I have noticed one of my Xenon (self leveling option) headlights turning pink, then a few hours later the instrument panel gave me a warning light saying it was gone...

When I looked up replacements, the price was startling! I kept scouring the internet and realizing most of the D1S bulbs on the internet are fake or cheap Chinese knock-offs, I was about to give up and just buy some Sylvania/Osram or Philips for $100 each at Autozone or similar. $100 is still WAY less than the dealership wants to charge, should be illegal. When looking for a retailer on the Philips website, I noticed a little Home Depot logo on the search so I gave it a try!

They are not sold in the stores, but I ordered a set on the Home Depot website for less than $120 total. This is almost half of normal price! They are an exact replacement for the Xenons that came on my MINI.

I will get them in a few days, and when I do I will let you know how it goes and if there are any surprises. They are the same model number when I look them up on the legitimate auto websites. Philips seems to only make one kind of D1S Xenon bulb so it must be it.

Also, a word of advice for all looking for replacement lamps. From what I have seen stick to Philips or Sylvania/Osram 4300K bulbs. If you see any other color in these brands they are fake. Period. The price on these is tempting, but many say the life of the lamps are half of a high quality bulb.

 

Staying tuned...

 

They have a slightly newer design, with newer labels. But they are the same ones!

I have a 2007 that I run with the headlights on during the day for DRL, so they had a lot of hours on them. I would suggest anyone who have xenon's that are getting old buy a set soon before Home Depot they realize how much less they are.

Again, I stress... Don't buy any Xenon HID bulbs from Amazon or Ebay. They are most likely fake from China and have less than half of the life of a Original Phillips or Sylvania/Osram.

Attached are photos for comparison.

 

Was it just the bulbs? I had a similar problem in my 335 and it was the ballast.

 

I could be mistaken, but in the D1S bulb, the square part is the ballast. There are other halogens out there though that do have separate ballasts. I've heard the box on the bulb called an ignitor, if that is the same as a ballast it is in fact built in, if not, there is a separate ballast.

I'm not really sure.

 

Assuming it's similar to my BMW, there is a separate unit to convert the wattage up to ignite the xenon lights.

Did the bulb replacement fix your issue?

 

Yes! They work great!