Bixenon problem..

[gixxera]

Hello everyone,

My car is citroen c5 2010 2.0hdi. I have a problem that occurs rarely, but it can catch me off guard some evening. Sometimes, when I start the car, the xenon lights don’t turn on (I should note that the light switch is set to "Auto," and even if I manually switch them on, they still don’t light up). The signals on the dashboard show that the lights are on but they are not. All other lights like drl, turning lights are working. This has happened to me twice in the last 10 days. Interestingly, after driving for a while or perhaps after the car warms up (not sure), both xenon lights start working. What could be causing this issue? I had the battery tested, and it seems to be fine.

Thanks in advance!

[GiveMeABreak]

It may be the ballast / Igniter units. Have you replaced the Xenon bulbs lately and if so were these fakes or unbranded units?

It's well-known there are knock-offs and fakes of brands like Osram that can cause problems. The Headlamps have a self-test function when starting up. If there is any problem with the height correctors or the directional motors, they will default back to non-directional mode and flash a warning / message.

In your case that does not seem to be the case as you haven't mentioned it, so this leads me to believe it is the actual bulbs.

My advice is that these Xenon bulbs must always be replace in pairs, even if only one fails.
Use only a genuine Branded supplier from authorised retailers and be aware that even Amazon sells the fakes as these get put into the same bins as the originals!

Go to the manufacturer's website for links to authorised sellers - here's Osram with links to their approved sellers, you may have to change country though.

https://www.osram.co.uk/am/buy-now/index.jsp