Hi, when I bought my XC90 it came with HID lights. I recently got a "bulb failure - low beam" warning just once (and the bulb was out - driver's side, and with subsequent driving, it has gone away (bulb is light again, there hasn't been any other messages).

I thought I'd get a bit versed at HID technology and what I need to do to change the light (I think I got this one but not entirely sure)...

I have included some photos of the headlight assembly on my XC90...the ballast says it is 35W, and from the light bulb base it appears to say H11. I have searched online and have not seen this type of kit for an XC90 - obviously it is aftermarket...I have done some searching on H11 bulbs and they don't seem to look like this...my bulb also seems to be attached to a base which has 2 cables coming out from it...but when I search for H11 bulbs online, it looks like the bulb's base has a male plug on the end...

Based on the photos, can anyone help me identify what I have?

 

Yep, you have an aftermarket kit. H11 bulbs are halogen bulbs. Your car had H11's from the factory. The blue and black wire coming from the original headlight bulb connector is probably powering the ballast, which then powers the bi-xenon bulb.

 

Thanks...I am a bit confused here...I thought that aftermarket means not from the factory. Also, I thought that HID bulbs are different from halogen bulbs...it clearly is HID, as the ballast says it is an HID ballast.

Guess net result is that I am looking to see what I need to order / look for, in terms of replacement bulbs. There are so many numbers associated with HID bulbs that my old and easily confused mind starts to shut down.

And when I do the replacement, does the replacement bulb come with that long adapter cable to connec to the ballast, because it does not appear that the bulb comes off the base, which has the cables coming from it....

Thanks again.

 

Yes, aftermarket means not from the factory. Your car came from the factory with H11 (halogen) bulbs. The connectors shown in that picture are for H11 bulbs. Then, someone installed some other kit for bi-xenon. That would make it an aftermarket kit. HID means High Intensity Discharge... same thing as bi-xenon.

The bulbs I am familiar with (which are for cars that come with HID or bi-xenon standard) do not come with any wiring because they are supposed to plug into an igniter. This is aftermarket, so the possibilities are greater. You need to find out who makes this kit and who supplies the bulbs. Or, remove the kit and put in a couple H11 bulbs.

 

Thanks so much. I am curious as to how many people here have put HIDs on their XC90s. I have 3 young kids and a wife so it's always a family vehicle. I don't have fancy rims or anything like that on it, so while I like the brightness of the kit, I am not sure if HID really fits the profile of this vehicle...