Why would the ballast need to be replaced?

Unlike a halogen set up where the bulb usually fails first, in an HID set up the weak link is the ballast and it usually fails before the bulb needs replacing. A used ballast doesn't inspire much confidence and therefore better to replace when you have the chance.

Well just like the bulbs, the ballasts aren't going to last forever. If you're getting a 10+ year old head light set from an e55 with possibly original ballasts installed, they're going to need replacement sooner than later, which I believe is still a PITA because you're going to have to take off the bumper again to reach the ballasts. I guess you don't really have to, but you get what I'm saying.

Best I could do for now. Light isn't totally scattered evenly but still good output IMO. I'd say this is roughly 20-25 ft from the wall.



Dimmed down a lot to (maybe) give you a better look.

That's pretty decent output considering it's a halogen projector. It may be acceptable unless the OP wants near perfect lighting performance.

BTW aftermarket / Morimoto projectors are as good as OEM with clear lenses and super sharp cut off.

The spread looks even in the portion that's supposed to be illuminated, but there seems to be quite a bit of bleed above, which could cause some glare for oncoming motorists.

Thanks for clarifying the ballast. I guess it might make sense to replace as a cautionary measure. Chances are my aftermarket warranty would cover them as well (as long as I'm going to my indy)

heck yeah thats perfect for me!!!!!!! I condone! I'm not that picky about my lights-picky about how aligned they are-the cutoff and all that isn't my biggest worry but thats decent for a halogen projector.

Irrelevant but here's the cutoff and spread for LED headlights from a Prius for comparison, just for the curious ones.



Again dimmed..

As I understand it, the bi xenon headlights use the same HID lamp for both high and low beam, and utilize a baffle to mask part of the beam in the low beam setting. If that is the case, what is the function of the H7 lamp in the smaller lamp? Looks like there's 2 lamps there, just like the halogen - one running light and one high beam.

Halogen setup has a high beam bulb and low beam bulb. No shutter control.

Thanks, but my question was about the bi xenon setup. Why does it have an H7 high beam bulb in the small lens if the HID lamp in the big lens supposedly takes care of both high and low?

Sorry, misread. So the thing with xenons is there's a natural warming up cycle that makes them not ideal for quick flash or quick high beam functionality. This is why there's an extra halogen high beam to cover the gap and not stress the xenon ballast with rapid flashing or if you quickly need full high beam utility at full brightness. So if lights are off during the day and you quick flash someone, the inner halogen high beams should activate. If you're running your low beams already, shutter control takes over and simply redirects your low beam higher.

Is this the case with projector retrofit kits, or just OEM?

Not sure about the 211s but one of my friend's old e90 bmw with BIX would use the halogen highbeams(to flash) regardless of if low beams were on or not. But rapidly turning on and off an HID kit would significantly reduce the life of both the bulb and ballast which is why that H7 is there.

Oem bixenon. Projector retrofit keeps your standard halogen functionality with single high beam. All you're doing is attaching HID projectors.

Driving in wet snowey conditions last night, it became obvious just how poor the stock halogens (with hazed covers) are. It was downright dangerous. The HID upgrade is a necessity now, not just a consideration. Thanks to everyone for all the help.

Do you have the headlamp washers on your car? Wet snow on the headlamps will make for poor visibility regardless of halogen or HID.

And if you are putting in HID, please change out the projectors. I have noticed some cars out there that have the white light of a Xenon, but have lots of glare and was almost blinding. Without changing out the projector, you're blinding other drivers.