I have a 99 TL with 240,000+ miles on it. Car is generally working great and still on original transmission and original HID bulbs.

The driver's side headlight (HID) now turns a purplish color and the light output is greatly diminished. Dealer service adviser says this means the voltage sent by the ballast and/or ignitor could be low, and advises I may have to replace those parts. Of course, replacing those parts at the dealer would exceed the value of the car.

Does this sound right to you? Do you think a simple bulb replacement would fix this issue? Thanks for any help.

 

purple or pink at startup and low output are sure signs of bulb `age related death`

BUT
based on our prob of moisture in the headlight housing messing up the ballast and ignitor,.
I would get a $59 `kit` from hidextra.com
one of our fine sponsoring vendors
includes 2 waterproof ballast, 2 connector wires with capacitor and 2 new bulbs of quality matching phillips or osram

simple diy,,barely more work that changing the bulbs themself
always replace bulbs in pairs or output and color will not be anywhere close

suggest 5000K as color choice, stock was 4300
these give more blue but plenty of white to see on the road surface with

 

Just get a new bulb. Search for Hidbulbzrus on fleabay. Their site shows the difference between fake and real Philips bulbs. It's around $32 a bulb, change them both since the other side is the same age and wear.

 

they will sell you just bulbs if you prefer,,approx 16$ iirc, see website
unreal low prices,! I think they are the main importer/maker of hid parts and sell them to other companies who mark up the price a few hundred~
we get a direct price deal from them

my 5ks are awesome bright,, and way more white-- than the 6ks I ran for 4 years

 

Definitely get new bulbs. That should fix the problem.

If the light output is still low then change the ballasts/ignitors. As 01tl4tl suggested, it might be good preventative maintenance to change them now, although not necessary unless they fail.

And always change bulbs in pairs.

 

I dont think there are any aftermarket bulb that meets Philips or Osram quality.

 

You can get genuine OEM bulbs on eBay for around $80 per pair. I have, and so have many others at acurazine.

 

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'm going to find some OEM bulbs and try a new pair first. Will report back once I get them swapped out.

 

Nobody click that link...

The real ddm website is http://ddmtuning.com

 

Yeah great time for my wife to be sitting next to me.... "what the hell are you looking at?" UUUUUuuummm I just clicked on this link for HID headlights.... LOL

 

Since you said not to click the link, I did anyways. I did see some headlights in there somewhere. I wonder if they were OEM or aftermarket.

 

I dont know... what I do know is what BigTzzy does in his spare time...And Im sure it cost more than 15 Bucks...

 

I've read the DIY for bulb replacement, and it doesn't seem too difficult for the passenger side. But the driver's side has the air filter blocking access. How do I handle this?

 

Remove the intake to gain access?

 

Get a cold air intake.

 

DO ITT!
haha

And yeah I am actually waiting for my D2S and 9006 bulbs from DDM right now. They are in the mail.

I REALLY like the 5k color DDM provides. I've tried 5000k from 3 other manufactures (HIDextra, 1320 Performance, and Kensun) and none seem to be as PURE white as DDM especially in the 9006 fogs.

Oh and get D2R bulbs for OEM housings NOT D2S or D2C!