My nearside headlight intermittently goes off whilst driving.
The fault has the symptoms of a loose wire or dry joint but tapping around the area of the headlight doesn't make it go off.
The light doesn't seem to go off if I hit a bump in the road or anything.
The headlights are HID type, is this a sign of the bulb going? I don't know enough about HID bulbs.

All ideas welcome.

 

when it goes off....does it come back on or stay off completely? turns back on another day?
when they are on, are both bulbs the same color? sometimes a bulb thats going will be a different color, or not as bright

it could be a problem in the connection.

 

Thats typical of an HID bulb at the end of its life, turning off and then coming back on after a few seconds to a minute or so, that along with flickering.

Stu

 

Ah, right, it does come back on intermittently too.

I'll check the colour of the lights this evening.

Is this a dealer part, or can I get them somewhere else?

What sort of price should they be?

 

Bulbs are a common auto part, not specific to Jaguar, and loads on the internet. Fitting can be a PITA, though. They are not cheap on the internet either ! Here's a UK site

Bulbs: JAGUAR JAGUAR XJ8 SALOON HID XENON 2003 (03)

 

When you find the ones you want, get two of them so they match in brightness, color, etc. I got 6000k and love them. Reasonable price compared to osram oems.

 

Only way to know for sure if its a bulb or the ballast is to swap bulbs with the other side. If it moves...its the bulb. Stay put, its the ballast. Here's a thread to help get both out of your car by yourself.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-lad5gl-89738/