e46 320cd Msport xenon bulb replacement...

[davidd]

As the title might suggest, muy ultra reliable car has just had it's first issue in 53k miles and 4 years..

One of my xenons has packed up...

The handbook says NOOOOOO dealer only... I'm not sure that is the case, can anyone suggest where I can get a new blub and if this is something I can do myself???

D

[GTS Turbo]

i dunno what bulbs they use in manafacturer xenon's but i got a bulb for my aftermarket ones on my E36 for 9.99 on ebay!

[plowy]

You need to be sure it's the bulb and not the expensive xenon control unit. If it is the bulb then It's just a bit more involved than a normal bulb change but not hard, you can get replacements from www.convert2xenon.co.uk for about £30 a pair, you need D2S bulbs and i would say to upgrade them to 6000K, i have done this and the improvement is well worthwhile..

Edited by plowy on Saturday 15th December 09:14

[Clammy]

GTS Turbo said:

i dunno what bulbs they use in manafacturer xenon's but i got a bulb for my aftermarket ones on my E36 for 9.99 on ebay!

Apologies for the hijack.

GTS Turbo - was that a replacement for Chromeline xenons? If so, could you pm me the link? Thanks.

[davidd]

plowy said:

You need to be sure it's the bulb and not the expensive xenon control unit. If it is the bulb then It's just a bit more involved than a normal bulb change but not hard, you can get replacements from www.convert2xenon.co.uk for about £30 a pair, you need D2S bulbs and i would say to upgrade them to 6000K, i have done this and the improvement is well worthwhile..

Edited by plowy on Saturday 15th December 09:14

Is there an easy way to find out if it is the control unit or not?

Cheers

D

[AdamD]

Could you perhaps not try the working bulb in the other holder to rule that out?

[davidd]

plowy said:

You need to be sure it's the bulb and not the expensive xenon control unit. If it is the bulb then It's just a bit more involved than a normal bulb change but not hard, you can get replacements from www.convert2xenon.co.uk for about £30 a pair, you need D2S bulbs and i would say to upgrade them to 6000K, i have done this and the improvement is well worthwhile..

Thanks

Well I've ordered one bulb (and shredded my fingers getting the old one out!).

We'll see if that is the issue or not..

D

[GTS Turbo]

Clammy said:

GTS Turbo said:

i dunno what bulbs they use in manafacturer xenon's but i got a bulb for my aftermarket ones on my E36 for 9.99 on ebay!

Apologies for the hijack.

GTS Turbo - was that a replacement for Chromeline xenons? If so, could you pm me the link? Thanks.

no fraid not, the bulbs i got were like these and had the same connectors that these have.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HID-REPLACEMENT-KIT...

although i'm sure the postage was cheaper than that but that's where i got mine. was a bit worried about the quality but my cheap ballasts and bulbs are fine been using them for 3 months now and no probs! i got my ballasts from a different seller with 2 H7 bulbs for £40 (i didn't know at the time my E36 took h1's hence the purchase of the other bulbs) well happy with my kit though

3-4 years back i had a H4 kit on my MR2 Turbo and that had ballasts made buy hella and it was excellent quality (still have that kit) and i paid £360 note for that back then!

[plowy]

AdamD said:

Could you perhaps not try the working bulb in the other holder to rule that out?

The easy way to check..