Xenon HID bulb exploded

[Alfred_B]

Yesterday the bulb failure MIL lit up on my BMW. I opened the headlight housing to see what the issue was (hoping a loose conenction) and the HID bulb was shattered. Removed the bulb and ordered a pair of HL7 bulbs so that I can fix it this week.

I will need to remove any of the shattered pieces from the housing but cannot reach it. How would you suggest to accomplish this? I'm thinking about attaching some duct tape to a flexible wire and go fishing inside the housing to catch any of the pieces.

Also, would the explosion have covered the lens in smoke from the explosion? How would you suggest to clean it?

 

[901Memphis]

The tape idea sounds good. Be careful using any chemicals inside the housings as most anything will harm the surfaces i would use Simple green and warm water plus a lot of shaking followed up by putting the housing in a sturdy box with a heat gun on low will help speed it up if you're in hurry, otherwise leaving it in the back window of the car on a hot day could help dry it out.

 

[RooflessVW]

Simple Green is not what you want in the housing or on the reflector. Use a dry lens cleaning cloth and a curved apparatus (bent hanger) to wipe the reflector. Use a small vacuum to clean the glass out of the housing.

 

[bubbatime]

Not too familiar with that model car, but can you take the headlight assembly off and shake the glass out? Usually pretty easy to do, although maybe not on the model car.

 

[901Memphis]

Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Simple Green is not what you want in the housing or on the reflector. Use a dry lens cleaning cloth and a curved apparatus (bent hanger) to wipe the reflector. Use a small vacuum to clean the glass out of the housing.



Simplest green won't hurt almost any material as long as you dry it all out

 

[tgrudzin]

ShopVac? Maybe have to use a modified hose or something.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Simple Green must have changed its formula, because the Simple Green I know would rip the coating off of almost any plastic, and leave a nice white residue behind, no matter how much rinsing was done.

 

[901Memphis]

Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Simple Green must have changed its formula, because the Simple Green I know would rip the coating off of almost any plastic, and leave a nice white residue behind, no matter how much rinsing was done.


You would want to dilute it with warm water, I probably wouldn't use it full strength, the 1:30 ratio should be fine.

Maybe even diluted glass cleaner would work, there shouldn't be much residue in there if it's not been baked on since it just happened

 

[RooflessVW]

You don't want anything wet in your housing, period. For dust, glass, whatever in the housing you need a dry, lint-free cloth and nothing more.

 

[Alfred_B]

The HID bulbs arrived from HIDExtra last week and I installed them on the weekend. For the exploded shards, I used duct tape wrapped around a flexible wire. All pieces came out fine. I used the same wire to clean the lens. Used a microfiber cloth and spray used for eyeglasses. I bent the contact point to match the lens curvature.

After cleaning with the wet cloth, I dried it with a dry cloth. The lens was initially very smoky but cleaned nicely.