upgrading to 55w ballast
 

I'm starting to have problems with my oem ballast so I'm thinking now is a good time to go with a 55w ballast, but I've noticed my oem ballast uses a 5 pin plug and aftermarket ballast uses 9006 plug :dunno:

Why would you go up to a 55w ballast and not stay with stock wattage? For what its worth the Hella projectors in our cars throw a ton of foreground and 55w is not going to be a huge upgrade IMO.

A fresh set of D2S bulbs and new replacement ballasts if you need it would be wiser IMO. Do you have pre or facelift E53? If facelift, its Hella Gen IV and those have integrated igniters.

I'd recommend the Morimotos for a price affordable replacement, you MAY need the canbus modules in line, I'm not sure.

Morimoto XB35 OEM HID D2S Ballasts xenon D2S D2R AMP Denso Matsushita Bosch Hella Ballast 3Five 5Five

my question is if aftermarket ballast comes with a 9006 plug how do you wire it up to the oem ballast if it comes with a 5 pin plug

My OEM ballast has a 9006 plug with the D2S head going to the bulb.

Do you have facelift E53 if so that does come with Hella Gen IV ballasts which are wired differently than Hella Gen III

Hmmm...this will be interesting to see if this mystery is revealed. :D

Most oem ballasts for the X53 use the 9006 grey plug.
however, just buying a ballast won't do the trick.

The 55W ballasts we use make a marked improvement in our tests for light output on regular 35W bulbs.
Most OEM 35W bulbs are actually rated for a maximum of 60W of input without significant degradation in longevity.

However you will need an adapter to work with the AMP connector to D2S bulb.
D2S Adapters from AMP Connector [D2Sadpt01] - $29.99 : Umnitza|BMW Angel Eyes|LED Angel Eyes|Headlights|Lighting|Performance|Service|87748 66489

55W ballast link
Factory Canbus 35W and 50W Xenon Replacement Ballast [msbpb] - $34.99 : Umnitza|BMW Angel Eyes|LED Angel Eyes|Headlights|Lighting|Performance|Service|87748 66489

It must not be the ballast I'm looking at

Interesting... I've been noticing my factory HID lights lacking when compared to newer BMW HID light output and especially compared to Acura's lighting.
I wondered if light components are getting tired and new bulbs would help with more usable light output?

Mike if your X5 is a 2005 then I'm assuming your bulbs are original? At 10 years old and probably with many km of usage on them, they are probably at about half their original brightness.

Replace the pair with OEM Philips or Osram bulbs at 4300K (under $100 for the pair) and trust me you will see a big improvement.

Newer Acura is using LED lights, which I always want to retrofit into my E53. Still no avail on the market. :dunno: