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CanadianWraith

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Have a problem with my aftermarket HIDs. The drivers side works great but the pass. side only works when it wants to. Went over all the wires and there are no problems there. I notice when I turn the switch off and on a few times that suddenly the pass. light starts to work. I'm thinking this is a ballast issue but I'm not sure so hopefully someone here has run into this before. Thanks all!
 
Torque

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#4 ·
It's something with the wiring on these cars that's causing it; I had the same issue on my 535, as well as a ton of other people with BMWs. A harness with a relay usually fixes the problem, but I do know of cases where not even that helped.
 
BimmerE39

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#5 ·
In my case I was able to determine it was the ballast itself. I know on some older BMW's HID ballasts have a hard time getting a charge because the wiring is too thin or something along those lines (I've never had a "real" explanation on this theory). A relay usually helps because it draws power from a better source however it tends to complicate things particularly when it comes to wire management.

You could always get a voltmeter and test to see if the ballast is putting out any power to the bulb. If it's consistently giving you the same reading then it could be the bulb.
 
Torque

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#6 ·
BimmerE39 said:
In my case I was able to determine it was the ballast itself. I know on some older BMW's HID ballasts have a hard time getting a charge because the wiring is too thin or something along those lines (I've never had a "real" explanation on this theory). A relay usually helps because it draws power from a better source however it tends to complicate things particularly when it comes to wire management.

You could always get a voltmeter and test to see if the ballast is putting out any power to the bulb. If it's consistently giving you the same reading then it could be the bulb.
Click to expand...
Yeah I have a hard time explaining it too. It's something to do with the thickness of the wire and the distance from the fusebox/relays ...

btw, If it's fired up, there wont be any fluctuation in the voltage it's putting out; I've measured that before.
 
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BimmerE39
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