Tuesday’s featured repair is Tail Light and Headlight Bulb Replacement on a 2009 BMW 328iX, brought to us by a client from Richmond, BC.

While tail light and headlight bulb replacement may seem like a rather simple service it is anything but inexpensive on this BMW. As a fine European car this vehicle features state of the art lighting technology. The headlamps are xenon bulbs and the tail light assembly uses LEDs.
Our client brought in his BMW 328iX with 2 concerns: the right front headlamp flickered and the left rear turn signal did not blink properly. The instrument panel indicated the malfunctioning bulbs.
After testing and diagnosis we determined that all lights were receiving proper power and ground and the cause of the concern was in the lights themselves. The xenon headlight bulb for this vehicle comes complete with ballast which eliminates both wear out components of this system. Turn signal repair required replacement of the entire tail light assembly as nothing is serviceable separately.
Illumination of the lights on this BMW is impressive but it comes at a cost. Ordinary bulb replacement would have cost far less than a hundred. This service cost over eight hundred.
For more information on the BMW 328iX click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_3_Series_%28E90%29
For an in-depth history of automotive headlights click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamp