One of my xenon headlight bulbs has gone it has been flickering on and off for a couple of days and I found if I banged the unit it came on ,but now it has gone altogether. Can anyone tell me me what sort of a job it is to change 

Xenon bulbs usually fail by turning a violet and/or purple colour.  They don't usually flick on and off and then blow as do halogens.

 

The flickering on and off can be a sign of a failing ballast or the wiring needing attention.

 

In any case, if you do think it is the bulb or you want to switch over the bulbs to be sure, then this post is worth a read:  Xenon Headlight Replacement

 

23 hours ago, harrykins said:

One of my xenon headlight bulbs has gone it has been flickering on and off for a couple of days and I found if I banged the unit it came on ,but now it has gone altogether. Can anyone tell me me what sort of a job it is to change 

Bulbs ok so must be ballast ,what sort of job is it to change it 

Did you ever get to the bottom of this problem? My 58 plate superb has a light failure on the near side and its not the bulb. Everything is point to the ballast but I don't know how to check this out. Was this ever identified using VCDS?

Easiest test is to switch the left/right ballasts over

 

7 minutes ago, langers2k said:

Easiest test is to switch the left/right ballasts over

 

thanks Langers. Now if I could only figure out how to get the ballasts out because they are tucked in under the headlamp units and I cant access them.

Annoyingly, the workshop method involves removing the front bumper for access. I've no idea if there is an alternative method that doesn't need it removing :/

 

I doubt VCDS will be able to confirm if it's wiring, a bulb or the ballast. It'll probably just have an open or short error message as that's all the BCM reports.

 

You might also find you have water ingress as it's not uncommon on the Superb which could be causing the issues.

I thought that might be the case. I was trawling through the forum and saw this and was wondering whether they ever got to the bottom of it.

 

I think you are right in that its a workshop job to remove the front bumper and swap it out but that could be costly for something that might not fix the problem. Limited options though.

 

I am going to start a new thread and see whether anyone else has found a way of diagnosing the ballast fault.

Edited 1 October, 20187 yr by pdrisc