund are they.
 
Wouldn't worry the Xenons are really crap anyway. You'd be better off fitting candles to the front of the car. I know that's not the point but I wouldn't go out paying extra cash for them.
Just stick some 100w bulbs in your existing lights.!! ( yes I know it's not legal ) but it's bloody affective.
 
I wouldn't feel bad - I wouldn't know a xenon from a halogen from a .. err whatever else there is :scratchhead:
 
I would personally say this is your fault tbh. I know it said it came with xenons, but you would've known straight away if it didn't have them as non xenon equipped z4's have the adjuster wheel on the light control panel to the right of the steering wheel.

Fair enough, they probably thought it had xenons due to the projector style headlamps, but like I said, a simple look when you got in the car would've saved all this worry.

I personally wouldn't worry about the xenons. They're pretty old tech ones in the z4 and the ones I have seen look a bit rubbish anyway.
 
As said above the Z4 Xenon's are pretty poor by comparison to other manufacturers efforts .
RE upgrading to them I thought you needed washers to pass a MOT test now ?
For future ref look for caps in the bumpers to allow for the washers to pop up & once lights are switched on they should "dance" a little as they self level if they are Xenon's . There would also be no dial near lights to adjust beam height :thumbsup:
 
mr wilks said:
For future ref look for caps in the bumpers to allow for the washers to pop up & once lights are switched on they should "dance" a little as they self level if they are Xenon's.
Click to expand...

I have headlight washers. Plus, mine do a little up down thing when switched on, but I thought that was just to "exercise" the assembly for want of a better phrase. Do Xenons do something different?

There would also be no dial near lights to adjust beam height :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I have one of those too.

Cheers
 
If you have the headlight levelling dial they're definitely not Xenons.

The halogen lights also do the little dance when powering up but it's much more pronounced on the Xenons.

Having had post-facelift z4s with and without Xenons they are a significant improvement over the halogens but probably not as bright as you might be expecting. I'd also be surprised if washers were exclusive to Xenons, halogens get dirty too!
 
stuartC said:
mr wilks said:
For future ref look for caps in the bumpers to allow for the washers to pop up & once lights are switched on they should "dance" a little as they self level if they are Xenon's.
Click to expand...

I have headlight washers. Plus, mine do a little up down thing when switched on, but I thought that was just to "exercise" the assembly for want of a better phrase. Do Xenons do something different?

There would also be no dial near lights to adjust beam height :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I have one of those too.

Cheers
Click to expand...

:? Got me there :cry: sure the dial isn't for adjusting the dash brightness ?
 
mr wilks said:
stuartC said:
mr wilks said:
For future ref look for caps in the bumpers to allow for the washers to pop up & once lights are switched on they should "dance" a little as they self level if they are Xenon's.
Click to expand...

I have headlight washers. Plus, mine do a little up down thing when switched on, but I thought that was just to "exercise" the assembly for want of a better phrase. Do Xenons do something different?

There would also be no dial near lights to adjust beam height :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I have one of those too.
Click to expand...
:? Got me there :cry: sure the dial isn't for adjusting the dash brightness ?
Click to expand...

Nope, cause the dash brightness is to the left of the beam adjust dial. I actually just popped out and tested it, little groaning noise and up and down go the beams :) I also tested the headlamp washers. In an unrelated matter, I need to change my shirt now.

(For the record, I don't have Xenons)
 
stuartC said:
I have headlight washers. Plus, mine do a little up down thing when switched on, but I thought that was just to "exercise" the assembly for want of a better phrase. Do Xenons do something different?

There would also be no dial near lights to adjust beam height :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I have one of those too.
Click to expand...
:? Got me there :cry: sure the dial isn't for adjusting the dash brightness ?[/quote]

Nope, cause the dash brightness is to the left of the beam adjust dial. I actually just popped out and tested it, little groaning noise and up and down go the beams :) I also tested the headlamp washers. In an unrelated matter, I need to change my shirt now.

(For the record, I don't have Xenons)[/quote]

You're getting mixed up here. Xenons don't have the extra adjuster... They have just one, which is dash brightness. Halogen cars have 2.
 
I can't believe you've even been told this is your fault! It is also irrelevant that xenons may or may not be any good, the car was advertised as having them and, mistake or not, it was misrepresented. The important question was asked back in the post, was it a private or dealer sale? If dealer then you have every right to ask for a gesture on their part that is acceptable to both parties. I would absolutely expect this from any half decent dealer.
 
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