HID bulb exploded in housing

[gubo]

On my '04 X5 with factory Xenon, the OEM driver's side HID lowbeam bulb went out, along with Check Lowbeam warning and fog lights turning on. I opened the housing and found the bulb had exploded (catastrophic failure). I cleaned the bits of broken glass out of the projector lens, and replaced the bulb with a new Sylvania OSRAM XENARC D2S HID. However, the HID headlamp still does not light after bulb replacement, but warning message went away. Angel eyes, fogs, and halogen are all working as usual.

What might have caused the bulb to explode? And if I assume the replacement bulb is not defective, what is suspected to cause it to remain inoperable?

Any insight is appreciated.

[X5 Meister]

Was it an OEM bulb or OE bulb?

[tonycajjo]

make sure there is no cracks and what-not in the housing. any contaminants can cause the bulb to break, like water.

[gubo]

Sorry...I mistyped. It was OE bulb. Housing appeared never to have opened, and other than the glass shards, all was clean inside.

[alpac]

If the new HID does not light on you probably need to also replace your ballast

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by alpac

If the new HID does not light on you probably need to also replace your ballast

But wouldn't he get an error if the ballast was bad?

I know its a pain, because I can't count how many times I've been messing with my headlights, but I would try these in this order:

1) Try to isolate the problem. Try the new bulb in the headlight that works.

a) If it works, great then you know the bulb is good AND that you re-connected things properly. Go to Step 2.

b) If it doesn't, don't assume its bad. Put BACK the original bulb. If it doesn't, obviously, it should work so check your connections.

Once it works, try the new bulb again making sure you connected things properly. If it works, go to Step 2.

If it still doesn't work, then you know the new bulb is bad and not a connection problem. Problem solved - get a replacement for your new bulb!

2) Since the bulb is good, put it in the problem headlight. Double-check your connections and make sure to test it with the car started (not just the HL switch turned on). If it works, great - you just reconnected it improperly the first time. If it doesn't, then you know the problem is somewhere else. Go to Step 3.

3) Disconnect the battery for 30 minutes to 1 Hour. This will kinda reset the system. Reconnect your battery and turn the key to position 2. You will see the yellow 4x4 symbol on your dash. Turn the steering wheel full lock-to-lock. This will get rid of the 4x4 light. I think it has to do with initializing the steering wheel angle sensor. Turn on the HLs manually and start the car. If the HL works - great, just needed a reset!

If not, then you could try switching the ballasts between HLs but, again, I would think you would receive an error already. When first I replaced my HLs with Euros, they would not work until I actually started the car. After that I could turn the HL switch to the on position and it would work w/o starting the car.

Good luck!

[X5 Meister]

Wow, that's a great diagnostic write-up. I have much less experience in this realm and threw in the one thing that I do know and experienced myself unfortunately.... cheap Korean 'OEM' bulbs = exploded within a couple of weeks. Back to OE BMW, haven't had a problem before or since. Conclusion = stick with OE BMW.

[gubo]

Thanks for the comments, folks. I went back and tried some trial and error diagnostics as suggested and narrowed the problem to the connector. Thankfully wasn't bad igniter/ballast, since I'm just out of warranty. Single Sylvania D2S bulb cost me $137 + tax at Autozone, although I believe I could have gotten a pair for a third of that price on the internet. Regards, g