Random Low Beam Xenon gremlins (both sides flickering then stay on)...

[Ricky Bobby]

Yeah no extra ballasts - but you ended up replacing ballasts and the LCM?

The pre-facelift ballasts are a pain in the ass because they have that special grommet on the low beam bulb that the E39 versions don't, but they are the same ballast -

[jsoto]

Yeah, but different issues/repair.

LCM when the car was turned off, brakes, tails and if memory calls, lows would not turn off. When the car was turned on, engaging the lights on and then switching them off, the lights would turn off, but the minute the engine was off, they all came back on. I sortas remember putting a movers blanket over the hood as it was blaringly bright in the garage, etc....



The ballast change was a seperate gremlin though.

You issue does not sound LCM related.
But I can't recall the root cause/symptoms. etc, but I do recall the gremlins went away immediate after changing the ballast

[Ricky Bobby]

Yeah its almost as if there is a voltage drop from the ballast or something which makes the LCM shut down both headlights and does some sort of warm monitoring/bulb checks - you're right most of the LCM problems I have read have been random and lights staying on or not coming on at all, dash lighting problems, etc -

I'll have to dig in DIS, I doubt there is any troubleshooting for the ballast - Did you buy new from dealer or go with another used? Theres a pair on Ebay look in good shape for $190, new is $450 :eek:

[jsoto]

I was running LW branded ballast. I changed all 6 to Morimotos...

[Ricky Bobby]

Hmmm that's not a bad idea - I had not thought of replacing the factory Hella with a Morimoto -

[jsoto]

One disclaimer. It's not a direct fit onto the HL bracket, so some weekend warrior engenuity might be required. It's smaller than OE

[Ricky Bobby]

Well personally I don't think this ballast would be slowly dying it's death over a few years - I contacted an electronics repair (MyAirbags) service in Georgia and they informed me they would repair the LCM for $75 including return shipping back to me. I may go this route because I wonder sometimes about these 13+ year old electronics and something stupid and microscopic as a bad solder joint on the circuit board could be causing this.

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Well personally I don't think this ballast would be slowly dying it's death over a few years - I contacted an electronics repair (MyAirbags) service in Georgia and they informed me they would repair the LCM for $75 including return shipping back to me. I may go this route because I wonder sometimes about these 13+ year old electronics and something stupid and microscopic as a bad solder joint on the circuit board could be causing this.

Be sure they were aware that this LCM (IV?) has the waterproofing membrane over the whole thing. Some module repair companies won't touch them because of that. I ran into that when contacting companies.

[Ricky Bobby]

Fuck - I'll have to email them to ask if they are aware this is the LCM IV - I hope they were aware

[Ricky Bobby]

Now this is even weirder. Sitting behind a car at the stoplight today my right side bulb did the off/on sequence just on that side (3 times off, then stayed on) - no check low beam error this time.

I'll check the ground on the ballast but it should be fine. This is so weird.