I replaced my headlights through eBay. That is a long, long story in itself.

A few things I learned and I recognize that a) you already know this or b) you will send me to a thread that covers this in detail. I did look, honest, but could not find my specific problem.

1. If you are replacing the units, be sure to check to see if you replace “halogen to halogen” wiring harnesses, or, Xenon to Xenon wiring harnesses.
2. Be sure to examine, as closely as possible, what parts may be missing from those units, especially the “sockets” the harness plugs go into.
3. Be especially observant of the high beam connectors. One has two little notches in it. It looks exactly the same as the one with no notches in it. Online headlamp sellers do not distinguish this. A third is a completely different unit where you connect.
4. Paper clips make great headlamp braces if yours does not come with one.
5. Be sure you see if you mate your car harness to a “5-wire” or “7-wire connections.


So, questions:

A. After more time than my employer needs to know, I FINALLY got everything matched up and no more “multiple bulb failures” messages. HOWEVER…the high beams do not come on. Oh, I have the Xenon lights (and talk about a delicate operation to insert them without breaking them (at $75 apiece!). D2 HID. Even more weird is that I can get the HID’s to go on high beam. This brings up several questions:
1. Do HID xenon bulbs act as high and low beams? I have yet to drive this at night so I am not sure if that is an anomaly or that’s the way they work?
2. Do HID bulbs X-out the high beams?


B. An unsettling concern is whether my car is a 5-wire or 7-wire connection. When I look at the harness plug it actually has nine wires. I’m guessing those other wires are for turn signals, running lights, etc. Is it possible that if I am mixing a 7-wire with a 5-wire harness that it would prevent the high beam from working?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! (Oh, I am techno impaired so please dumb-down your explanations.