Xenon Headlights Intermittent Failure

I have been having an intermittent failure of my Xenon headlights as follows:

2003.5 M3/SMG

Started with one of the lights flickering (never both at the same time, but both headlights exihibted this behavior). It will then go "off" and then immediately restart (re-ignite with bright flash). I took the car to my dealer and they witnessed the failure and replaced the igniters.

Several months later it all started agin. This time the process would repeat itself multiple times until the lamp failed to re-ignite. The lamp failure warning light would appear on the dash. It would only restart when you turned the light switch off and then back on.

I have been back to the dealer twice and have heard the worst thing a dealer can say to an owner: "We were unable to duplicate the problem". They told me to bring in the car once the problem returned. Now common sense says that this will only happen at night - when the service department is closed, not to mention that my dealer is 80 miles away!

Anyone else have a similar problem? Have you found a solution?

Thanks in advance!

BD

Reply » Xenon Headlights Intermittent Failure

I was having a problem in my '03 330i with Xenons where the right headlight would intermittently fail (and dash indicator lamp came on). If I turned off the car and then turned it back on the headlight usually would light up just fine.

The Dealer replaced the whole headlight assembly under warranty. They had to keep my car overnight because they didn't have the part in stock. I have no clue what they did to replicate the issue but end result was them replacing the whole thing.

Reply » Xenon Headlights Intermittent Failure

Had the same problem. Dealer replaced the control module the ignitor and the bulb. It hasn't returned since.

IIRC, there's a TSB about this.

Reply » Xenon Headlights Intermittent Failure

I have an 04/03 build date and the TSB covers 03/04 to 02/05. The TSB is dated November 2005. Is there an earlier one?

Thanks,

Bob Darcey

Reply » Xenon Headlights Intermittent Failure

I had an issue with my left light sometimes not coming on (and the matching light out dashboard indiciator coming on). Dealer replaced the ballast which seemed to work for awhile, but then the problem came back. This time they replaced the igniter. That seems to have done the trick. So far.

Page 1 of 1