Dealer just charged me $400 to change a bulb, what are my options...

[killcrap]

if you cannot do it yourself, then you gotta pay, its that simple. its not just a bulb, its a xenon bulb. and what if you purchased a bulb somewhere online, and the light still doesnt turn on? then you'll shotgun another part like an ignitor or a ballast. and if thoes dont take care of it, then LCM time. So... just a FYI the dealer does charge $170-275 for the bulb, and the standard labor charge to replace it on an x5 pre-face lift is 1hr. so did you get ripped off? no you didnt, if you dont have money dont get the car fixed.

[sunny5280]

Originally Posted by rmani

I never go to the dealer, but I had an emergency as my headlight burned out at night and I had to stop by to ask them to fix it. Little did I know what I was walking in to. They charged me $400 to change my passenger side headlight, and now I'm out not only a bunch of money, but the two headlights look different colors. The older headlight looks a lot more purpleish, which I'm guessing is just because the bulb is old, but do I have any recourse? Just how badly did I get ripped off? Where can I get a new bulb to replace the driver's side so the beams at least match again.

You could try contacting the dealer or BMWNA and letting them know how you feel about this. While I don't see that you have any legal recourse they may offer to refund a portion of the repair cost. It never hurts to ask.

[J.Belknap]

Do an eBay search for "osram 85122+" and look for seller "hidbulbzrus". This guy provides good customer service.

You'll pay around $74.00 for a pair of new Phillips Osram 85122+ bulbs.

[toshiba]

same thing happen 2 me,and service charged me only 4 the price of the xenon bulb 98 euros.they did not bill me 4 work

[black02m5]

I just added 6k hid fogs to my X. I had to replace the headlight bulbs with 6k bulbs. I couldn't do it myself. Took it to my local mechanic and they swapped them out for around $125.

[TheKingSim0n]

You learned the reason why they are officially called "Stealers" By just about all of us...

[TwinsPoppa]

OK, let's not make this a criticize/bash dealerships thread.

We've probably all been in a similar position but the important thing is that we learn from the experience. We also need to be accountable as much as the dealerships.

The dealerships play an important role, provide services and have a business to run. Not all dealerships are bad or good.

Without dealerships there would be less resources for the consumer. We would not have our beloved X without dealerships. We would not have people like weasel helping us learn, save money and make this forum enjoyable too. We wouldn't have as many jobs available. Blah, blah, blah.

Sorry, stepping down off my box now. I'm just saying let's not get too carried away.

[rmani]

thanks guys. ive been dealing with some personal stuff right now and my head just wasn't right. i feel so stupid and just lost nearly $400 but what can i do now. Learn and move on. I'm gonna pm someone on here and see if they can help. I just want the freaking lights to match.

[rmani]

Originally Posted by Engz

Oh that really sucks man. The stealership is always my last resort. I'd try to give it a try myself first then if I can't handle the work, I'd just bring it to a indy shop.

About the tails, I know what you mean about it being corroded and causes the lights to be dim. I bought new socket connector (the piece you put your bulbs in) from the dealers and cleaned the metal bracket that powers all the lights in the tail lamp and still, I had issues with it. I then bought a set of non LED tail lamps from ebay for $80 + shipping. With these lamps, instead of using that metal bracket to power all the lights, it uses wires to power them.

This is the tails I bought. They have many different ones. If you want to spend more, you can get LED ones which look a lot better. Ever since I bought these, I never had that issue ever again.

Oh about the different color head lights. Maybe your old ones are just a different color and the dealer didn't match them. Maybe you could go back and let them know that you're not happy with the results. I'm pretty sure they will be kind enough to change them for you.

What color light comes out from the dealer's bulb?

can you provide me a link to LED tails? Sounds cool I'll definitely consider a set assuming it doesn't look too aftermarket.

[NJ04e53]

wow - that is one expensive bulb.. I had replaced mine last week before my trip down NC..I called up and pick up OSRAM D2s bulb from pepboys for $100 and it matched my other xenon perfectly.. Which dealer did you go to? There's a member selling their d2s here - http://www.xoutpost.com/classifieds/...6000k-d2s.html