[bazz780]

Hi guys, yesterday i used my car at night and realised the nearside xenon headlight is pinkish in colour. I have heard xenon bulbs can be replaced but at 48.00 pounds from the stealers, just want to make sure if this is the problem from anyones experience.

I hope its not the ballast but how do i check? Is it a case of swapping the bulbs round?

Regards

[IanS100]

Sounds like the bulbs are on their way out, how old are they?

[bazz780]

Originally Posted by IanS100

Sounds like the bulbs are on their way out, how old are they?

They are on my 56 plate with 125k miles

[bazz780]

Ok, so after a bit more reading, looks like the bulb will need replacing.

Alot of recommendations for phillips 6000k bulb, anyone vouch for them? Or best stick to oem?

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/Phi...lbs-6000K.html

[Squintstream]

Originally Posted by bazz780

Ok, so after a bit more reading, looks like the bulb will need replacing.

Alot of recommendations for phillips 6000k bulb, anyone vouch for them? Or best stick to oem?

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/Phi...lbs-6000K.html

If you're not going for OEM would you not have to switch the pair? Or was that what you were planning on doing?

[Subzero2003]

Stay with oem would be my strong advice

[Brennan]

Bulb is dying mate, seen it happen many times

[bazz780]

Originally Posted by Squintstream

If you're not going for OEM would you not have to switch the pair? Or was that what you were planning on doing?

I am thinking of changing both

[bazz780]

Might stick with oem as last thing i want is ballasts to fail

[Squintstream]

Originally Posted by bazz780

I am thinking of changing both

Then I would stick with OEM. As it will mean you would only have to change one unless the Philip bulbs offer consideral improvement in performance.

Let's face it, 125k is not a bad life span.

[bazz780]

Stealers want 160 quid for each bulb! Will give ssdd a call tomorrow and ask about their 6000k bulbs approx 80quid for the pair

[bazz780]

Ordered!

Called teddy at SSDD, helpful chap, he is sending me 6000k Ds1 bulbs, cost less than 50 pounds for the pair

Hopefully will solve problem and look a bit brighter

will post once fitted.

[bazz780]

Ok.... Got the delivery today, looked a bit suspicious as chinese box (ssdd stated they were own brand)

Not too difficult to fit, the bulb clips can be a pita as you cant see what you are doing and space is restricted to fiddle around.

Managed to get it done and working fine in the end and will see how they look in a bit as fitted in daytime.

Ssdd claim they are whiter than stock as 6000k output

Thanks for the help.

[Subzero2003]

I'm willing to put money on the fact that they will last for about 12months before failing.

There is a reason why the BMW ones cost £160. It's because they use quality parts that have been quality tested and come from reputable manufacturers. On my old 12 year old E46 330i the xenon bulbs were the factory originals and still functioned perfectly and continued to do so until i sold the car. Whereas most of these "aftermarket" (Read: cheap, chinese crap) ones last for about 12 months before they fail.

If i were you, i would have found out who the OEM supplier was for the BMW bulbs and bought directly from them. This would get you the same quality bulbs - but without the BMW Tax. This is a top tip for ALL parts. For instance - brakes. BMW wanted £160 for two rear discs IIRC, so i found out the OEM supplier was Jurid, and managed to get both discs, identical to what BMW sells, for £55.

[Subzero2003]

Just done a bit of searching. Osram were the OEM supplier to BMW.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-OSRAM-...ht_2369wt_1397

These are identical to the ones you get from BMW. £89.99 for both.

[bazz780]

thanks mate, i realised they were osram bulbs once i took them out and was a bit gutted to be honest,

i did speak to teddy at ssdd and he said they get their own manufactured as they cannot trust which are genuine phillips/osram and which are fake as too many replicas in the market,

when the parcel arrived thats when i realised they are not even in the name of ssdd, and in fact are in the cheap chinese box.

point taken though, save a bit of dosh, find out who the manufacturer is and try to source the genuine article (in this case there are too many osram fakes in the market too)

see pics for before and after: