Hi All,

Does any one have a suggestion of where to get replacement bulbs for the front HID headlights (other than the dealer). My right front bulb is out...........started to get really purple then completely went out.

Should I replace the two headlight bulbs at the same time or just the one that is out.

The local Jaguar dealer here in San Diego wants $200+ per bulb.

Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.

Kwon

 

Bought my brighter HID bulbs on Ebay a year ago and still good.

I have upgraded all front facing bulbs and all from Ebay.

Some people say you can replace the headlight bulbs without removing the front bumper so long as you have small hands.

I did but it is so much easier with the bumper off.

 

Thanks for the information!!!

 

Hi Kwon,

The original HID burners are Osram Xenarc D1S. They're excellent and widely available online, but be aware that many counterfeits exist, so if possible purchase from a seller you know and respect (I bought mine from Walmart.com and they seem to be authentic and perform very well). The video below gives some tips on how to tell a fake:


You'll find that new bulbs are brighter than old ones so you'll probably want to replace both at the same time. However, many owners, including myself, have found that a failing bulb was due to a failing ballast, so if a new bulb doesn't completely resolve the problem, I would suggest using the old bulb until you replace the ballast to avoid damaging the new bulb.

Cheers,

Don

 

Its very easy to swap out. Either D1s or D2s will work. Keep in mine with some after market hid bulbs. Once installed can burn out the factory ballasts. On my 2009 x358 I replaced bulbs and ballasts went out right after.

With the aftermarket ballasts everything is perfect. Also Bumper can stay on. Its way open for access.remove the plastic cover and thats half the job already

cheers

 

Evan,

I'm glad to hear that it's an easy job on the X358. On our X350 XJR there is so little room between the rear of the headlamp assemblies and the front body shell panel (where the ground studs are) that simply removing the rear headlamp cover is very fiddly. And as far as I've been able to determine, it isn't possible to replace the rear lamp cover without removing the headlamp. Replacing the bulb without removing the headlamp is possible but also fiddly. In order to replace the ballast the headlamp must be removed because the ballast is mounted on the underside of the lamp assembly.

Fortunately, it is not difficult to remove the grille and disconnect the bumper cover at just one end to allow for easy removal of the headlamp.

If you know of a secret method that makes the job easier on the X350 I would love to hear it!

Cheers,

Don

 

There are two clips holding the back cover of the headlamps on my car.

The obvious one that you can see however there is a small clip on the lower part of the cover which you cannot see with the cover on.

That lower clip, for me anyway, was impossible to replace correctly with the headlamps in place.

 

Don You are right the ballasts are mounted on the bottom of each headlight. However When they burned out on mine. I left them mounted where they are. And added the aftermarket ballasts. The wiring is right there i just test leads with a meter. However its not like I never removed my headlights as I did a full dual projector conversion with Crystal LED rings. With the x358 facelift now I know what you mean. It has to be different than mine. I have a buddy with a x350 let me see how easy it is to access and ill write back.

My high beams has a projector now as well. take a look at pics. I did everything you can possibly do to the lighting on these cars.



these pics are couple months old

 

Evan,

Your customizations make quite an impression! Nice work!

I considered using an aftermarket ballast but our '04 has the headlamp leveling solenoid built into the lamps and the 12-pin ballasts, and I decided to preserve the leveling functionality, so there was no option but to disconnect one end of the bumper cover and remove the headlamp. (The leveling is controlled by the Air Suspension Module, but the actual solenoid motor is in the headlamp).

Cheers,

Don