I installed some aftermarket HID's in 2005. (I have a 2004 Z). I realized yesterday that one of them isnt working. Should it have burned out this quickly? I was under the impression they would last as long as the car lasted. Anyone have suggestions on what I should do? Are there people I can call to look at it first?

 

Were they cheap?

 

No, they were OEM. Paid almost 400 for them.

 

Did you touch the bulb with your hands?

 

I dont think so. I didnt do the install... my ex did. But he installed all the aftermarket lighting in his M3, so I'm assuming he knew what he was doing.

 

That's odd... I have an 03 and still have the originals

 

+1

and -1 for letting an ex install anything on your car

 

Helpful....thanks

 

OEM. how'd you know it was OEM. If your car didnt come with HIDs and he installed a kit. It is not OEM.

 

it kinda was.....I +1 blasian for his comment, hence I was implying the same. To answer your question more specifically....


A) Bad Bulb-take it back and see if they will give you another
B) He messed it up

 

I see...

I ordered from a website, they were supposed to be the same bulbs as stock, but apparently not since mine are out already. Looked reputable too.

What kind of place should I go to (other than dealer) to get new ones installed? And any idea how much this is going to set me back?

 

what year Z do you have.

 

2004

 

e-mail me, i can probably help you out.

jun.tanaka@gmail.com

 

So you need D2R bulb. If the bulb itself doesnt have any writting on it like a stock Philips bulb does, you didnt have OEM bulb and they readily burn out, your best bet is to find 85126+ bulbs like these to replace it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Phili...spagenameZWD1V

 

Thanks for your help guys...

 

Usually oils on your hands would transfer onto the bulbs then that would literally burn through the bulb casing causing premature outages.

When installing, wear nitrile gloves.

 

I have the OEM bulbs from my 06 if you want them. They're just sitting on my shelf, fully encased, and bubble wrapped. I put 8K bulbs in, after about 5K miles. Let me know.

 

06 bulbs are D2S. Not D2R.

 

Oh, sorry. Guess that won't work...