Replacing the bulb on factory fitted Xenon?

[steveatpipex]

Following previous posts about one of my factory fitted xenon headlights randomly going on and off when the lights were on, I identified it was a bulb problem by swapping over the bulbs - the problem following the bulb.
I ordered a pair of D2S HID Xenon replacement bulbs specifically for factory fitted xenon lights, the same brightness rating as standard (not from an MB dealer)
I replaced both bulbs, and switched on. Both lights lit up but the right hand one flickered slightly. I switched off, returned to the the car a couple hours later and during a short journey i got a warning that the right hand dipped beam had gone off. Sure enough, it had . I swapped over bulbs, the light still did not work. I put back in the original and still it did not work.

The original fault was cured by the replacement bulbs but something else is knackered now in the true way of things!

By my reckoning it can only be a faulty Ballast or a faulty HID lead - the ballast would be an awful coincidence rolleyes: ) or does anybody know if the HID leads are easily broken inside - are they wire or carbon inside, for example? I am thinking maybe its more fragile than i thouight and damaged it during the new bulb install?

Has anybody else had similar problem or experience at changing the ballast/HID lead/Bulbs on a W209? ANy suggestions welcome, if all else fails I'll order a new ballast and attempt a change next weekend.
So much for Xenon being far more reliable - if they had been Halogen, 2 minutes and £5 would have seen it fixed!

 

[lynall]

I dropped of a kerb the othe day hitting the large crossmember under the engine, causing the offside lamp to go out and bulb warning came on.

Simple fix for a change the lead had came off .

Your ballast fix sounds the most logical.

Might be worth buying one of the cheapo hid kits so you will get 2 ballasts, probably for less than the price of one from mercedes.

What are your hid lamps like? mine dont seem very good to me whereas as my wifes w203 are much better much brighter and better light spread.



Lynall

 

[steveatpipex]

Thanks for that - I have spotted a ballast for £29.99 on line - after all the original MB part has only lasted three and a half years since new so probably not worth paying whatever they want for the part.
As regards brightness these are the first Xenon lights i have ever had and they seem bright enough to me but I have nothing to compare them with sorry. To be safe i just replaced the bulbs with pattern bulbs of the same temperature.
What I will say is that I would never pay for them as an option - 99% of my driving is under streetlights and the other 1% theres always cars travelling in the opposite direction which prevents me making the most of them. TBH they've proven to be more bother than they are worth becasue of this bulb issue