Changing Active Dual Xenon bulbs

[Five Pot Hero]

Hello, 2010MY XC60 owner here,

Our car has the Dual Xenon setup. I believe these might be the Active units, too? It's not completely clear in the manual, but it seems to suggest you either have halogen or you have everything - xenon, active etc...

Anyway. I've noticed in recent months that the headlamps have lost some of their brightness, particularly the dipped beam, and I understand that this happens to xenons over time. When referring to the manual, it says xenon 'lamps' must only be changed in a workshop due to their high voltage. Does this mean the bulbs? Therefore, is it easy to change the xenon bulbs? I've only changed halogen ones until now. Does anyone have any experience of this and is it all easy and nothing to worry about?

Many thanks in advance.

[Simmy]

easy to change but if you are worried just wear some rubber gloves i did ours on the kitchen table with no problem.

[Tannaton]

If you have a "lux" model you will have xenon lamps.

You can change them at home, it's relatively easy, switch of the ignition and remove the key, by the time you get the bonnet open and a headlamp out it will be fine.

FYI the Xenon lamps run at only 70v-80v, however an initial "strike" voltage of many thousands of volts if used to start them, and if they go out whilst in use, the ballast will try to re-strike them. This is why you shouldn't remove the bulbs with power applied.

And yes Xenon lamps start to dim from day 1 - so replacing old ones usually gives a great improvement. I would recommend standard or upgrade Philips or Osram lamps from www.powerbulbs.com. Avoid any and all cheap lamps on Amazon/E-bay, do not go above 5000k colour temperature as it just makes them difficult to see things by.

[janusz]

It's a D1S bulb type (with square box attached at the bottom).
As mentioned, bulb replacement is quick and easy. I did it myself multiple times as I tried to find the best performing bulb. I always disconnected the battery though to avoid errors on the onboard computer (make sure you disconnect the battery in the correct way). entire job end to end 10 mins.
in my experience Phillips bulbs looked tad brighter mainly because of the light colour but whether you get above or Osram - I think you will be pleased.
Do not buy bulbs from eBay or 3rd party sellers at Amazon - lots of counterfeit products in the market.
I bought mine from Amazon UK (seller).

cheers

[uniqueue]

Originally Posted by janusz

It's a D1S bulb type (with square box attached at the bottom).
As mentioned, bulb replacement is quick and easy. I did it myself multiple times as I tried to find the best performing bulb. I always disconnected the battery though to avoid errors on the onboard computer (make sure you disconnect the battery in the correct way). entire job end to end 10 mins.
in my experience Phillips bulbs looked tad brighter mainly because of the light colour but whether you get above or Osram - I think you will be pleased.
Do not buy bulbs from eBay or 3rd party sellers at Amazon - lots of counterfeit products in the market.
I bought mine from Amazon UK (seller).

cheers

On my 2013 facelift they are D3S bulbs - despite what several of the search engines inc powerbulbs tried to tell me !!worth a look before ordering

[mkusan]

Originally Posted by uniqueue

On my 2013 facelift they are D3S bulbs - despite what several of the search engines inc powerbulbs tried to tell me !!worth a look before ordering

Same for my 2011, D3S.