Headlight, Xenon bulb replacement

Just replaced a burned out headlight xenon bulb.
BMW wanted almost $400 to replace it ($240 for part, plus $130 for an hour of labor, plus tax).

Instead I went for Option B and bought the bulb for $40 on ebay. The oem bulb is an Osram D1S with 4150k brightness.

I bought a DOT stamped Philips XenStart D1S Xenon from
oemxenonparts, 4300k, and it matches perfectly with the Osram. No need to replace both.

Installation required removing 2 top screws and 2 at the bottom, you need an extension to reach down. The headlight unit then slides forward and you wriggle it loose and tilt out of the cavity. A plastic cover on the back drops down to expose the bulb. turn it 1/4 turn and remove. Unplug the wire, take off the neckless type bracket, like a collar, and clip onto new bulb. Install.
Whole procedure took 20-30 minutes but this was a first time experience and I was figuring it out on the fly.
The 2 lower screws are tricky to refasten. You need an 8mm socket with magnet at bottom to hold the screw, or a nut driver with long shaft, 6 inches or so. I stuffed a little duct tape inside to make it sticky. Did the job.

Oceans, just wanted to know why you did not go with 6000K which is safe and many people have been using it already..

I wanted to color match it to the stock bulb. Only replaced one, not the pair.

Got it.. Cool..

How long did your first bulb stay?

Hey I just PM'd you back, sorry for the lag. Glad to see you go it figured out. Those damn bottom screws can be a pain if they drop into the bumper which I've done before.

+1 on that!

Sent from my MB855 using Bimmer App

For future reference, just loosen the bottom bolts as the brackets on my 2007 530i are slotted, hence bottom bolts did not need to be removed. Also, top bolts use a #30 torx while bottom bolts use a #20 torx.