2005 W12 defective o/s headlight?
 

Hi there,

My o/s headlight is not working and I was wondering how I could tell if it's the light unit itself or the ballast?

Also could some kind soul tell me please what the part number is for the headlight & associated gubbins?

Even better would be an exploded diagram or something so I can see just what is involved...

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

Swap the bulbs over and see what happens

That seems like a sound bet.

The W12 headlight is quite rare.

In 2005 it was the first production car (ever I believe) to have daylight running LED's, whilst being too early for Audis AFS swivelling headlights that you would find in the likes of the 2006 S8 for example, so you really will need to get an exact part number match if you were thinking of swapping the unit..... It may even be W12 specific.

A8parts would be able to advise you

Thanks for the replies guys...I never even knew there were user replaceable bulbs in there! I was under the impression that they were sealed HID units.

And Ian you're having a laugh aren't you? I emailed A8 Parts on 12th April enquiring about a complete adaptive headlamp assembly, n/s front strut, air compressor (and possible valve block) and never even received a reply. :mad:

I also enquiried about the possibility of driving up for them to fit the parts but as I said I never even received the courtesy of a reply. :(

In any case their price for a scruffy looking strut on eBay was a penny short of £600 where other prices were £240-£450 so not sure I would have purchased from them anyway! :tuttut:

Checked out the air compressor and it does pump up to 16 bar so that might still be OK and I also bought a couple of Philips D2S bulbs to resolve the headlight problem. Decided to replace them as a pair so light output is equal and reduce the chance of the original failing in the near future.

Thanks for your input.

-=Glyn=-

I think that the main problem with the earlier D3 headlights is that the reflectors in each lamp unit get worn or become less reflective over time. Talking to Trups about this (who deals mostly in vehicle lighting) it is possible for his company to take headlights apart, replace the reflectors with better new ones and then re-seal the headlight units, at a cost which would be cheaper than replacing one headlight to do both. Might be worth a try?