Headlight switch issue

I've recently discovered that the headlight bulb under my Litronics bulb on the driverside is not working. I checked the bulb itself and it's fine. I even replaced it to be on the safe side. I found out about a week ago that the bulb will come on when I turn my brights on. Could this be an issue with the light switch in the car? Has anyone else had this issue or know if there is a TSB or recall for this? Thanks, Nazz

Nazz, I take it you have the factory installed bi-xenon headlights and not the retrofit. I think this is normal. You have xenons for both the low- and high-beams and the halogen bulb only comes on when you're in high-beams to "fill in the gap."

If we're talking about the little 5 watt halogen then that is the DRL bulb. DRLs are only activated for europe adn canada.

The 5W daytime running lights are only wired for Europe but in the US, where they are called parking lights, they should come on when you switch on the headlights. I think Nazz is talking about the 55W H11 halogen high beam fill light. It comes on only when you switch on the high-beams.

Okay, I'm not sure which ones we're all talking about here. The one I'm talking about is an H7 and is directly underneath my litronics bulb. Regardless of the regulations, one of them works and the other doesn't. Is it possible that one works and isn't supposed to? Maybe I have an issue with the wrong side. When I turn on my park lights, I have the amber lights and on the passengerside only I have a very dim headlight bulb on. That same bulb does not work on the driverside. Is that the bulb you guys are referring to? I may have to take a picture of it as I get the feeling I may be confused myself. On a side note, I'm not sure if these Litronics were installed from the factory or afterward. There were a lot of upgrades on the car when I bought it so it's possible that they were added after the fact. Thanks, Nazz

Yeah, send a picture so that we're all on the same page. What year is your car and do you have the Litronic retrofit kit or factory installed bi-Xenons? As far as parking lights go... you can turn on the driver's side or passenger's side -- not both at the same time. Depending on which side of the street you park you turn on the side that is away from the curb. When you switch on the parking lights the little 5 watt bulb in the front, the side marker and the rear tail light should go on for the driver's or passenger's side (depending on which you selected) should come on.

Bulb B only works when I turn the brights on. Bulb B is on all the time on the passengerside of the car, just not on the driverside. My friends Boxster has these on when his park lights are on. The bulb is brand new and the fuses are good. Does this help? Thanks, Nazz

Hey Nazz, Bulb B in the picture is the H7 high beam fill light and should only be on when you have your high beams on. With the (non bi-xenon) Litronics, when you turn on the high beams the xenons rotate up and the H7 fill lights fill in the gap left by the xenons pointing higher.

I think those are called city lights....Not DRL........These city lights ONLY come on when you switch on the Xenon in Canada or USA or eur.....They burn all the time , mine do anyways

I am pretty sure that the city light is the small H6W (6 watt bulb) to the left of the H7 bulb in the picture.

ok i just went out and checked my car.........they are all on!

Okay, that H7 bulb was on when I bought the car and the passengerside bulb is on all the time. The driverside one is no longer working except when I turn on my brights. Thoughts on how to get it working or turn the other one off?

I misdiagnosed the problem. I didn't look closely enough at which bulb wasn't working. Come to find out, it is actually the 5watt bulb that is blown. Being that it is so small and so close to the H7 I didn't notice it until I looked again today to take pictures. Thanks for the info everyone, this thread still helped me diagnose the problem. Will be replacing those bulbs tomorrow with something to match the Litronics a little better. Thanks, Nazz

That's good news. Yeah, I couldn't figure out why the high beam fill light was on all the time one side and not the other -- I thought there was a wire that got crossed or something. I'm glad to hear it is just the city light bulb that is burnt out. Anyway, I found a good replacement H6W (city light) bulb from www.ambulbs.com . I ended up getting the Philips BlueVision. They are "whiter" than the stock Osrams but still not an exact match to the Xenons. I tried the H�en and they were a very good match but they burnt out so quickly! I went through 2 pairs of bulbs in less than six months! Good luck on your search for the "perfect match." Let me know if you find something because the Philips I have now are good but still not a perfect match.