Did a search but no luck, how long do the Xenon bulbs last ? My car is just over 2 years old (not much night use) and the driver's side headlight is just a dim yellow on normal and high beam. Going to the dealer on Wednesday.
I seem to remember that the expectation for xenons from VAG was a minimum of 5 year life.
However, I see no reason why they shouldn't last much longer. Auto headlight function does shorten life as they are continually heated and cooled.
I'm sure there are duds like anything else.
Could well be a faulty ballast or similar, not the bulb.
They are expensive or can be, over a £90 for one for the best make and it's best to replace both at the same time for colour match and brightness outputThese lights use a high voltage discharge technology that's essentially a scaled down version of that used in streetlighting.
Sudden colourshifts are symptomatic of a failing lamp. As the lamp fails it's internal resistance is reduced, putting more load on the ballast. Eventually the ballast fails too, increasing the size of the repair bill dramatically.
Expected lifespan of these lamps is a guideline based on MTBF. Like all lamps there are those that last a lot longer than average, and others that last a lot shorter.
The lamps are considered consumable items these days, and they're not super expensive like they used to be. Might be worth buying a pair.
They are expensive or can be, over a £90 for one for the best make and it's best to replace both at the same time for colour match and brightness output
That's not truly awful. I bought my first car with Xenons in '07 and looked into the cost at the time as you're supposed to have spare lamps in the car when you drive in France. I was quoted well over £300 for a pair. Now you can buy decent lamps like Osram Nightbreakers for about £30 each.
^ My biggest disappointment with the car is this fact. All my other xenon equipped cars have had an auxiliary halogen high beam that added to the light output considerably. Much better than just tweaking the lamp shade a bit!
^ My biggest disappointment with the car is this fact. All my other xenon equipped cars have had an auxiliary halogen high beam that added to the light output considerably. Much better than just tweaking the lamp shade a bit!
My A3 2.0 TDI 184 Sport s-tronic quattro has Xenon headlights and also has an H8-12v-35w halogen bulb in the headlights to provide the static cornering light.I'm surprised at that - I find the light output really good in high beam. Perhaps not all there in dipped beam though. Combined with the static cornering lights that I have on mine (which are really very good), I've not had a problem with the lighting on my A3.
I'll see how I get on with the matrix LED lights on the next one...
but having to remove the bumper to replace the bulb, will certainly make any future bulb replacement - rather expensive.