Audi A6 C7 xenon bulb replacement

upperchurchman

Hi, the xenon bulb on my Audi A6(2013) has blown. I contacted my local Audi garage and they want €300 + labour to replace same(which seems really excessive). I went to halfords and got them to fit a bulb and when they fitted same the bulb just blew again. The bulb is a D3S I think. Does anyone have any idea as to what could be wrong, or where would be a good place to take same in the limerick tipperary Kilkenny areas?

biko

Not a DIY effort, moved to main forum.

Neilw

You could buy the bulb online and fit it yourself, D3S are about €70 each iirc.

upperchurchman

Neilw wrote: »

You could buy the bulb online and fit it yourself, D3S are about €70 each iirc.

Thanks NeilW!
I suppose my main concern is that the halfords guy actually fitted 2 new bulbs on the same side and both blew when switched on! Could this be a ballast problem or could it be the quality of bulb from halfords?

Neilw

upperchurchman wrote: »

Thanks NeilW!
I suppose my main concern is that the halfords guy actually fitted 2 new bulbs on the same side and both blew when switched on! Could this be a ballast problem or could it be the quality of bulb from halfords?

Xenon lights consist of the bulb, ballast and igniter. Since you've ruled out the bulb it could be one of the other two.
You could swap from the other good light to figure out what the problem part is.

I wouldn't bring it to Audi to do it, they will charge a fortune unless the car is under warranty.

upperchurchman

Neilw wrote: »

Xenon lights consist of the bulb, ballast and igniter. Since you've ruled out the bulb it could be one of the other two.
You could swap from the other good light to figure out what the problem part is.

I wouldn't bring it to Audi to do it, they will charge a fortune unless the car is under warranty.

Would anyone here know of any garages which specialize in Audi in the limerick tipperary Kilkenny region?

ironclaw

upperchurchman wrote: »

Thanks NeilW!
I suppose my main concern is that the halfords guy actually fitted 2 new bulbs on the same side and both blew when switched on! Could this be a ballast problem or could it be the quality of bulb from halfords?

Both? Thats kinda of odd. Are they both Xenon bulbs?

upperchurchman

ironclaw wrote: »

Both? Thats kinda of odd. Are they both Xenon bulbs?

Yes both D3S bulbs. I'm not sure what brand they were. The Halfords chap fitted both on the left side. When either didn't work he didn't charge for same.

Tropheus

Two xenon bulbs on the same side doesn't seem right. There should only be one xenon bulb on each side. Even if they are bi-xenons (which I think yours are), there's still only one on each side as the same bulb provides light for high and low beam.

With xenons, it's best to replace them in pairs as the colour temperature can be different. It is a DIY job and I've done it twice on my 03 C5 Allroad at this stage. However, as said above, you need to be fully sure the bulb is the problem.

colm_mcm

Hhalfords fitted 2 different new bulbs. They both blew.

ironclaw

colm_mcm wrote: »

Hhalfords fitted 2 different new bulbs. They both blew.

But like Tropheus said, its highly usual for two Xenons to be on one side. I'd be very suspect of a wiring loom that was blowing bulbs if both bulbs are different, sounds like a deeper issue.

What was your charge in Halfords OP? Are you sure it was two Xenon bulbs?

bazz26

People are reading this wrong ~ they fitted a new xenon bulb and that blew straight away, they then fitted another xenon bulb and that blew also straight away.

Special Circumstances

It's like the twilight zone in here lads.

My understanding of it is...
Original bulb failed.
Halfords fitted a new bulb. This failed immediately.
Halfords fitted another new bulb. This failed immediately.
Halfords gave up. No charge.


There is a metal box somewhere near the light that transforms 12v up to the voltages needed for Xenons. My guess is the problem is with that ballast box. Technically a ballast/igniter combo I suppose.

Eric Cartman

the igniter comes with a d3s bulb, so I wouldn't worry about that, could be a faulty ballast.

that said, I don't know if halfords sell d3s's , and in terms of online , Ive never seen one worth buying for less than 75-80 euro.

grogi

Eric Cartman wrote: »

the igniter comes with a d3s bulb, so I wouldn't worry about that, could be a faulty ballast.

that said, I don't know if halfords sell d3s's , and in terms of online , Ive never seen one worth buying for less than 75-80 euro.

Osram D3s on azon - around 60 euro shipped.

Eric Cartman

grogi wrote: »

Osram D3s on azon - around 60 euro shipped.

definitely real ? a lot of fake osram stuff about.

upperchurchman

bazz26 wrote: »

People are reading this wrong ~ they fitted a new xenon bulb and that blew straight away, they then fitted another xenon bulb and that blew also straight away.

Yes buzz!!

They fitted 1 and it blew and then a second 1 and this also blew! The fault is showing a replacement bulb is needed. Halfords didn't charge as they attempted to fit same. I presume that if I had gotten the bulb and replaced same I would have no comeback.

upperchurchman

bazz26 wrote: »

People are reading this wrong ~ they fitted a new xenon bulb and that blew straight away, they then fitted another xenon bulb and that blew also straight away.

Thanks Bazz26 you are right.

colm_mcm

what exactly is included in the €300 audi want?

Eric Cartman

colm_mcm wrote: »

what exactly is included in the €300 audi want?

hopefully a tub of vaseline

bazz26

Just a replacement bulb fitted I'd say. There is probably an hour's labour included in that price.

jsd1004

Eric Cartman wrote: »

hopefully a tub of vaseline

I love the way people think a xenon bulb should be the same price as a halogen bulb from a main dealer. Main dealers are expensive and so are xenon lights. That is why they are a 2k option :rolleyes:

colm_mcm

lol

Eric Cartman

jsd1004 wrote: »

I love the way people think a xenon bulb should be the same price as a halogen bulb from a main dealer. Main dealers are expensive and so are xenon lights. That is why they are a 2k option :rolleyes:

it shouldn't be but come on, on a bulb which is 100 quid retail, 150 should be sufficient for installing one and all.

300 is just madness for it, the wholesale cost of them is probably 65-70 euro so they're clearing 230+ euro for 10 minutes work.

upperchurchman

Eric Cartman wrote: »

it shouldn't be but come on, on a bulb which is 100 quid retail, 150 should be sufficient for installing one and all.

300 is just madness for it, the wholesale cost of them is probably 65-70 euro so they're clearing 230+ euro for 10 minutes work.

€300 was just for the bulb and labour was extra.

Atlantic Dawn

If I was a gambler I would put the good bulb from the other side in to it, if that works fine you can take it the Halfords bulbs were bad, if it blows you now know you have a problem which has been expensively diagnosed. When you do come to a solution replace both bulbs together, saves another round of work when the other fails in the near future.

www.powerbulbs.co.uk do them for a "reasonable" price.

colm_mcm

There's a very good chance you will just blow the bulb from the other side.

upperchurchman

colm_mcm wrote: »

There's a very good chance you will just blow the bulb from the other side.

Will a garages diagnostic tool be able to trace the problem?

darragh o meara

colm_mcm wrote: »

what exactly is included in the €300 audi want?

Is take a guess and say it's just a bulb. I priced a replacement from VW for my B6 Passat with Bi-xenon and they wanted €275 just for the bulb D1S in my case and 1.5 hrs labour to fit due to bumper needing to be removed to fit bulb, at which point I was told that VW recommends replacing both at the same time

I ended up calling my local motor factors and getting a pair of Osram bulbs for about €100 and fitted them in an afternoon.

As for the O/P. Sounds like you have an issue with the ballast, this is usually on the underside of the headlamp and is a headlamp out job usually to replace it.

darragh o meara

upperchurchman wrote: »

Will a garages diagnostic tool be able to trace the problem?

I don't think it will. A quick scan with Vagcom might give you an idea but from my experience the fault is generally related to a blown bulb regardless of whether the bulb or ballast is gone as the car treats them as the one unit.

Del2005

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

If I was a gambler I would put the good bulb from the other side in to it, if that works fine you can take it the Halfords bulbs were bad, if it blows you now know you have a problem which has been expensively diagnosed. When you do come to a solution replace both bulbs together, saves another round of work when the other fails in the near future.

www.powerbulbs.co.uk do them for a "reasonable" price.

The chances of 2 Halfrods bulbs being faulty are slim. I'd be paying an auto electrician before I buy or swap any more bulbs.

dodzy

So Audi want €300 plus labour :eek: Seriously, WTF?

tossy

dodzy wrote: »

So Audi want €300 plus labour :eek: Seriously, WTF?

You wouldn't get a D3s bulb changed for much if any cheaper from any manufacturer (apart from that offer BMW had some time ago) - main dealer prices for these bulbs are crazy.

OP it sounds like you don't have a bulb problem but an igniter or ballast problem.

dodzy

tossy wrote: »

You wouldn't get a D3s bulb changed for much if any cheaper from any manufacturer (apart from that offer BMW had some time ago) - main dealer prices for these bulbs are crazy.

OP it sounds like you don't have a bulb problem but an igniter or ballast problem.

Tossy, just out of interest, the rear lights in the same car....are they more robust or have you come across fails too ? Costly to replace ?

tossy

dodzy wrote: »

Tossy, just out of interest, the rear lights in the same car....are they more robust or have you come across fails too ? Costly to replace ?

Couldn't tell you. I know of one friend with an early model avant that had a rear light fail, but from what you see driving around there doesn't seem to be many that failed. As for cost you can be gauranteed they will be expensive lol

bazz26

Seen a 141 A3 the other night and one section of the rear LED tail light was out. I'd hate think what that unit would cost to replace, hopefully for it's owner it's still under warranty.

ironclaw

To be fair to Audi, and its still a high cost, the replacement on some of these bulbs is not trivial. For example, on the BMW 130i, you have two options for the passenger side: Remove the airbox and MAF, or remove the front bumper. The internal docs say to remove the bumper. Both operations are reasonably time consuming and the driver side is only a shade easier but still quite tricky. Forget any hope of doing either on the roadside. The bulb itself might run you 60 to 150EUR depending on the type. So all in, 300EUR is about right for a fit at dealer rates (And I know labour is excluded here, that's extortion)

The upshot is you probably won't change it again during your ownership cycle.

colm_mcm

Lads €300 for a mass produced bulb is extortion. I know they're more exotic than the average €3 bulb but that's taking the mick.

tossy

colm_mcm wrote: »

Lads €300 for a mass produced bulb is extortion. I know they're more exotic than the average €3 bulb but that's taking the mick.

Well in fairness to Audi i'd say the bulb is only around 270e of that

Of course it's extortion, i got the same bulb in an Audi parts box on amazon for 50e posted.

darragh o meara

colm_mcm wrote: »

Lads €300 for a mass produced bulb is extortion. I know they're more exotic than the average €3 bulb but that's taking the mick.

But your forgetting it's an "Audi" bulb 🀓 You gotta pay for the exclusivity.

mickdw

yep I get Philips D3S as fitted at factory from ebay for under 50 quid.
Audi quoted 243 plus vat about 4 years ago for the bulb. fitting was extra.
I fitted the bulb in under 5 mins. It involved removing the headlight but very simple job.

GTE

bazz26 wrote: »

Seen a 141 A3 the other night and one section of the rear LED tail light was out. I'd hate think what that unit would cost to replace, hopefully for it's owner it's still under warranty.

I had to replace one section of my 2013 A4 Avants rear LED lights and Mick's Garage wanted 200 pounds for the part.

I got a used part in excellent condition off eBay for 100 euro.

upperchurchman

So last night I went to unlock the car. The auto lights were on and didn't the supposed blown light come on for a few seconds!!! Would this mean that it's a ballast problem?

ironclaw

upperchurchman wrote: »

So last night I went to unlock the car. The auto lights were on and didn't the supposed blown light come on for a few seconds!!! Would this mean that it's a ballast problem?

Any sort of flicker or intermittent lighting would suggest a ballast problem. If you rapidly toggle the lights off then off, do you get ignition?

Also, carefully trace the wiring as far back as you can on either side, check for nicks, cracks or signs of ingress on the loom or ballast blocks (If visible). We 'fixed' a similar problem by simply cleaning and resealing a connector.

upperchurchman

To replace the ballast would the bumper have to be removed?

tossy

upperchurchman wrote: »

To replace the ballast would the bumper have to be removed?

I've no specific knowledge of that car but the ballasts are more often than not under the headlights so yes the bumper would need to be removed . 2 pairs of hands and an hour should do it for you.

Alternatively drop it into a good indie and ask them to do it, swapping the ballasts from one side to the other and seeing if the fault follows is the first thing to do.

I would source a bulb online myself just in case it turns out to be a bulb problem. I had a (sort of) similar issue on my S3 recently - had to take off the bumper and swap everything around - turns out in my case it wasn't the bulb or the ballast at fault but one of the motors in the headlight

I got a Philips D3S bulb on Amazon for around 50e posted, if you need a link let me know.

upperchurchman

tossy wrote: »

I've no specific knowledge of that car but the ballasts are more often than not under the headlights so yes the bumper would need to be removed . 2 pairs of hands and an hour should do it for you.

Alternatively drop it into a good indie and ask them to do it, swapping the ballasts from one side to the other and seeing if the fault follows is the first thing to do.

I would source a bulb online myself just in case it turns out to be a bulb problem. I had a (sort of) similar issue on my S3 recently - had to take off the bumper and swap everything around - turns out in my case it wasn't the bulb or the ballast at fault but one of the motors in the headlight

I got a Philips D3S bulb on Amazon for around 50e posted, if you need a link let me know.

Thanks Toddy.

I've ordered 2 osram bulbs from eBay + a ballast for approx €100.
So when they arrive I'll have a look at it.

grogi

upperchurchman wrote: »

Thanks Toddy.

I've ordered 2 osram bulbs from eBay + a ballast for approx €100.
So when they arrive I'll have a look at it.

eBay might not be the best source though. Risk of counterfeit is significant.

upperchurchman

So I got delivery of bulbs + ballast and fitted same. It seemed that the problem was with the ballast. So all working again.
Thank you all for your help.