bumboola

I started the car (2001 S8) tonight and noticed that the drivers side headlight was giving out a pinkish hue on the wall. Looking directly at the light it doesn't look pink but it does seem a bit dimmer. Is this a sign that the ballast or bulb is going bad?

These are the original xenon bulbs/ballasts from 2001.

Thanks

uberwgn

Yeah, it means the bulb is about to fail.

bumboola

So it's definitely just the bulb and could not be the ballast?

Do you happen to know what brand and part# the OEM bulb is?

Thanks

uberwgn

I had this happen last month on our A6 wagon. I changed the bulb and things returned to normal.

I bought a Philips bulb to replace it...color isn't quite right. If one is a perfectionist, you might replace both bulbs at the same time.

jfrahm

They often do not match exactly if not replaced in pairs but I had good luck getting a used Phillips bulb once that matched well. Phillips 4300K 85122, you could also get a used pair and then have a spare on-hand.
I know, a used bulb sounds crazy but at the time it was hard to get decent HID bulbs at a good price and the bulbs might last forever, I think it all depends on the vacuum seal. Used bulbs can usually be found for $15 or so from the pick-a-part scavengers on ebay (god bless 'em, it's good value for me to let them go get dirty and get the parts I need, send them to me in the mail). A used bulb might match the color of the remaining one better than new.

Looks like there is a source for new Phillips D2S in Latvia now, $25 each but it's probably 3 weeks in transit. Hopefully not counterfeit but I have had good luck with OEM parts from Latvia so far. I have gotten Chinese knock-off D2S bulbs for like $6 each and was not very pleased with the results but that was some years ago.

bumboola

For anybody that need/wants new and genuine OEM Philips bulbs, Amazon has them right now for $36.00 minus a $7.00 coupon which brings them to $29.00 each. These were the exact same bulbs that I pulled out, I assumed they were Osram but they were Philips. If you need 2 bulbs make two different orders to get 7.00 off on each bulb, if you order two you will only receive one coupon. This is the cheapest you will ever find them without having to worry about counterfeits

spitanddirt

It could be your reflector bowls are burning out like mine did. By that statement, I mean your aluminum deposited reflective coating could be eroding away. I know it's hard to tell, but the area closest to the bulb gets very hot and when the coating disappears, only a brown base material exists. The reflectors are actually die-cast metal as far as I can tell. The brown color must be some other coating that allows the aluminum to bond to it. In any case, since I couldn't find exact replacement bowls for a resonable price, I used 3M High Temp HVAC tape as a substitute. It's not pretty, but my light output is much better. For more info, a lot of BMW owners have this exact problem. Google "E46 Reflector Bowl" for images of what really burned out means. Oh....and just in case you are wondering, just using my finger rubbed more of the coating off when I tried to clean them. It's an extremely thin coating.

bumboola

The bulb went out the day after I started this thread and I ordered two new bulbs from Amazon. I did check out the reflector bowls when I was changing the bulbs and they looked fine.

The new bulbs give out a lot more light than the original 2001 bulbs (same part #) and while I thought my vision at night was getting worse over the years it suddenly got much better, the bulbs had been getting dimmer so gradually over time that I had never noticed.

spitanddirt

I'd love to know how you managed that as you can't accurately inspect them for damage without removing the headlight assembly and then removing the reflector bowl and lens.

The only thing that really matters is that you can see better now.

AudiForce1

Hey OP, I was able to find an OEM Audi parts listing page showing bulb options based on your model. You can filter the options by entering your VIN on the page. Follow the link to the bulbs listing page https://www.audipartsprime.com/parts-list/2001-audi-s8-base-8_cyl_4_2_l_gas/bulbs.html . This web page is legit and you can save a ton of money on genuine parts.