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[dave the builder]

Already done.

Halogen units back in, the headlight range and ballast plugs  bagged and tucked away and the fuse pulled.

All working as it should tested and issue free. Retest booked for Friday afternoon. 

The alternative is dicking around trying to get a pair of new ballasts within the ten working days/work commitments...

you modded the headlights to HID daynt cha and it bit ya 

[Doctor Gollum]

Not at all.

Near as I can tell something else in the front left SAM uses current on start up that causes the ballast of the OS headlight to falter.

Swapping the ballasts and even the lights doesn't change the fault or move it to the NS (controlled by the right front SAM).

In day to day use, the lights work perfectly, but sometimesthe OS light sparks up instantly, sometimes the end of the drive and on occasion the end of the road.

The specific issue with the MoT is the tester using the switch to turn them on, when I tend to leave them in auto mode. And to prove that the issue is something else in the SAM and not the headlights is that the lights come on for a period of time when you close the driver door after switch off. Do this and both headlights spark up instantly.

The levelling is all done by the headlight ecu and is working perfectly.

Essentially, the xenon retrofit was done using genuine parts from a factory equipped car using the associated wiring and ecu rather than some cheap Chinesey bulb kit from Matalan. It was even coded into the car.

The garage that carried out the pretest were of the mindset that as long as both lights were on, they could test the beam patterns. The tester yesterday was somewhat more of a box ticker. Even so, the only extra advisories were the obligatory rusty brake lines/coated in grease (they aren't, and they aren't) a ball joint boot and the rear indicator bulbs being faded (again they were brand new last year when I fitted the new clusters)... These were swapped with the ones from the now removed xenon, again new on fitting

[dave the builder]

you've had a few electrical gremlins with that car ,probably good thing you are looking at a replacement   

Most Testers have started checking HIDs in detail  recently ,though it was probably 2 years ago the manual was amended 

The tester I go to  is very strict and also a special police part time
fortunately I check everything before hand ,and it's good to have someone else check everything too .

[Doctor Gollum]

To be fair, the initial issues were down to the previous owner/garage I bought it from, and a consequence of what they had done rather than spend a few quid and apply some thought.

Swapping all the drive authorisation stuff from another single car was actually an efficient solution and literally an hour to remove/replace.

The ABS issue that followed was due to previous bodger rather than an actual problem.

The headlights, as said were a retrofit rather than bodgery, the lights themselves actually met all the legal requirements.

The only other electrical item was a duff coil pack, and given its age, I can live with that.

This is the oldest car I have owned, and touch wood, it's also been the most reliable. Which must be some sort of record for a W220

I would go as far as to say that the replacement is almost certainly going to be diesel*, and by virtue of the budget, probably not going to be as reliable regardless of whether it's a Zafiraesque thing or a Sharamblaxyesque thing although if the choice fell between a VAG product or a Toyota Yaris Verso, the Toyata would win hands down

*Will try to avoid a piss powered car, but the DPF might be harder to escape.

[dave the builder]

they don't break down much when you can't use them because of lockdowns 

My mum's has only needed fresh fuel and a front spring in 16 months   
she's only done 35* miles in that 16 months though   

*I may  be responsible for much of those miles for testing/pre MOT assessment 

[Doctor Gollum]

It's done 16k in 20 months, which is less than normal, but hardly sat around