How to Change the Ballast

[mrbmwx5]

For facelift you need to remove the bumper and headlights the ballast is sitting underneath the headlights.

[WANGCH]

Originally Posted by mrbmwx5

For facelift you need to remove the bumper and headlights the ballast is sitting underneath the headlights.

thank you very much, but i have removed the bumper and the headlights, but finally i found that this is not a headlight problem, refer to my post, i exchanged the driver side headlight and the passenger side headlight, they all worked well at the passenger side, they all did not work at the driver side, obviously the problem came with the driver side's harness or fuse, i checked the fuses with no. 2 , 9, 61 in the glove box, all the fuses works well.

It really bothered me a lot.

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by WANGCH

thank you very much, but i have removed the bumper and the headlights, but finally i found that this is not a headlight problem, refer to my post, i exchanged the driver side headlight and the passenger side headlight, they all worked well at the passenger side, they all did not work at the driver side, obviously the problem came with the driver side's harness or fuse, i checked the fuses with no. 2 , 9, 61 in the glove box, all the fuses works well.

It really bothered me a lot.

Well, if you swapped headlights (connected the passenger HL to the driver side) and it didn't work but when you did the opposite (placed the driver HL to passenger side) and it worked .... then it does seem there's a problem in the harness wiring/connector.

I'm assuming EVERYTHING worked on the passenger side (xenon, angel eye, turn, DRL) and NOTHING worked on the driver side (No xenon, no AE, no turn no DRL). If so, then definitely check the connector and the harness for any cut/s breaks etc. Seems like the driver side is not getting any POWER.

I would take it to the dealer or your indy shop if you can't find anything obvious. I don't think there are separate fuses just for the HLs. Check all your fuses anyways.

Did you have any work done recently? Maybe they did something accidentally. Did YOU do any work prior to the failure?

- Jose

[WANGCH]

Originally Posted by TwinsPoppa

Well, if you swapped headlights (connected the passenger HL to the driver side) and it didn't work but when you did the opposite (placed the driver HL to passenger side) and it worked .... then it does seem there's a problem in the harness wiring/connector.

I'm assuming EVERYTHING worked on the passenger side (xenon, angel eye, turn, DRL) and NOTHING worked on the driver side (No xenon, no AE, no turn no DRL). If so, then definitely check the connector and the harness for any cut/s breaks etc. Seems like the driver side is not getting any POWER.

I would take it to the dealer or your indy shop if you can't find anything obvious. I don't think there are separate fuses just for the HLs. Check all your fuses anyways.

Did you have any work done recently? Maybe they did something accidentally. Did YOU do any work prior to the failure?

- Jose

Jose thank you for your attention. actually at the driver side, only NO XENON lights, the AE or TURN or DRL all works well.

and prior to the faulure, i did nothing to the car, after several days of heavy rain, it suddenly happened only to the Xenon light?

thanks

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by WANGCH

Jose thank you for your attention. actually at the driver side, only NO XENON lights, the AE or TURN or DRL all works well.

and prior to the faulure, i did nothing to the car, after several days of heavy rain, it suddenly happened only to the Xenon light?

thanks

If its only the xenon bulb then I'd try using the driver side headlight connected like normal.

Then try these in order and continue down the list ONLY if it still doesn't work properly:

1. Switch xenon bulb only from the passenger HL to driver side.

2. Put back the driver side xenon bulb back and switch igniter ONLY from the passenger side to the driver side HL.

3. Switch BOTH the xenon bulb and the igniter from the passenger HL to the driver side HL.

4. Connect the passenger HL to driver side harness. If the mainbeam (xenon) is the only one not working then it would seem that there is a wiring harness/connector problem o nthe driver side.

The power feed to the AE is the same for the xenon (internally in the headlight). So, if the AE works then the xenon should work unless something INSIDE the HL itself is bad.

BTW ... when I changed my HLs to Euros they would NOT come on initially until I STARTED the car - not just turn the HL switch all the way on. Just something to keep in mind.

Try those and report back.

Also, check here to make sure you're installing the bulb and igniter properly:
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...tructions.html

[WANGCH]

Originally Posted by TwinsPoppa

If its only the xenon bulb then I'd try using the driver side headlight connected like normal.

Then try these in order and continue down the list ONLY if it still doesn't work properly:

1. Switch xenon bulb only from the passenger HL to driver side.

2. Put back the driver side xenon bulb back and switch igniter ONLY from the passenger side to the driver side HL.

3. Switch BOTH the xenon bulb and the igniter from the passenger HL to the driver side HL.

4. Connect the passenger HL to driver side harness. If the mainbeam (xenon) is the only one not working then it would seem that there is a wiring harness/connector problem o nthe driver side.

The power feed to the AE is the same for the xenon (internally in the headlight). So, if the AE works then the xenon should work unless something INSIDE the HL itself is bad.

BTW ... when I changed my HLs to Euros they would NOT come on initially until I STARTED the car - not just turn the HL switch all the way on. Just soemthign to keep in mind.

Try those and report back.

Also, check here to make sure you're isntalling the bulb and igniter properly:
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...tructions.html

Dear Twinspoppa, i must thank you very much for your earlier post, i just learned from this thread step by step to remove the front bumper and take out all the headlights assembly, i exchanged the bulb, igniter and the ballast, they all worked well at the passenger side, finally i exchanged the headlights assembly, the Xenon lights worked well at the passenger side, so i judged that there is no problem with the headlight itself, it maybe problem with the harness, but as you told the power to the Xenon light also supplied the power to AE and turn lights, i really confused. it is so amazing!

thanks again for your help.

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by WANGCH

Dear Twinspoppa, i must thank you very much for your earlier post, i just learned from this thread step by step to remove the front bumper and take out all the headlights assembly, i exchanged the bulb, igniter and the ballast, they all worked well at the passenger side, finally i exchanged the headlights assembly, the Xenon lights worked well at the passenger side, so i judged that there is no problem with the headlight itself, it maybe problem with the harness, but as you told the power to the Xenon light also supplied the power to AE and turn lights, i really confused. it is so amazing!

thanks again for your help.

Okay, if I understand you correctly, you swapped driver side internals into the passenger HL and it worked fine. You also connected the drive side HL to the passenger side and everything worked properly.

Well, did you try the PASSENGER HL on the driver side? Did everything work EXCEPT the xenon? If that was the case, then it would seem the wiring harness/connector on the driver side. I would let a shop/dealer take a look at it and explain what you already tried and share your results.

If there was no problem with the passenger HL on the driver side harness, then the problem ... could be a combination of HL and harness. Maybe something loose.

Really sounds weird and would not be surprised if you were very frustrated ... I know I would.

[WANGCH]

Originally Posted by TwinsPoppa

Okay, if I understand you correctly, you swapped driver side internals into the passenger HL and it worked fine. You also connected the drive side HL to the passenger side and everything worked properly.

Well, did you try the PASSENGER HL on the driver side? Did everything work EXCEPT the xenon? If that was the case, then it would seem the wiring harness/connector on the driver side. I would let a shop/dealer take a look at it and explain what you already tried and share your results.

If there was no problem with the passenger HL on the driver side harness, then the problem ... could be a combination of HL and harness. Maybe something loose.

Really sounds weird and would not be surprised if you were very frustrated ... I know I would.

Jose, you never know what happened to this strange light, i have an electrical engineer, so i asked him to check the harness, first he checked the passenger side light, he wanted to record each wire's voltage and compare with the driver side light ( bad light), but after a few checking at the passenger side, then suddenly the driver side light turns on.

it is so amazing!! but i found a strange thing, the driver sider xenon light showed a light yellow not white as the passenger side. does it mean there is problem with the bulb?

another thing happened again, after 5 minutes, i started the car again and turn on the lights, the xenon light at driver side went off again!!!

wow, this is really a big head-ache, i will search for the solution this week.

and did anyone has the headlights assembly connectors' pin definition? i may check the connector step by step.

[mtX5]

could it be a short?

[WANGCH]

i do not know really, maybe tomorrow i shall chang all things again for the final checking before sending to dealer's shop for repairing.