OEM v. Aftermarket ballast
#1
OEM v. Aftermarket ballast
Well, it's finally really driving me nuts. After a cold winter of surprisingly working well, my passenger side ballast for my HID's is acting up again. My question: Do I drive 20 minutes down the road to my Beemer dealer and pay $440 ( ) for the OE ballast which I'm sure is better quality and I know is in stock or pay maybe 100-150 for one online from one of the various Xenon kit makers. I've been looking at the aftermarket suppliers and some of them seem shady. I'd like to buy OE because I know it plugs right in with no wiring required (right?) while the internet brands all seem like they require wiring. Any opinions? Also, anyone replaced one of these? If so, it take long, right?
#4
#5
The control unit is still $402, even from Pelican.
Looking at the parts diagram on realoem, the control unit looks like it comes in a similar package as the ECU - it's just a box that plugs into a receptacle in the car, rather than being a box with wires coming out of it.
As such, you'd pretty much have to cut the factory wiring harness and bypass the receptacle entirely, and I wouldn't know which factory wires to connect to which wires on the aftermarket ballast.
Looking at the parts diagram on realoem, the control unit looks like it comes in a similar package as the ECU - it's just a box that plugs into a receptacle in the car, rather than being a box with wires coming out of it.
As such, you'd pretty much have to cut the factory wiring harness and bypass the receptacle entirely, and I wouldn't know which factory wires to connect to which wires on the aftermarket ballast.
#6
#7
Another thought is that if you can figure out which wires are which on the factory harness, you could use your bad control unit as an "adapter" between the car's wiring and an aftermarket ballast. That way, you wouldn't have to cut or splice anything in the car.
Take the old ballast, crack it open and gut out the insides so that you're just left with an empty box and the plug that connects it to the car. Then you connect the wires from the aftermarket ballast to the plug wiring inside your old control module, and plug the old module back into the car.
Take the old ballast, crack it open and gut out the insides so that you're just left with an empty box and the plug that connects it to the car. Then you connect the wires from the aftermarket ballast to the plug wiring inside your old control module, and plug the old module back into the car.
Trending Topics
#8
Well, I hate anything electrical. Always have, always will. I will more than likely just end up going to the dealer and biting the bullet on this. That, and going online and buying 2 new 5000k bulbs and having them all put in at once. Just a quick question, the side only does it occasionally. Cold, wet, and damp seems to be the most common scenario. I'll click them on and off anywhere from 2-20 times trying to get it to go. Other times, it fires right up. I know the bulb is good because eventually, it lights and I swapped bulbs thinking it was the bulb. It stayed on the same side. Is there anything else it could be?
#9
#10
True. And thanks for the help, Scott.This thread sat for 4 days in the Problems/Issues thread and no responses. I had it moved here and have had 4 responses in a few hours.
#11
4th Gear
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Monterey Park, CA
Posts: 472
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
What about parts from a salvage yard? Would that be appropriate for what you want to replace? Here in SoCal there's Mini World in Sun Valley, there number is 818-768-4800. You can also go to www.alpineautoparts.com. Good luck!
#12
You're welcome - I don't know why I didn't see the thread when you first posted it.
You're in kind of a sticky situation here. You can either hand the car to the dealer and say "fix it", and let them do all the troubleshooting and find where the problem actually is, but you'll have to pay their labour rate.
On the other hand, you can buy the control unit yourself, but if that turns out not to be the problem, you're out $400 on a non-returnable part, and your lights still won't work properly.
I think swapping the control units is a good next step. That will also give you a chance to look at the control unit plug and the receptacle in the car's body to make sure the connections are clean and tight. If there's corrosion on the connections, it can cause the kind of intermittent problems you're seeing.
Heck, and if it's just a poor connection, you may find that simply swapping the parts from one side to the other will fix the problem entirely.
You're in kind of a sticky situation here. You can either hand the car to the dealer and say "fix it", and let them do all the troubleshooting and find where the problem actually is, but you'll have to pay their labour rate.
On the other hand, you can buy the control unit yourself, but if that turns out not to be the problem, you're out $400 on a non-returnable part, and your lights still won't work properly.
I think swapping the control units is a good next step. That will also give you a chance to look at the control unit plug and the receptacle in the car's body to make sure the connections are clean and tight. If there's corrosion on the connections, it can cause the kind of intermittent problems you're seeing.
Heck, and if it's just a poor connection, you may find that simply swapping the parts from one side to the other will fix the problem entirely.
#13
Well, I swapped them from side to side and will know what's up in about 11 hours whenI leave work. I already swapped bulbs from side-to-side a while ago and it stayed the same. If it moves now, I know it's the ballast. If it still stays the same, than . In a way, I hope it is the ballast so this can be done with.
Last edited by hemiheaded18; 05-01-2008 at 07:00 PM.
#14
#16
#17
#19
Nice, nice. Very well done. Never would have seen that one coming, actually.
#20
#22
#24
#25
It was cool and drizzly for part of the day and than it became quite nice and it acted up, sure enough. Stood there and clicked it probably 10 times before it came on. I'm going to have it looked at when I get it inspected. Maybe they could trace the wiring and find something that way. That, and I can tell the bulbs are very slightly off in color so I should spring for a new set online. Maybe 5000k this time...