Lights....Never noticed 3 months old 2007 Z4

[chrlopez]

2007 Z4

Headlights.....Their are two headlights on both sides...right? Does the inside one turn on or just around the circle? Also one of my lights is giving out a reddish hue to it....does it mean it's almost out?

[pungo]

Inner light is a dummy.
see below

Thanks to Ron. R.I.P.

[chickdr]

With all the posts on this over the years it is amazing to me how folks still come on here asking about it. A simple search would yield the answer(as well as the owners manual).

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by chrlopez

2007 Z4

Headlights.....Their are two headlights on both sides...right? Does the inside one turn on or just around the circle? Also one of my lights is giving out a reddish hue to it....does it mean it's almost out?

Welcome to the board and congrats on the car - you're gonna love it!

I'm not sure about the reddish hue - knock on wood but thus far I've had no issue with the headlights on my car. I wonder - could there perhaps be something on the headlamp causing this? Maybe a good cleaning, or use of one of the many headlight restoration kits out there (the Turtle Wax one is good in my experience) could help if that is the root cause.

[StickMon]

That's classic Xenon "pink-eye".
That's what they do when they "burn out".

Replacement bulbs is a whole 'nuther thread.
You'll get sticker shock from reliable sources like a dealer.
Beware of Amazon and eBay. Prices are much better, but you have at least a 50% chance of getting a counterfeit copy that's very poorly made and lasts about a month.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by StickMon

That's classic Xenon "pink-eye".
That's what they do when they "burn out".

Replacement bulbs is a whole 'nuther thread.
You'll get sticker shock from reliable sources like a dealer.
Beware of Amazon and eBay. Prices are much better, but you have at least a 50% chance of getting a counterfeit copy that's very poorly made and lasts about a month.

That's a shitty prognosis... although I will say sit down if you ask the dealer to price it for you lol, it may have been my mind exaggerating over and over through the years but I am thinking it was over $1k per headlight to replace.

[angelr]

I've been lucky with the replacements I've used. They're the correct spectrum and have lasted 2 years and counting so far. I can see if I can dig up the ones I bought but they were fare cheaper than oem.

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

That's a shitty prognosis... although I will say sit down if you ask the dealer to price it for you lol, it may have been my mind exaggerating over and over through the years but I am thinking it was over $1k per headlight to replace.

The entire headlight units, most likely over $1.5K per side. The xenon bulbs shouldn't be more than $140 for the pair from a legitimate source- not OE obviously. OE would most likely be over $200 per bulb

[dc_wright]

Originally Posted by StickMon

That's classic Xenon "pink-eye".
That's what they do when they "burn out".

Replacement bulbs is a whole 'nuther thread.
You'll get sticker shock from reliable sources like a dealer.
Beware of Amazon and eBay. Prices are much better, but you have at least a 50% chance of getting a counterfeit copy that's very poorly made and lasts about a month.

Correct that the pinkish hue means you have one fading. You get an indeterminate, but relatively short period of time before you get full failure of the bulb. My passenger side went from white to pink to dark over approximately 5 weeks. I replaced it with a Sylvania DS2 bought through Amazon last August. Light output and color hue match the driver side bulb going by "eyeball". I was going to replace the pair, but the driver side brightness/color is still good so I'm holding off until it gets "pink eye". Hopefully that will also give me some time stagger when the replacements eventually fail.
Note that when you search for the DS2 bulbs on Amazon you'll get about 3 dozen 3rd party sources. I purchased the bulb pair Amazon sourced directly from Sylvania and had no issues. The 3rd party sources are a coin toss as Stickmon indicated. Link for what I purchased is provided below:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by dc_wright

Correct that the pinkish hue means you have one fading. You get an indeterminate, but relatively short period of time before you get full failure of the bulb. My passenger side went from white to pink to dark over approximately 5 weeks. I replaced it with a Sylvania DS2 bought through Amazon last August. Light output and color hue match the driver side bulb going by "eyeball". I was going to replace the pair, but the driver side brightness/color is still good so I'm holding off until it gets "pink eye". Hopefully that will also give me some time stagger when the replacements eventually fail.
Note that when you search for the DS2 bulbs on Amazon you'll get about 3 dozen 3rd party sources. I purchased the bulb pair Amazon sourced directly from Sylvania and had no issues. The 3rd party sources are a coin toss as Stickmon indicated. Link for what I purchased is provided below:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Can you point out where Amazon sourced it? I only see "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com" - this doesn't necessarily mean that it's sourced directly from Sylvania. Amazon appeared to be very vague on this.

[pungo]

I recommend purchasing a pair from a reputable source and change both so they are the same color and intensity.

Many people replace them with cheap aftermarket bulbs. Most of these aftermarket bulbs don't have the UV protection to prevent damage to the reflector in the projector. The bulb may last for years, but the reflector damage dramatically effects the intensity of the light output. I've seen the damage on several lights when I had them apart to install dual LED Halos. The damage was only on headlights that had aftermarket bulbs.

There's tons more fake the real D2S bulbs.

There are plenty of web pages describing how to tell the difference between fake and authentic. Blurry text on the bulb base is a sure sign it's fake. Shop wisely and don't buy Chinese fakes.


http://www.osram.co.uk/osram_uk/pres...akes/index.jsp

[StickMon]

I lucked out and bought a pair of Philips 85122CM 5000K bulbs of eBay 4-5 years ago to have as spares for $90 /pair.
I didn't know that fake bulbs was a thing until a couple months later.
They looked OK. Passed the laugh test. Philips was spelled with 1 L and not "Phillips".

Got pink eye about a month ago and put them in.
Compared them very closely with the stock bulbs and they were identical in every fine detail.

I want to replenish my spares stock.
What do you think the odds are on these:
Philips-D2S-5000K-85122CM

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by StickMon

I lucked out and bought a pair of Philips 85122CM 5000K bulbs of eBay 4-5 years ago to have as spares for $90 /pair.
I didn't know that fake bulbs was a thing until a couple months later.
They looked OK. Passed the laugh test. Philips was spelled with 1 L and not "Phillips".

Got pink eye about a month ago and put them in.
Compared them very closely with the stock bulbs and they were identical in every fine detail.

I want to replenish my spares stock.
What do you think the odds are on these:
Philips-D2S-5000K-85122CM

Looked at the ebay link and got a giggle out of "Genuine Germany" - as opposed to what, "Dubious Germany"?

The problem with these ebay ads is that they can show you a picture of anything, so you'll never know until the item is in your hands for examination.

[pungo]

Originally Posted by StickMon

What do you think the odds are on these:
Philips-D2S-5000K-85122CM

Really?

[chickdr]

Originally Posted by XMetal

Can you point out where Amazon sourced it? I only see "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com" - this doesn't necessarily mean that it's sourced directly from Sylvania. Amazon appeared to be very vague on this.

If you look at the link, just above the item description is says "Sylvania" in a blue hyperlink.... That is who the supplier is.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by StickMon

Philips was spelled with 1 L and not "Phillips".

I don't get it? The name brand is 1 L as well, were you expecting 2 since it is most likely a knockoff?

Originally Posted by pungo

Really?

Looks like a pretty legit knockoff if it is one (which we all know it most likely is)

[StickMon]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

I don't get it? The name brand is 1 L as well, were you expecting 2 since it is most likely a knockoff?

I was reading one of the many threads across the interwebs about how to tell if you have fake bulbs.
One of them showed a pic of a bulb that said "Phillips".

Maybe made in a basement lab by a guy named Phillip.

I agree that eBay can show you a picture of anything and then ship you something completely different.

[Efthreeoh]

I just replaced my xenons two weeks ago. I sourced OSRAM bulbs from Amazon. The package has a counterfeit foil sticker/number you can check on line to check if the bulbs are genuine. The foil sticker breaks upon opening the package.

Now about the install. I'm a very well experienced home mechanic and have been wrenching on BMWs for about 30 years. The bulb replacement on the Z4 headlights is not for a novice IMO. You need to remove the wheels to gain free access to the headlight access doors. The back cover of the headlight is a PIA to deal with if it is the first time you've worked with it. It helps if you have replaced bulbs in various cars beforehand where the bulb is held in place with spring clips. I've run Hella aftermarket globes on the various BMWs and other cars I've owned over the years, so the Z4 setup is quite similar once you get to the actual bulb. The igniter can be tricky also. It has plastic clips that lock it in place, which means you have to be careful with it.

My 2 cents.

[XMetal]

I don't quite understand the concept of counterfeit foil sticker/number check. If the counterfeiter can go through all the trouble to copy the bulbs and packagings, why can't they copy those numbers as well as bulb serial numbers and will still checked out as genuine? Amazon is starting to be like ebay - I just can't trust where they are sourcing their product anymore.

[dc_wright]

Originally Posted by XMetal

I don't quite understand the concept of counterfeit foil sticker/number check. If the counterfeiter can go through all the trouble to copy the bulbs and packagings, why can't they copy those numbers as well as bulb serial numbers and will still checked out as genuine? Amazon is starting to be like ebay - I just can't trust where they are sourcing their product anymore.

Typically the counterfeiters don't go to the trouble of creating the foil labels, and if they do they don't print them with incrementing numbers, they print a couple thousand labels with the same number which may or may not be legitimate. When the OEM sees multiple sources checking the same ID number they flag that as a potential counterfeit incident.

Originally Posted by chickdr

If you look at the link, just above the item description is says "Sylvania" in a blue hyperlink.... That is who the supplier is.

Since Amazon starting offering storefront services, they HAVE become more eBay like and you really have to research the source and pay close attention to how the source is listed. If the source is shown as Amazon.com then Amazon is the buyer and guarantor of the product. It's not an absolute guarantee, but they do put in a significant effort to avoid CF parts, and they'll fully support replacement if it turns out there is a CF issue. If it states "fulfilled by Amazon", then a 3rd party is doing the buying and Amazon is stocking and doing order fulfillment for them. If it shows the vendor then Amazon is only handing the transaction. This link shows all the various possibilities.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...&condition=all

[pungo]

Originally Posted by XMetal

I don't quite understand the concept of counterfeit foil sticker/number check. If the counterfeiter can go through all the trouble to copy the bulbs and packagings, why can't they copy those numbers as well as bulb serial numbers and will still checked out as genuine? Amazon is starting to be like ebay - I just can't trust where they are sourcing their product anymore.

My guess is if the serial number they copy gets multiple online checks, from multiple IPs, then the checking software deems them as counterfeit? I'm just guessing here, but I don't think the manufacture would bother with the effort if it was easily circumvented.

I agree that just because you order on Amazon doesn't mean you won't receive counterfeit products. There are plenty of places on Amazon that will have products shipped directly to you from China. If it's really cheap, it's probably counterfeit.

[StickMon]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

... Now about the install. ...

If you've done front turn signals a few times, you may find the HIDs easier.
I was able to do it without taking the wheels off, but I've had a lot of practice with the "puzzle box" rear covers.
I found that getting the HID bulbs out and in was a lot easier than trying to remove and replace the turn signal stalks.