Oneplank

My wife noticed last night that her driver side headlight is slightly pink. I assume that they are the factory bulbs dating back to late 2006. I would like the replacement bulbs to last at least another 5+ years.

Probably the safe bet is to buy the Philips bulbs, but I have heard that even reputable retailers have been stuck with conterfeit bulbs. If that is the case, I might as well buy cheap bulbs from ebay.

I know this has been covered before, but now that some members have presumably a few years on their replacement bulbs, I would like to hear their experience, especially with the cheapies.

snapdragon

If I had my time again, I would buy cheapish bulbs, instead, I bought Philips 85122(plus) and I spent a lot of time getting genuine ones (most are fake) and they aren't that special.

MP4.2+6.0

Given color match issues, I replace both. They also loose a considerable percentage of brightness after a couple thousand hours of use, hence another reason I just do both. Haven't done it so far on the 2006 D3, but have on the 2000 C5 (A6).

Brozee

Get these, they are a new D2S replacement that are a brighter and whiter bulb vs OEM. Tons of reviews say they have a slightly wider view too.
They are osram vs. using the standard Philips. Still very pricey though.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...ducts_id=10591

Mister Bally

On my '04, I installed an Osram 2 1/2 years ago and a Chinese junk bulb on the other side 1 1/2 years ago. Both seem as bright as day one.

Brozee

It would be great to see a writeup of how to change the bulbs exactly. Because if it is easy enough I will just buy the cheap bulbs now and try them out. No battery disconnecting or anything crazy has to be done correct? just pull and replace...?

Oneplank

According to the manual and my quickie inspection it doesn't look too bad for a 2007 4.2L. Unbolt and bungee the PS reservoir for the driver side. Remove the top of the airbox for the passenger side. The rest is pretty much like any other bulb change. Of course, it might be easier said than done with my giant meat hooks.

Disconnect the battery? If the headlights are in the off position and the keys are far away from the car, what are the chances? Of course if you are wrong, you will develop a newly found respect for high voltage.

Oneplank

With testimonials like this I am tempted to try a pair from ebay $10/pair shipped and replace the bulbs as they fail. The OEM bulbs from the dealer are nearly 2 orders of magnitude more expensive.

K9COP

hey guys, just done both of mine. I actually replaced them because one was noticeably brighter than the other (make sure you read my closing comments here).
The procedure was not too tricky, but the secret is patience. Don't rush it.

Remove the two OUTER torx screws on the headlamp top mount, and the bottom two mounting screws as well. That allows you to slide the lamp slightly outwards to give you more room. You can, if you really have to, remove the lamp forwards (once disconnected) without further dis-assembly. If you remove the front most fender mounting bolt, you can ease the lamp out, BUT you don't have to change the bulbs.

Passenger side, I removed the whole airbox but left the air flow meter connected electrically. It's easier to split it (air flow meter) at the rubber hose than it is to reattach the two screws holding the air flow meter to the airbox once it's back together (one is under the hose).

Driver's side, yes, I removed the coolant tank and bungee'd it aside, and I also loosened the power steering reservoir and bracket to get some 'wiggle room'.

Once you get the areas behind the lights clear, both sides, unclip the rear cover, that carries the ballast, and unscrew (bayonet fit, like a light bulb) the igniter (silver square object) from the back of the bulb. It's labelled which way to unscrew it on the back of the unit. The cable will come off the igniter after you unscrew it, and you have to reattach it as you put the igniter back on after you've swapped the bulbs.

My bulbs were held in with the regular spring clips.

TAKE NOTE THOUGH.

I've swapped both bulbs, and the drivers bulb is STILL not as bright as the passenger light, so now I'm thinking ballast or igniter is the trouble.

Take your time, buy Ebay bulbs, and never force anything. They weren't forced in, nothing needs to be forced out, or back in again.

Good luck, and PM me if you get stuck...

K9

Oneplank

In my case, I discovered the time from pink eye to no light was less than a week. At least you usually get some warning with HID lights.

Taking the advice of the plurality of members I ordered a set of bulbs off of ebay. For $11 I got 2 4300K bulbs with a lifetime warranty and free shipping.

As K9COP pointed out in his write up below, mechanically the replacement is pretty easy. The pain is in working in confined spaces. I took the advice of Elsawin which made no mention of loosening the lamp assembly like K9COP. Next time, I could use a little more room. From the description, there appears to be no differences between a 2005 and a 2007 as far as headlamp assemblies go. This is one time that small hands really make the job easier. My hands are still hurt.

Pretty much everything in K9COP's write up is spot on. Four things that I noticed: You don't have to remove the small torx screw, just back it out about two turns. My ignitor was held on with a spring clip on the backside (it doesn't keep it from turning, just from falling off. I couldn't find the spring clip during reassembly (probably tucked under the ignitor) so I didn't bother to reattach it. Also the connector to the ignitor does not have any positive locking mechanism other than a loose friction fit; if the bulb goes out I am checking this connection first. Lastly getting the new bulb lined up is painful. To hopefully save you some pain, the bayonet lugs are at 3 & 9 o'clock with the notches in the flange of the bulb pointing down. At least that is how I remember it.

I had so much fun doing the driver's side, I decided to stop there and not change the passenger side at this time. Plus it allows me to compare the new bulb with the (presumably) factory bulb. The bulb that I pulled from the driver side was a GE Xensation, made in Hungary. Was this a factory bulb or a replacement? Who knows, but I am pretty sure when I had the Audi dealer pull up the service history of the vehicle, there was no mention of a bulb replacement. Perhaps the bulb was replaced by someone other than the dealer? Maybe this is the factory bulb.

No for the important stuff. How does a $5.50 bulb compare with the factory bulb? In a word, Indistinguishable. The color is the same, the intensity is the same, the beam shape is OEM on high and low. There is no way I could tell the $200 bulb from the $5 bulb in use.

I just hope that this bulb lasts a long time. I don't want to change it again. I could change them blindfolded on the bench. Unfortunately, changing them on the car you might as well be blindfolded, the spaces are so incredibly tight you have to remove your hand to see what you are doing. Heck, you can barely wiggle a finger.

I wish I could find the engineer who designed this and talk to him. Did he expect that these bulbs would never fail or did he expect that all Audi technicians would have hands like this in the future:

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http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-li...lk-show/727501