Dear fellow F-chatters, I need some help. Just came home from an easter trip to Italy, driving 3.000 Km with my 612 without any problems, just to realize at home that the right head light isn't working anymore, both low- and high beam. Fuses are all ok, so I guess its the ballast or the bulb or both. Amyone has experience on * how much is the costs to get it repaired at a Ferrari shop?, or * how easy/difficult it is to repair it myself, meaning * how easy it is to access the light (obviosly from the inner front fender)? or * would it be necessary to dismantle the bumper? * whether the ballast is an OEM part (Osram, Bosch?) and how much it would be? * if it more likely the ballast or the bulb? I am used to fix issues on my cars, but have no experince with Bi Xenon lights, so I am thankful for any advise on that one. Stefan
Really nobody with experience on that one? (or is it just such a no brainer and I simply get the bulb replaced?)
In the meantime Ferrari has checked the bulb, also a new one isn't working, so they assume its the ballast. Unfortunately Ferrari does not offer this part sperately anymore but only the complete headlight unit. So I am searching for the Osram part separately. Interestingly the headlight unit on the 612 was changed between models which from the outside is not visible at all. Inside though the ballast on the old model is sitting on a complete different location than on the OTO's/Sessantas. Question is if the ballast can be exchanged (3 screws) without removing the entire front bumper. Hope someone in this forum has some experience. Thanks Stefan
Stefan, the Ricambi America parts diagram for the 612 headlights would seem to show the headlight assembly mounting screws would be very difficult if not impossible to access without prior removal of the front fender covering the headlights. Image Unavailable, Please Login OTOH, the ballast location on the headlight assembly may allow ballast removal without having to remove the entire assembly. That would make sense as ballasts are wear and tear items and should also be installed in ventilated locations where they are less heat-stressed. The Ricambi listing appears to show a price of $1136.29 for (qty. 2) ballasts from Ricambi America. Have you already tried to remove the ballast? Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks for the reply and advise Michael, and no, I haven't touch the ballast yet as I want to wait until I have the new one which will be next week. B.t.w. originally its an Osram part, cost around a 100 bucks. I really hope that it will be not necessary to remove the bumper but work from the inner fender but lets see. The later 612's have the ballast on the upper right of the headlight unit and this allows to remove the ballast from the inner fender. I could see that at my Ferrari mechanic who incidently had a stripped off OTO in his workshop. I'll keep you updated on the result. Stefan
If you cannot adequately manipulate the ballast from the engine compartment another option may be to also remove the front wheel and wheel well cover. It would seem more sensible than having to remove the fender cover just to access a wear-and-tear item, design-wise. I suspect a friendly Ferrari service person would also be glad to advise you on how they do it. Good luck Stefan.
In the meantime I have got a new ballast. Unfortunately there seems to be no way other than to remove the headlight unit in order exchange that part. I have removed all cover panels in the engine compartment bay and the wheel arch. The problem is the air intake (suction ducting) which goes from the air filter around the cooler down to the front bumper and is so close to the headlights that there is no way to access the screws from the ballast. Removing the air intake (suction ducting) is not possible without removing the radiator from what I can see. So in short the easiest way seems to be removing the front bumper in order to remove the headlight unit, exchange the ballast and put everything together. I don't like it but I see no other way. Stefan
Well, at least you can't say we didn't try. Moving the radiator, cover and fans would be a whole lot of trouble compared to removing the fender. The factory probably had the same experience, realized their hasty design after they launched the 612, and redesigned the ballast location. At least you've already removed the wheel well cover. I would take pictures of the areas of the car that you uncover, just in case you find them useful reference at a later date. You may also want to use new fasteners and washers if the old ones look at all worn. I would also apply some Locktite (probably Blue) on clean threads before refastening the nuts. FWIW, the left ballast of my old E39 540i sport was mounted right next to the oil pump. You can imagine how toasty that got. Sure enough it died but at least it was easy to replace. After that, I always pop the engine cover for my babies when I get home.
