HID bulbs burn out once a year

[aaronck]

Thanks for all the replies- I do believe the lights are factory, and they can't be too bright as I've yet to have anyone flash me in 5 years of driving. I'm grabbing some better quality bulbs in hopes of not having to replace them, I also had a charging system check done in the fall and no problems-this has been going on now for 3-4 years now which is why I ask. I might look into LED replacements in future if it's not too hard/ expensive

[Mitsu3000gt]

Do you leave them on auto? They are similar to projector bulbs in that they do not like being turned on & off in short intervals, or off and on again after being on for a long time. When you go under a bridge, parkade, tunnel, garage, auto mode will strike the bulb, and then it gets turned off right away again either because you turn off the car or return to daylight. That is very hard on bulbs - not sure if that's the reason or not.

[JustinMCS]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
Do you leave them on auto? They are similar to projector bulbs in that they do not like being turned on & off in short intervals, or off and on again after being on for a long time. When you go under a bridge, parkade, tunnel, garage, auto mode will strike the bulb, and then it gets turned off right away again either because you turn off the car or return to daylight. That is very hard on bulbs - not sure if that's the reason or not.

Not with an OEM system - aftermarket maybe. They are designed to be used daily and in daily situations, especially in regular driving situations and also stopping and going at multiple destinations in a night.

The problem is the quality of bulb. Just buy an OEM bulb and be done with it, simple. I have had OEM bulbs last for 5+ years no issue. The cheapy bulbs are false economy. Buy philips, osram or sylvania.

Would not recommend LED in a system designd for reflector HID.