e46 xenon fiasco

[Mackpipes]

Okay, so I pick up a 2003 e46 325xi before the cold weather hit last year. Didn't want to deal with the issues I had with my e39 540i sport with a manual trans in the snow.
Only thing wrong with it was one headlight was out. No problem, go to Advance auto, buy a bulb, problem solved...... NOT!

First off, Xenon bulbs cost $100. Second, there is an igniter and a Xenon control module that usually goes bad about the same time as the bulb.

So I start with the cheapest part first.
Install the ($100) bulb,.... no worky.
Buy and install the igniter,... no worky.
(and BTW, to install the igniter you must remove and disassemble the entire headlight assemble, guts and all).
Buy and install the Xenon control module,.... PAY DIRT!!
(You also have to disassemble the whole headlight assembly to install the control module).

Note: there are two different Xenon control modules for e46's. One is a Bosch and one is from France (Don't know the manf.) The VIN won't tell you which one is in your car so you have to remove the headlight assembly to see which one you have.

So here's what you're in for if you have a Xenon bulb go out in your e46.
Costs:
Bulb - $100
Igniter - $125
Xenon control module - $255-$300 from online (New).
I got very lucky and found (the french one) on Ebay for $165

Just for shits and giggles I got a quote from the Stealership at $980 for just one headlight.

Sure, Xenon looks cool and does give better lighting, but I'll take inferior lighting and an $8 bulb any day over the BS I went through just to get it working!

[Jazzbass]

Ugh. So everything is working again? Last I heard you were still waiting on parts. More importantly, did you get your angel eyes working?

[Lupin..the..3rd]

Yikes, I had no idea these were so spendy. Glad you got it sorted out though!

[Mackpipes]

Ugh. So everything is working again? Last I heard you were still waiting on parts. More importantly, did you get your angel eyes working?

LOL!
Angel eyes (aftermarket Ebay specials) got pulled out in the process of R&R'ing the headlights!!
Yup, everything is working well.

[onboost]

Ohhh Hahahaha haaaaaaa! That's normal and consider yourself lucky..

Used to work for BMW, Sales and service mgr.. and you just suffered what we used to call running changes.. didn't know they were still doing that. This is when they would change or upgrade a part, or in some cases a function and not issue a bulletin related to the change. It was awesome when you were demoing the features of a particular model and looking like you really new your stuff until.. uh-oh.. ummm, this usually works like errr umm.. or in the service dept some tech comes and says; "we're having an issue cause its not like the other ones." Dohhh!

And those lights were cheap compare to some others.. Mercedes for instance.. there's the bulb @ $100, the igniter at $300ish, and the ballast @ $400ish.. or the whole headlight unit at $1260.

The latest P-car units are running those kind of numbers as well with xenon.