Simple E85 HID Full Replacement?

[ZAmateur]

Hi guys. I've searched this and other forums and read several threads, but I am still unsure of what to do.

I purchased a 2007 Z4 to have for occasional fun drives with the wife, and the right side head light does not turn on. I took it to the BMW service team, and they said it's either the module or the assembly that would need to be replaced. They gave me part numbers 63127162728 and 63126907488.

I'm not any good with mechanical work, so I am not comfortable just buying one module and swapping it around hoping it's the fix. But maybe that is not as hard as it seems. I also do not want to pay $1,000 for an OEM assembly on a car I drive once a month.

I've seen mentions of Spyders and LED conversions and difficulties with wiring, etc. but can't seem to find a straightforward item to buy and have installed (aside from OEM assembly).

Is there any full replacement for these lights nowadays in the US? Or any simple, not exorbitant solution that would allow me to drive at night? I'd prefer to replace both sides at once of course.

Thank you for any enlightenment and I apologize if there is an answer to this and I've missed it in my searches.

[mmm-five]

Have they said whether it's a failed bulb, failed igniter or failed ballast?

You can buy them all separately (ballast being the cheapest) - but may require removal of bumper to make some replacements simpler.

I've heard of the Morimoto kit before, but have no direct experience of it, as mine just needed a new ballast as it was flooded (did both sides at the same time).

[Roadroach]

OP - if one headlight is functional and the other is not, just swap parts (left to right) to determine which needs to be replaced.

I'm assuming you have the bi-xenon headlights. They have 3 main components:

- D2S xenon bulb (Philips bulb is about $40 on amazon)
- the igniter (BMW Hella igniter is about $60 on amazon)
- ballast control module (controller is about $50).

You can access the igniter and bulb through the access panel in the wheelwell liner. It can be done with the tire on and the steering wheel turned all the way in but you may find it easier to get the ABS plastic cover off of the back of the headlight assembly if you jack the car up and take the tire off. Trickiest most annoying part (for me anyway) is getting that cover off of, and back on, the headlight assembly. The rest of it is cake.

The xenon bulb mounts to the igniter, so to change the bulb, you need to take the igniter out anyway. It's probably about a 90% chance that your problem is either the bulb or the igniter.

The ballast controller is mounted on the BOTTOM of the headlight assembly. The easiest way to get to that is to remove the headlight, which will require you to take off the front bumper cover (which is actually, all things considered, pretty easy). When reinstalling the bumper cover, don't forget to reconnect your foglights (speaking from experience.....)

Honestly, fixing your headlight assembly, as a DIY project, is not all that difficult and will let you save a bunch of $$$.

[ZAmateur]

Thank you both for this great information.

I had originally purchased D2S bulbs hoping for an easy fix, but they did not work. So perhaps I can hope it's narrowed down to igniter or ballast/module?

I actually just found my printout from the tech, which reads:

"Tried swapping headlight bulb and igniter to right side from left, still didnt work."

This makes me think ballast/module if the working left side igniter/bulb no longer worked in the right. Maybe next step is just a new ballast?

Can anyone point to a specific product that will match this application? Is this one correct? https://www.amazon.com/HID-Xenon-Hea.../dp/B07B9LKMV6

[rsutoratosu]

Just FYI, consider replacing or recondition that headlight cover... usually once you remove it, the seal is ruin after all these years and it will start condensation in the winter..

Cover are part 63126928413, 63126928414

I would buy from fcp euro, price are great and you can return these when you need to replace them, life time warranty.
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...er-63126928414


With your old set, there was a guy on fb group that scrape off the old seal and put new window foam seal on it.. if you want to save them and not send to land fill, that's an option.

[rsutoratosu]

Real oem is great to get part # off.

Ballast is part 3 ? if so same place, fcp https://www.fcpeuro.com/Parts/?keywords=%0963126907489

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=63_0766

[mmm-five]

Part #3 is the igniter.

You want part #2…the control unit/ballast.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/Parts/?keywords=63126907488

I have only replaced mine once in 160,000 miles, but mine were about $100 for Hella ones over 5 years ago, so the current price of non-BMW branded ones doesn’t sound terrible…especially considering the whole xenon unit (not including the ballast/igniter) used to be available for £500, but they’re over double that now.

[ZAmateur]

Just wanted to update this thread, as I managed to fix my light problem this morning. The issue was my HID Control Module, not the Igniter/ballast.

I purchased this item from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Incidentally, I also had a halo bulb out on one side, so I replaced those with the following item: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

On the halo bulbs, I was able to remove the old bulbs and cut a small nick in the plastic housing to allow the new bulbs to be inserted. Very simple and no need to replace that housing piece.

Thanks for a few guides, I was able to remove my bumper, remove my headlight assembly and install the new Control Module. Took me a few hours to figure it all out, but a second attempt would go much more quickly. Saved me quite a bit of money.

Thanks to everyone who contributed and helped me out.

[pungo]

Originally Posted by ZAmateur

Just wanted to update this thread, as I managed to fix my light problem this morning. The issue was my HID Control Module, not the Igniter/ballast.

I purchased this item from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Great you got it fixed on your own and with the help of the forum

Just so you know, the part you replaced contains the ballast, so you actually did replace the ballast.

[mmm-five]

Just make sure you get your headlight aim adjusted as it will be messed up since you took the headlights/motor off.