For the past couple of weeks, I noticed that my passenger side xenon headlight would flicker at random times. In light of this, I decided to order some new Xenon bulbs, as I tried swapping the driver/passenger side bulbs and low-and-behold the flicker appeared to follow the bulb. Well just recently I decided to swap the bulbs out with the new pair I bought and I am having the same issue with the passenger side. At this point I thought it might be the ballast, so I tried swapping the ballast and the passenger side Xenon is still flickering, but after a period of time it now goes out completely. I'm hoping someone has some incite on this problem or can at least steer me in the right direction for the possible remedy, as I'm really running out of ideas. I'm thinking it might be the ignitor, but I can't seem to find the part in the Bentley manual or at the realoem.com website... nor do I have any clue where it is or how to remove it. As a side note, the driver side xenon is working perfectly with no issues. Thanks in advance!

GotMINI

 

I believe the ignitor is part of the ballst which may explain why Bentley isn't showing it. If it still persists, it may be an internal fault within the wiring from the control on the column to the ballast/bulb. If that turns out to be it, good luck.

 

hmmmm... that's a possibility, but after doing a google search on the xenon control unit part number, it appears the same ballast is used on the E46, yet it shows the ignitor being separate. I'm thinking the ignitor is probably part of the headlight assembly and knowing BMW they probably aren't going to sell the internals separately, forcing me to buy the whole assembly. :(

GotMINI

 

Just thought I'd update... problem is now resolved. Turned out one of the new Xenon bulbs I bought came defective, as I replaced it with one of my older OEM ones and all is well. Guess next time I'll check the lights more thoroughly... even though I really wouldn't be able to tell upon a visual inspection... oh well...

GotMINI