Xenon Headlight Failure - Bulb Or Ballast???

K

Kern47

Member
Hi guys, hoping some of you fine gentlemen may have experienced something similar in the past...

About a week ago, I noticed the bulb warning lamp on the dash, and that my passenger side indicator was stuck permanently on (even with engine turned off and car locked...) one flat battery later... :headbang:
I checked around the car and everything seemed fine, all the bulbs were working and it stayed like that for a week or so. Then checked today and noticed that my passenger side dipped beam has finally given up.

Am I right in thinking that because it didn't turn purple before (when I checked them first time it just looked the same as the other side) and because the car obviously picked up a fault before it went out, that the fault is probably with the ballast as opposed the bulb just burning out? Do xenon bulbs always turn purplish before they go?

Any help/suggestions much appreciated, cheers
 
Well it's not that simple is it... Jack up and wheel off job to get to the access panel inside the wheel trim. That's why I want to have a good idea of what it is before I start really
 
Mine has done the same and I’ve just been reading up on it. It can be either the bulb, ballast or igniter. Mine sometimes come on and work fine which suggests it’s not the bulb. I’m about to swap over the igniters to see if the issue repeats itself on the p/s which is working fine - should be unplug and swap job. Ballasts are bit more complicated I understand, as the bumper needs to come off.
 
parabolica said:
saj77 said:
You don't need to take the wheel off to change the bulb.
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True, but it does give you much more access and visibility on what you’re doing.
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I thought you did... but tbh I might try it without anyway then.

parabolica said:
Mine has done the same and I’ve just been reading up on it. It can be either the bulb, ballast or igniter. Mine sometimes come on and work fine which suggests it’s not the bulb. I’m about to swap over the igniters to see if the issue repeats itself on the p/s which is working fine - should be unplug and swap job. Ballasts are bit more complicated I understand, as the bumper needs to come off.
Click to expand...

I've not got experience of xenon headlights in the past... What's the igniter? Am I right in thinking that little metal square thing which goes on the back of the bulb is the ballast? Or is that the igniter?
 
its easy enough to change bulb and ignitor with wheels on, start with ignitor as thats easiest , then bulb, failing that it could be ballast then its a bumper off and headlight out

yeah ignitors the block on back of bulb
 
Ah cheers.

HELLA 5DD008319-50 D2S D2R XENON STARTER IGNITER https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004HBGHZU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_sbTVDbWMPBCP2

WinPower D2S Xenon Bulbs 35W 8000K Headlight Discharge Bulb Replace HID kit for Car Bulbs Cool Blue Lights (2 Lamps) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01ISYEJVA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FdTVDbNH402J0

Just to be sure... Are they the right things for my 06 M? Seem a decent price to just change the lot
 
I think my bulbs are DS2 6000k, not 8k. But this is going on the spare set I got with the car; away to pull my igniters and swap over so will check what’s in there.

The igniter you’ve found is correct; it’s a standard Hella part rather than a bmw specific item.
 
Good to know the igniter isnt going to be setting me back too much then...

Spent a while trying to find the right bulbs with a whole range of prices, but just stumbled across them while looking at the igniter. So if they're the correct ones, then I'll be more than happy to have the job done for less than £60 :thumbsup:
 
Kern47 said:
Good to know the igniter isnt going to be setting me back too much then...

Spent a while trying to find the right bulbs with a whole range of prices, but just stumbled across them while looking at the igniter. So if they're the correct ones, then I'll be more than happy to have the job done for less than £60 :thumbsup:
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I thought standard colour temp was only something like 4500/5000k (cool blue is 6000k, 8000k is crystal blue).

Although I'd probably go for genuine Philips or Osram bulbs, rather than some £20 ones that you've got no idea of their quality.

s-l1600.jpg
 
mmm-five said:
Kern47 said:
Good to know the igniter isnt going to be setting me back too much then...

Spent a while trying to find the right bulbs with a whole range of prices, but just stumbled across them while looking at the igniter. So if they're the correct ones, then I'll be more than happy to have the job done for less than £60 :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
I thought standard colour temp was only something like 4500/5000k (cool blue is 6000k, 8000k is crystal blue).

Although I'd probably go for genuine Philips or Osram bulbs, rather than some £20 ones that you've got no idea of their quality.

s-l1600.jpg
Click to expand...

I think 6000k are the standard, didnt think 8000k would be that blue though... thanks for that pic lol.

And usually I do buy into the 'buy cheap, buy twice' philosophy... But when it comes to a bulb and I could be paying 6x the price to get a 'decent' one... I'd rather take a punt on the cheaper option and see how long it lasts. Save spending £100+ on bulbs
 
So through the process of elimination it turns out it was the bulb that was sketchy. Switched the igniters over and problem persisted on the same side as before. Swapped out the bulb (6k) for the spare I had and problem solved.

Easy enough to do however the igniters can be a pig to get back on, as the lugs on the bulbs have to line up with slots on the igniter. I spent about 20 mins each side with the igniter refusing to twist back into place until suddenly it just slotted in.

Only gripe is I think that’s a really old bulb I’ve put in and it’s got a yellow tinge compared to the other side that’s been working fine. Might invest in a new set so I know they are decent.
 
Cheers for your feedback, glad you got it sorted :thumbsup: is it possibly to fit the bulb in the igniter first then slot them both in at the same time? And did you manage to do it alright without removing the wheel?
 
I removed my wheels; whilst it is possible you have such little room to work it would have made it impossible given the issues I ran into. I’m lucky to have a full workshop and jacks mind due.

I tried every trick to get the igniter back, including putting the bulb in the igniter first. Unfortunately not possible as the bulb sits in the light bracket in a specific way, plus if the igniter is already on you can’t access the spring clips that hold it in place.

What finally did the trick was fitting the bulb to the igniter out of the car a few times - there are two possible combinations for the bulb base to fit in the igniter (although only one works on the z4) and I found if I fitted the bulb a couple of times, the slots/holding mechanism freed up, so when I eventually fitted it the proper way, it just slid in and twisted.

ETA: cancel that; got into the car this morning and now I have the same issue again but this time on the passenger side. So it's either the igniter which I did swap over; or that bulb has also failed. Luckily I have another spare bulb, so will see what happens when I trouble shoot tonight.
 
Ok final update from me; my ballast/control unit is fried - new one being delivered tomorrow. I did all the troubleshooting - swapping the igniters and bulbs over; I finally fixed the issue by replacing one of the bulbs. But that only lasted 12 hours when the other headlight started playing up. So t/s again and after swapping everything over and changing bulbs etc, the p/s still doesn't want to play, so it must be the control unit.

I can well believe this as there was a lot of moisture in my light the day after I had initially fixed things - my own fault as the back cover was off a long time in the cold and I was exuding a lot of body heat and breath trying to get the bloody things fixed.
 
Just changed my bulbs both sides.

The same problem still persists though... Bulb warning light and LH indicator on solid, despite the bulbs still lighting up fine....

So I guess that means it must be the igniter then, unless theres some sort of reset procedure or driving time required?

I did notice when I first went to test it after replacing the bulb that there did seem to be an 'electrical whine'/high pitched buzz coming from the suspect igniter/headlight unit. Never noticed it before, but is this a sign of a bad igniter?
 
Sounds like a ballast problem to me, if the bulbs fire up then usually the igniters are fine. This is on the premise you have fitted genuine oem quality bulbs, there are tons of cheap fakes on Ebay which are notorious for causing problems like this. Make sure you get them from a reputable seller.
 
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