[fiddy yen]

I just bought my 06 CPO e90 with some modifications. The HID bulbs themselves were upgraded from OEM to 8000k bulbs. For the last week, HID's seem like they have been working fine. But yesterday, after washing the car, the left bulb was burnt out. After driving for a while, it came back on. Today, everything was working fine until I turned a corner on an icy road and it went out again.

I tried searching but couldn't find anything. Seems like something is loose or? Anyone have any ideas? I don't want to take it to the dealership if I don't have to. The previous owner bought it CPO'd and I bought it from him.
Thanks!

[krnboy817]

have to checked your connection(s) possibly the bulb might have came loose. if it flickers then it isnt your bulb that is the prob, most likely power source or ballast that is the prob. if its dead and doesnt even turn on its your bulb.

[fiddy yen]

The bulb doesn't flicker, its either on or its off. That being said, I thought it was the bulb that was dead yesterday, but today it worked fine until I turned that one corner which leads me to believe something is loose.

[fiddy yen]

Just got back from running errands, and bulb now works...

[e90fun]

check if somethings loose.

[shaizada]

Check on your ground connection. If you can, hook up the ground wire on the bulb that is going out separately on a new clean ground connection.

[krnboy817]

Originally Posted by fiddy yen

The bulb doesn't flicker, its either on or its off. That being said, I thought it was the bulb that was dead yesterday, but today it worked fine until I turned that one corner which leads me to believe something is loose.

sorry .... i meant flickering more like it goes on/off as it pleases. not just strobe light like flicker

[fiddy yen]

Talked to the service manager at BMW today. Seems like the previous owner had this problem and they think its the igniter of the bulb as there are aftermarket 8000k.

Im going to price out some bulbs with the parts guy tomorrow (I get near cost at the dealership) and if they seem reasonable I'll just order them so that if its not that CPO will cover the rest.

Thanks for the help!

[E92-Lighting]

its probably just the connections if one side is flickering

[fiddy yen]

Originally Posted by E92-Lighting

its probably just the connections if one side is flickering

I did a little digging today under the hood. I notice that the cover that you take off to access the bulb had tabs broken and wiggled alittle bit so I think thats what is wrong.

[fdriller9]

Being a law to have both headlights function correctly would make you think this would be something that is reviewed under the CPO inspection.

If your dealer knew about this problem, I would get them to cover it. You bought it from them with aftermarket bulbs. It's quite obvious the 8k color is different than OEM so why wouldn't the dealer swap out the bulbs for OEM?

My point is your dealer is most likely BS'ing you and wants you to buy a set of OEM bulbs from them.

[fiddy yen]

Originally Posted by *********

Being a law to have both headlights function correctly would make you think this would be something that is reviewed under the CPO inspection.

If your dealer knew about this problem, I would get them to cover it. You bought it from them with aftermarket bulbs. It's quite obvious the 8k color is different than OEM so why wouldn't the dealer swap out the bulbs for OEM?

My point is your dealer is most likely BS'ing you and wants you to buy a set of OEM bulbs from them.

Well the thing is I don't have the oem bulbs, and thus the dealer will not install new oem bulbs if I don't pay for the parts. That being said I highly doubt that the SA is trying to screw me over as I'm a manager for a different dealership that also owns BMW. I appreciate that suggestion however the dealer is having a hard time diagnosing the problem as the igniter is aftermaket.

Oem bulbs are ridiculously expensive even at cost... So unless I can track down cheap oem ones...I want to see if I can fix it first so I'm not forced to spend that kind of money only to find out it's not the problem.

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by fiddy yen

Well the thing is I don't have the oem bulbs, and thus the dealer will not install new oem bulbs if I don't pay for the parts. That being said I highly doubt that the SA is trying to screw me over as I'm a manager for a different dealership that also owns BMW. I appreciate that suggestion however the dealer is having a hard time diagnosing the problem as the igniter is aftermaket.

Oem bulbs are ridiculously expensive even at cost... So unless I can track down cheap oem ones...I want to see if I can fix it first so I'm not forced to spend that kind of money only to find out it's not the problem.

Why don't you take your car to your own dealership then?

Regardless, according to bmwusa.com:

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...ification.aspx

"If something is not right, it is fixed. If it cannot be fixed, the car cannot become a Certified Pre-Owned BMW."

So the dealer knew the bulbs were non-oem. They were aware of the intermittent functionality of the bulb. Obviously there is something wrong. Headlights are used for illuminating the road and for other drivers to see you....safety.

"They inspect the vehicle for safety, performance and wear."

Your car should HAVE NEVER BEEN CPO'd.....PERIOD.

"In short, we're picky."

This dealership you are bringing your car to is violating BMWs CPO certification terms.

EDIT: If you open the first PDF on that website. It is the checklist used to inspect cars. Under Section 4: Mechanical, Headlight assembly can either be OEM or aftermarket to be CPO'd. HOWEVER, you mentioned your dealer KNEW that the previous owner had problems with the bulb.

Again, "If something is not right, it is fixed. If it cannot be fixed, the car cannot become a Certified Pre-Owned BMW."

Like I said....the dealer should (actually HAS TO) cover this.

[fiddy yen]

I apologize, I should of clarified that the previous owner bought it cpo'd and installed the headlights after. He ended up selling it to his uncle which was traded in later on. I bought the car when it came in on trade. It is stilled cpo'd but because the headlights were aftermarket and installed after the inspection, it's technically not covered.

As far as having my dealership looking at it, I think BMW technicians would be more qualified and have the resources available to eventually rectify the problem. Coming from experience, I know that upgraded bulbs could be the root cause ( whether it be a simple connection or a faulty igniter) but having the oem bulbs would be easier to rectify the problem and it's just one less thing to blame it on.

However, what I'm after is to see if anyone has experienced this with upgraded bulbs and If anyone knew what the problem was. I wanted to fix the problem without having to switch the bulbs back to oem.

[fdriller9]

Ughhh. I typed that out for nothing. lol

Good research for future reference I guess....never knew the CPO checklist was available to us.

Anyway, good luck. Sorry I couldn't help.

[fiddy yen]

Originally Posted by *********

Ughhh. I typed that out for nothing. lol

Good research for future reference I guess....never knew the CPO checklist was available to us.

Anyway, good luck. Sorry I couldn't help.

LOL its just my fault, I should of specified this earlier. I appreciate your help either way.