Hey guys,
I just purchased an 2003 Audi A6 Quattro 2.7L Twin Turbo.
I have one weird problem, my passengers side xeon headlight flickers!
Does this mean that one of my Xeon headlights is dieing? I thought these never burned out. Also, where do I get a new one and approximate cost.
Thanks!!!!

P.S.- Does it matter that my auto self leveling headlight feature is broken?

 

Old xenon bulbs generally don't flicker...they lose brilliance or change color. No bulbs last forever. I just changed mine at 185k miles because one was turning yellow. The flickering sounds like a short or bad ground/power. Xenons take a couple seconds to fully power up which is why they are used as low beams and not high beams. Possibly your auto leveler is broken and allowing the assembly to flop around and appears to flicker? If you google Xenon bulbs you'll find plenty of sites that sell them. ECSTuning, a sponsor here, is one. I would avoid Chinese bulbs which are cheaper, but have a rep of being unreliable.

 

first i would pull fuse 10. That is the fuse responsible for the auto headrange function. As for flickering my first option would be to swap the bulbs from one side to an other. If the bulb continues flickering i would just change the bulb for new ones. if the flicker stays on the side even after swapping bulbs then i would lean towards a bad ballast or like ppgoal said a short in ground/power. Any codes being thrown other then that dipped headlight.

 

New bulbs are super cheap on ebay. If you pay more than 15 bucks for a set then youre overpaying....

 

The cheap HID "ebay bulbs" you're referring to are, most likely, made in China. Generally speaking, German/Japanese-made HID elements are superior in design/material quality which usually translates into better reliability/longevity...but you hafta $pay$ for it.

That said, I've successfully been using a pair of $12 ebay HIDs(6000k) since Nov. `10. They provide more than adequate illumination considering the less intense blue color. The biggest problem I've noticed is that they DO NOT like to 'fire-up' in cold weather. On cold days, I had to allow the ballasts to "pre-warm" the elements by turning the headlamps On(elements will not ignite)...wait 20sec...then turn them Off and back On again. But they do remain illuminated and will easily re-ignite once they're warmed up. No problems igniting them when it's over 50degF outside.

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