How many have had their Xenons go out on their MINI? I'm trying to see how often this occurs... I thought they were suppose to last like a lifetime...

 

do u have these 'on' all the tyme set by de dealer ??

 

You mean the daytime running lights? No I dont. and even if i did those are the high beams (halogen bulbs) ran at half power.

 

I c,

i have not heard of this happening much (blown bulbs)

have u looked at how much they R, pretty steep huh?

try danielsternlighting.com

 

Is the car still under warranty? They're probably covered.

 

right-on, but considering its a 03' didnt think to ask

 

padiddle!

 

The cat and the fiddle... (Wild)

Ask the dealer if its under warranty still. Xenon bulbs are expensive. $200 range

 

I had a xenon die on me a while back. Tried to fire it up one night and it just went out. Xenon bulbs should last a reaaaaalllly long time. In my case the bulb didn't go out, but something in the headlight assembly (ballast maybe?) went dead.

I'd take it to the dealer. The bulbs should last a long time as long as you're using them normally. The manual says not to turn them off and on and off and on since that will decrease their life. As long as you weren't doing that then you should be fine. Most likely you need a new headlight.

 

Ya I dont abuse them.... I dont turn them on and off because I was afraid somthing like this will happne.

And yes I'm under warranty... 4 years 50,000 miles right? I'm below that. :smile: Will be going to the dealer today to schedule an appoitment.

Was curious how common this is.

 

It is not uncommon, I did see an MC40 in town only has 1 xenon on. I bet it is under waranty.. xenon not supposed to be blown with that short preiod of time.

 

I know the "beneath the bonnet" sub-forum had a few threads about dead xenons in there. I can't speak for how common it is, but I know I wasn't the only one it happened to when mine went out.

 

Our passenger side xenon works mostly. Sometimes it does not fire on the first try, xenon cold start? Once or twice I shut everything off and wiggled the wiring and then it started.

Which side tends to fail? All the failures I am aware of are the passenger side.

 

I know when mine failed, it was also the passenger side.

 

Argh!

I dropped off the car this morning at 6:30 with the headlight out and now they call 2 hours later saying it works fine. I've been monitoring it for the past 2 days and its been out everytime. I even tried hitting it to see if its somthing loose.

Also I mentioned that theres a squeeking / rattling noises comming from the driver and passenger windows when closed its due to the windows rubbing against the side stripping. Cuz when I lube it it stops. And they said they cannot duplicate that either.

So makes me sound like I'm an idiot taking it in and none of the problems I reported are there.

 

Everytime I read an experience like that it makes me feel really sad. Sorry but I HATE dealer service, its awful.

 

figures!!
does damn gremlins at it again........

as long as its recorded youll be fine, warranty wise

 

SO its been ready for pick up but I still didnt pick up the stupid car yet. Will get it tomorrow morning instead. Doesnt work and then it works once appoitment is made and it is at the dealer in the service bay... *sigh*

 

Ok well picked up the car today. And sure enough both lights are working right now. They said they are ordering a part... Control Module of some sort. Why are they ordering a part if the lights were working fine as they claimed? I hope they really did find a problem and not just changing things out at random.

Sooooooo means I'll have to take it back again next week.

 

I have the same problem at 15K miles. Driver side xenon will not fire about 40% of the time. Mostly in cooler temperatures - like at night when you need them.

Brought it into the dealer. Same as other posts here: they replaced parts (control module) and called it fixed. Still has the same problem, but now the intermittent xenon points about two feet in front of the car.

I dread going to the dealer. But my steering wheel is pealing and drivers side leather seat is coming undone at the airbag.

Wondering if the airbag will fall out of that seam and get sucked out the window like a open parachute inside an airplane.

 

the wiring from the light module to the ignitor goes bad usally and then u will need whole new light

 

Left would not fire off for some reason. At my next service check-up, they were able to reproduce the problem and replaced the whole thing; light,lense, movement, & enclosure in all. Have not had a problem since... Have heard its rather costly fix if trouble happens beyond warranty period. FYI, also had a problem w/interior coutesy light, which was replaced at about 5K, but together with the Zenon problem, I believe both troubles have contributed to the lower MC/MCS ratings @ "Consumer Reports".

 

Ok... so it went back in again today... 4th time going in for the same problem... passenger bulb is out again. They replaced both the bulb and the control module already and it still hasnt fixed the intermittent problem. Dont know whats going on.

BUT once the tech took it to the back of the service area it was working fine and it has been working fine the whole day. Imagine that!!!! So they are keeping it over night to see if it will act up in the morning.

 

As far as I can figure its completely random. Sometimes it does not work first thing, at other times I could have had the lights on for hours, turn them off and then it won't fire.

Usually turning the lights off and on again, maybe 3-4 times, will solve the problem.

 

Random is pretty accurate...

I've tried the 3-4 flick trick and it hasnt worked for me yet... and plus I dont want to do that... it'll shorten the life of the working bulb... Man I hope they can figure it out...