Charlie C

Our IS250, which we purchased new in June 2007 just had the left headlight bulb blow. I noticed after we had parked the car in a mall parking lot, that although the headlights remained on (part of the auto feature) the left light was not lit. So when we got home, I left the car running and walked around to the front of the car and confirmed the left headlight was not lit. It did light when I put the high beams on.

FYI: It is a Philips d4s xeneco 42402 HID bulb.

So I started watching YouTube videos on replacing the bulb and removed the bulb to confirm what was there. Did some shopping and here are the results:
O'Reilly $135 (local)
Advanced Auto $150 (local)
Lexus dealer $257 (that's NOT a typo, two hundred fifty seven)
Amazon $45 (got the link from a YouTube video)
Since my wife need the car tonight and the bulb won't arrive until tomorrow, I figured I'd put the bulb back in and put everything together. Better to have high beams if necessary than no left headlight, right?
So I went to check it, more to see if I re-assembled it correctly, and not only did the high beams work, but not the low beam works too! Strange!

Could it be that after heating up, the bulb failed, or worse, something else heat related failed?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Charlie

P.S. Please forgive my lack of posts. We have a 2007 IS250 we purchased new in 2007 and we have just less than 78K miles. I read posts from time to time but luckily, I haven't had too many problems with the car other than some recalls.

Here is a photo of the bulb I took out and then put back in.

sinister2c

Intermittent working is sign of HID bulb failure. Also, careful about Amazon D4S names brands. Some might be fake, going price for real Philips each is $90 or so.

they have gotten really good at copies down to the QR and holograms.

Charlie C

Thanks for this information. According to Amazon, it is "supposed" to be a Philips bulb. The reviews seem mostly good. Crossing my fingers!

Besides Amazon, any recommendations of where to buy a "real" Philips bulb?

sinister2c

my two go to places is The Retrofit Source or Lightwerkz.net

Zmon

iTrader: (2)

+1. The only time I'll consider a bulb from Amazon is if it's shipped/fulfilled by them directly and even then there's still the potential for it to be a fake.

Should note with factory HIDs is that we have a dual high beam system. The low beam's projector adjusts the shield to let more light out, no more voltage/power is applied to the bulb, while a separate halogen bulb is also turned on. You should only be seeing that halogen bulb coming on when you kick the high beams on if your HID is out, it'd be odd for the HID to also be kicking on all of a sudden if it was out while highs weren't on. Regardless, it's likely the bulb is going out if the ballast is having trouble starting the bulb now. Although, it wouldn't hurt to swap that specific bulb over to the other side, and the other side's bulb to the side that is bad just to rule out a ballast issue (if problem follows the bulb, it's the bulb. if it doesn't then it's the ballast). I'd suggest buying a set of bulbs rather than replacing just one when it comes to HIDs as age/use changes the bulbs color and reduces output over time so it'll probably be fairly noticeable.

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

^^+10
The D4S mercury free bulbs do not last like the old D2S bulbs. Buy a pair as you'll need them.

Mine did the same thing when hot it would fade to orange and go out.

PS - do not leave any fingerprints on the glass or the bulb will crack! Wipe with alcohol and lint free cloth.