I could not get thru to BMW/Mini today...snow??? I'm bracing myself for the financial hit. This was not an expensive item to add at the time the car was ordered, but I feel a $500.00 bill headed my way. Or am I wrong? Drivers light just flickers a few times when the lights are turned on then nothing.

 

I feel for ya, am dreading this happening.

 

Well, I just had one of my xenons taken out by a giant chunk of flying ice. When I went searching out of curiosity for the prices of components I found a BMW dealer selling just the xenon bulb for ~$200. But your description of the issue makes me think that the bulb isn't the issue.

Just a warning, I'm not an expert on xenons by any stretch of the imagination. However, I was reading a write-up of how HID systems work. From what I can recall there's a ballast system that builds up a charge to give the initial jolt of juice that the bulb needs to turn on. That initial charge is far greater than the amount of power that is needed to sustain the beam.

Based on what you described it almost sounded like you have a bad ballast so the bulb isn't getting the juice it needs to turn on properly. And unless you've caused some damage to the bulbs it should probably be covered as a warranty repair.

Just to repeat, not a xenon/HID light expert, just my semi-scientific breakdown.

 

I'm sorry to hear that.

*fingers crossed for a cheap repair!*

 

it could be as simple as a bulb.. there's aftermarket solutions that will fit the housing without problem and charge less than BMW...

that said, if it turns out to be the ballast, MINI should repair it... i had mine intermittently turn on and off and i got a new one from MINI under warranty... they just didn't say what's wrong wiht it!

 

you can always find replacement D2s or D2r bulbs, depends on year and headlight design, for much less than the dealer would sell them for.

typically, it has been concidered good practice to replace both bulbs at the same time. Over time, as the bulbs burn in, the color temp changes a tad...so even though you might have the 4300K bulbs, one might seem whiter or bluer than the other.

I replaced my D2s bulbs in my 2006 projector headlights for $75. I found them on eBay. I have not had an issue what so ever with them...there was NOTHING wrong with my OEM bulbs, I just wanted a different temp, went from 4300K to 6000K.

So, if just a bulb, you can find a set for well under $100, and I would be happy to help you locate what you need if you feel overwhelmed with information. If it is something more like a wiring issue, or issue with the ballast, and it is NOT covered under warranty, you have a different issue and the cost can go up from there. Finding the fault can be difficult if you are not familiar with electrical diagnositic equimment. From what you are stating, might just be a connection, or a bad bulb. If the dealer states you will be paying out of pocket, I would start with new bulbs that you can order online.

 

I just joined because my Wife's 2003 Mini is having issues with the Driver's side bulb as well. It will come on for a little while, flicker and go off... or sometimes not come on at all. I've been searching around and like 03Indigo said, it seems like it is kind of a crapshoot as to whether it is the bulb or the ballast (or some other wiring issue).

What I plan on doing is moving the "bad" driver's side bulb to the passenger side to see if it works.

I have a feeling it will work and the ballast will be the culprit. A few months ago the light got really dim, almost a pinkish/red color, and it mysterious started working better one day. It worked for a couple months and now it hardly works at all. Sounds to me like the ballast is acting up.

 

Wouldn't this be a warranty issue? SIG says your car is an '05, are you over the miles or something?

 

what you are describing there is a bad bulb. I have had a couple of bulbs go bad on my Audi Allroad. I ended up replacing both....and got another bad bulb :( But the company I ordered from understood, no questions asked, and they sent me a replacement. But the red/pink dim part was a blown bulb. If you look at the bulb, there is the arc area in the middle of the glass, it is usually somewhat white-ish, or has something in there, but just barely able to see it. When I had a blown bulb, the entire area was white, and part of the ends were black.

The on and off part makes me think ballast, but even with a blown bulb, it still lit up, just dim, and different color. When it first turned on, it would flash blue, like the other side, but after 20 seconds warm up, it was a totally different color.

 

Are you still under the free maintenance and/or warranty?

 

Hopefully just the bulb. A whole assembly with ballast is $1200 from MINI for one side. Ouch

 

that is a lot of scratch for one side. I just sold my old xenon housings for $600, and they were in perfect shape....a ton of people low balled me stating they were NOT worth that much. Guess what, they are

You can still find replacement ballasts and bulbs, you should NOT have to replace the entire housing...that would be VERY unrealistic.

 

$700.00 plus installation The igniter bit the dust. That's basically three track events plus a burger and frys!

 

ouch, and I thought my mazda's headlights were expensive ($800 for housing, ballast, bulb, and levelling motors)

 

If its just the bulb and you are looking for OEM replacements I would look on ebay. I just got mine for around $60.

Good Luck,

Nik

 

Do you know the exact bulb you purchased from Ebay becasue I was looking for 02-03' MCS xenon bulb replacements on ebay and couldn't find any.

Thanks.

 

Do a search on ebay fo a D2R Philips, those are the ones I bought. Sorry I lied earler, I paid $88 for the pair. The stock bulbs are 4300k.

http://search.ebay.com/d2r-philips_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8

Nik

 

What's the difference between a D2R and D2S bulb? Will both fit on a 2003 MCS with Xenons?

 

Hmmmm. not sure on this one.....will do some looking to see if I can find ana nswer for you. I have about a million bookmarked bulb links from when I was into the LED conversion and from blacking out my HIDs last month......

 

Anyone else have an idea?

 

D2S is for a projector beam set up, like on the 2005 on up...the ones that have the focusing lens in front of the bulb. The old Xenon lamps, that looked almost the same as the non-xenon lamps, from 2002-2004 were D2R bulbs. Based that the light was set up on a reflector type lamp, even though there was an old fashioned refractor lens in front of it.

So, older style xenons are D2R, and newer style are D2S. It has to do with the black paint on the bulb itself...the D2R restricts some of the light to reduce glare in the old set up. The D2S uses a restrictor plate in the light itself and the focal ability of the projector lens to direct the light.

 

Thanks for the help guys.

I will probably buy this pair of new 6k HID's off ebay instead of 1 single replacement 4300k replacement bulb. The seller has sold 1922 items and has 100% positive feedback so he must sell somewhat of a quality product. There is also a 1 year warranty.

I still find it odd that the dealer sells one single bulb for $242; Helix sells them for $194, or I can get a pair off ebay for $80. It sounds almost too good to be true, so someone warn me now if I'm being cheap and making a bad decision...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-6...QQcmdZViewItem

 

I bought the 6000K that I have in my MINI and my Subaru off of ebay...replacement bulbs are really over priced, so I went with a cheaper route. Bulbs have been in almost a year, not one problem, flicker, or hesitation.

Prices are droping in the market, even for kits. You can buy retro-fit kits in the $120 range now, and I have seen them, they are great kits, helped several friends install them, and so far, not a problem.

Just like with anything, as the market grows, prices drop. So, I would feel comfortable buying them from ebay.

 

thanks for the heads up on replacement price for the xenon bulbs.....i was on the fence on ordering them as an option on my furture mini....if they cost this much to replace, I don't think they are worth it even if they give you a lilttle better vis.....maybe i will just go with regular lights with driving lights if i need a boost in vis.

 

If the ballast blew and not the bulb then you'll have to replace the ballast. They're sold on ebay for about $100. Here's a link for you: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Range...spagenameZWDVW