E46 M3 Headlight Problem - Stealer Trying It On?

[Big Piston]

Guys,

About a month or so ago my left hand side xenon headlight began to flicker intermittently on my E46 M3. This then seemingly rectified itself. The same thing then happened in the right hand side xenon, the problem has got worse and now the right hand side main beam headlight does not work at all! The other night on the motorway both headlights temporarly cut out

Booked the car in at the main stealers and they have informed me the car needs 2 Control Units (@£255 +VAT each) and 2 new headlamps (@£133 +VAT each), total bill inc fitting c.£1,000.

Having looked on the net it seems that it won't be a cheap fix but £1k seems pretty hefty to me.

Only bought the vehicle few months ago (privately) so never had any contact with main BMW dealer before - have they seen me coming? Or is that roughly what its gonna cost me?

I have seen a few self fixes on the net but Im completely mechanically inept

Was thinking of taking it to a good Indy (any recommendations for West Yorks region gratefully accepted) however, given the fact that the vast majority of the cost of this fix is for parts would it make much of a saving???

Any advice guys???

Thanks

[E30M3SE]

Why does it need the headlamp units changed, the light not working is going to be down to the bulb, starter, control
unit etc, not the actual headlamp unit. Have they explained this to you?

Quarry Motors in Sheffield are breaking a CSL which IIRC has Xenons, you maybe able to get the parts required cheaper from them.

Link to their ebay listing.

[Magic919]

Some people say lamp, others say bulb. It's the bit that emits the light.

[ghibbett]

See the links I put in this thread: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Cost in parts from a BMW dealer would be:
2 x ballast units = ~£600
2 x xenon bulbs = ~£170
Labour = approx 1.5hrs

Therefore the £1k mark sounds plausible.

However no doubt you can get parts off of ebay (although I bought my new ballast unit from BMW themselves as it therefore had a warranty on the part itself) and they're very easy to fit.

[sjj84]

You can get xenon lamps significantly cheaper than that. Got mine off ebay, think they were Philips ones, cost £40 for two.

[PeterNem]

First thing I'd try is getting some bulbs and changing them yourself - if the dealer wants to do this anyway, you may as well do it yourself for less eliminating them before you go and pay to have the ballasts changed.

[Big Piston]

Many thanks for your feedback guys.

Took the car to an Indy today who assessed the fault and explained that only 1 Control Unit was required.

Just driven the car and both lights now work fine (fingers crossed they stay that way)!!!

Total cost was less than £400 - not the £1k quoted by the main dealer!!!!!

Appears that the main stealer was acting true to form with regard to their shocking service and billing :-P

Lesson learnt.

Thanks again,
BP