Headlight Question
 

Hey guys,

So I noticed one of my low beam headlights wasn't turning on anymore, so I finally took the time to open it up and look into it. It seems that the part you attach the HID bulb to seem to short circuit and burned a little. Ran a little test, turning the low beams on and off and it seems to spark a little bit so to be safe i don't run the low beams..

I was wondering what options I have here;
I could either find a new HID ballast control unit or buy a new headlight (but with this option, I'd have to find one with a ballast the functions, right?)

http://i.imgur.com/81EQpzi.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/tdt5V1G.jpg

I thought about upgrading to a new unit with AE, such as 1998 2003 BMW x5 E53 Black Halo Angel Eyes Projector Headlight Signal Lamps Set | eBay
or Dual Halo Projector Headlights Black BMW E53 x5 01 03 | eBay

but what i've seen is that some of these headlight require me to use my original ballast control unit or say that These Headlights ARE NOT Compatible with Factory Xenon H.I.D. System.. which i'm sure I do have ..

Any tips would be great,

Thanks!

You can switch ballasts with the other side headlight to confirm that is the problem.

If it is and you just want to get it working again, there are a lot of used ballasts on ebay. I got one there for my left headlight a few years ago.

Upgraded AE lights usually have projectors that are made for halogen bulb bases. You can retrofit a D2S projector in those and use your existing parts.

You can also buy hid bulbs with halogen bases and use aftermarket ballasts.

I am not sure if there are adapters that can go between the factory d2s ballast and halogen based hid capsule, that's another option if you go aftermarket AE lights.

Oh I wasn't aware that AE lights usually have projectors that are made for halogen bulb bases..

Do you remember the price of the ballast you bought on eBay? I actually have to replace it on my left headlight as well

I was thinking of actually just buying a used ballast on eBay, compatible with my car. But, if I saw a headlight assembly with AE lights, I would debate on buying those instead. but the whole halogen vs stock HIDs issue..

thank you for your tip

I bought a used ballast for my 04 facelift which uses a different ballast than yours, got it for around $80 IIRC. But I saw ones like yours for pretty much the same at the time. A brand new one was about $235 then.

Get the part number of your ballast over at BMW Parts Catalog then plug it in on ebay, you should get a ton of hits. IIRC a few different brands of cars actually used that particular ballast so it's fairly common.

I just checked and it seems there are adapters to mate your factory D2 plug with an aftermarket halogen based hid bulb (Amp to D2 adapter). So you can buy factory ballasts and get your factory lights working now, and if you get AE assemblies in the future you can buy rebased capsules and the adapter and make it work, or replace the AE projectors with a D2S ones and just transfer the stock bulb and plug in the stock ballast.

thanks for helping out, really appreciate it

No prob man, hope you get that sorted out