hey guys,
My passenger low beam went out awhile back and finally found some replacements that were not he Philips over priced originals. Plugged in the bulb and nothing. Thought it might be a bad batch, so I swapped out the good bulb from the other side and nothing. Also I thought I'd check the new bulb out and it was fine on the functioning side. Ideas??

prsquash wrote:hey guys,
My passenger low beam went out awhile back and finally found some replacements that were not he Philips over priced originals. Plugged in the bulb and nothing. Thought it might be a bad batch, so I swapped out the good bulb from the other side and nothing. Also I thought I'd check the new bulb out and it was fine on the functioning side. Ideas??

Do you have HIDs or Halogens? I'm assuming HID because halogen is rare in our cars that I've seen, and I think our factory HID bulbs are Philips. I would say either your ballast is bad, or somewhere along the way your wires to your headlights are fried. But my best bet would be bad ballast.

If you have FB, there is a group called Headlight Junkies, of which I am a member. Most people there know way more than I do, so if you join and pose this question, somebody will likely have a better explanation. They build HID setups from scratch in there and are very knowledgeable about ballasts, wiring, bulbs, etc.

Ballast. Turn the lights on with the engine off and have your head near the headlight (have someone else turn the lights on). You should hear a hum. If you don't: ballast. The hum will dissipate after about 5-10 seconds.

I'm going with ballast replacement but I looked at the video posted for bulb and ballast replacement and ballast not shown. Connector disapears into bulb housing area...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShSW-Vq7T1M
Can't see the unit so what do I need to take apart to get at it??

The ballast is typically on the underside of the headlight. So you'll need to remove the wheel, wheel well plastic on that side to reach it.

Thanks for the info. Quick question. Can I DIY replace the control arm and lower table ball joints and bushings? Heard it is possible on the Gs but getting the parts is the challenge

I don't see why not. I don't know if anyone here has documented the process though.

can you use an alternative as in the third party aftermarket hid bulbs

Way to hide a suspension question in a headlight post. Lol
So have you sorted out your lighting issue?

prsquash wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 30, 2018 5:00 pm

... Can I DIY replace the control arm and lower table ball joints and bushings? Heard it is possible on the Gs but getting the parts is the challenge

The answer to replacing your bushings and balljoints is NO. As of this date, there are no known serviceable parts for the M (for the front at least). I have seen pictures of individual ball joints, but I guarantee it will not be a DIY-friendly activity. I have also seen bushings, but again it depends on which bushings and which specific control arms you're referring to.

daurislittle wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 09, 2019 8:44 am

can you use an alternative as in the third party aftermarket hid bulbs

Myself and others always recommend a company called The retrofit Source. They have an excellent website that show you all the options for headlamps based on your bulb size. For D2S bulbs I like the Osrams. The Xenarc 66240 CBI series is an amazing upgrade to the OEM bulb. They br4un about $100 per pair and provide near-daylight brightness well out in front of your car. If that is too rich a price, I recommend the Phillips 85122 or the Osram 'classic' 66240 bulbs. Both are excellent upgrades to OEM.
Either way, buying from The Retrofit Source, you are sure to be getting bulbs direct form the factory. About 80% of bulbs sold by Amazon, Ebay, etc are fake or cheap replicas of the actual product and were not obtained at the factory. They come from China and other places that copy very closely the bulb, boxes, and labels. They cost less, because they ARE less.

*** I really should get a stipend form these folks. I have sent them so much biz. ***

thanks for the info guys. Get this though, new bulbs didn't work so I tried ballasts. Got left out without too much hassle but right side was gonna take the light to come out so took my left to buddy selling used light parts, he tested the ballast I brought, turned out to be good.hmmmm so I bought only one used,$100, then brought it to other buddy doing the checking. I left the original ballast and purchased one with him for the day. He said next day that got one side working, with new bulb I bought, but left still didn't work even with replacement ballast! We went over it again and when putting around with the "working" one, it stopped. Played a bit with the connectors and voila, on then off. Power wire to connectors had built up corrosion and were causing the issues. Spent soon much time and money. Managed to return 4bulbs but have spare ballast now!!

Thanks for the info guys. Turns out it was the connector. Both eventually went out so took everything out and found connector corrosion was the issue. Thanks for the answers though and sorry to reply soooo late..