Headlight bulb replacement

[ejr13]

I need to replace the right front headlamp bulb (yes I'll replace both . Are there any better choices than the OEM bulb? BTW the lights are the regular halogen not Xenon.
Thanks.

 

[Houm_WA]

Of course they're not Xenon. HID lamps are arc lamps and don't have filaments that burn out. They can fail but by my calculations we won't see a nominal failure of an HID headlamp until about 350,000+ miles...

 

[nwoods]

I replaced both of my low beam bulbs with H7 sized HID's. They plugged right into my existing harness (well, the pigtail from the ballast module plugged into the existing harness). Best $300 I ever spent. There is a thread on hear about 6 months ago with specific info.

 

[ryan-in-oregon]

I had goodluck with sylvania Silver Star Ultra bulbs in my former BMW. Didn't do well in the fogs on that car but the lowbeams/highbeams work really well. You do want to change both as the silverstars are closer to pure white then a standard halogen bulb.
Ryan
05 LR3

 

[codemonkey]

I like the silver stars too, after using them on several cars & motorcycles (though not yet the LR3). They're legal for those that care, brigher, and a decent white without being overly blue.

 

[ejr13]

Thanks for the help. I think I'll try out the H7's.

 

[nashvegas]

I know this post is about halogens on LR3s but info above is a little misleading. The HID light "bulbs" do burn out / go dim / stop working. Pretty frequently actually.

I was surprised that I had to replace on on our 2006 Audi A6 (bi xenon adaptive / swivelling similar to my rover's). Expect to pay 100 bucks + per bulb depending on where you buy them and what type of vehicle I was most irritated that the car was about 14 months old and Audi would not cover the replacement.

And at my land rover dealer's parts counter, they have the bulbs for 250 bucks or something for the newish rovers with HIDs. Ouch ! !

 

[Houm_WA]

HID "bulbs" do not burn out in the way that incandescent (Halogen or otherwise) burn out. There is no filament that can fracture. However, there can be a failure at the anode or cathode, that can and does occur after some time. What I said above is that the NOMINAL life is about 12,000 hours (for me this equates to roughly 350,000 miles). What happened with your A6 was atypical of this technology and probably should've been covered under warranty.

 

[gtc]

I've done 2 HIDs in my BMW in the 6 years that I've owned it (car is now 8 years old); the car has around 100k miles on it. Cheap and easy DIY, if you grab bulbs from eBay. One bulb may not have been a normal failure as I had to replace the ignitor (sometimes considered part of the ballast) as well. I ended up replacing the whole unit (~$130 used) as I couldn't easily diagnose and BMW was no help - other then a quote for $1200!!!!

 

[nwoods]

BMW = Break My Wallet