Scott asked me to post this question as he doesn't have access to SW at the moment.


If the ECM is dead, would the lights still auto level? My bulbs aren't working (either one) yet they will both auto level and the filter works for the hi-beam.

I just checked all of the fuses and swapped hi/low beam relays ... all fuses are good and the relays changed nothing.

Only other thing I have happening is the hi-beam mod (bridging the inboard H7's to the hi-beam function).

I am baffled ... I have swapped bulbs, nothing.

Could something have fried both Xenon bulbs at the same time? That seems unlikely though. Didn't you have a similar problem before?

The problem hasn't gone away, only gotten worse.

I was having an issue with the passenger side hl, it kept "blowning" ECM's. I would replace it and almost to the day 2 weeks later, it would die. Did that 3 times.

Recently, the drivers side hl went out. Pulled it, had a look, appeared to be a bad bulb (even though relatively new). Swapped bulbs ... no change. So I am running without hl's at the moment. I have added some lighting to the front to cover me, but it is no substitute for bi-xenons!!!

So, there was a post on SC about xenons and it occurred to me that every other function of the bi-xenon set up is working properly ... self leveling (can hear AND feel it) as well as the shutter for the hi-beams. That says to me that the operation of the light (or lack of) is limited to the lighting function only.

I am going to swap out the relay that the hi-beam mod goes to with one of the others and see what happens, but I doubt it will change anything.

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas ... I can't keep replacing the ECM's ... first off, they aren't easy to get, secondly, they ain't cheap either!

Well, I swapped all of the relays around ... no change at all.

I found this on the web, could help... I found this after I suspect something is screwy with your voltage to the bulbs, causing the to burn out too fast.

As the Xenon lamps use special drive electronics they will not suffer varied life length due to voltage variations. Instead they will suffer each time they are turned on. Bad news for drivers with many short trips.

So what exactly regulates the voltage?

Angry Kitchen Appliances: Saab 9-5 Electrical FAQ

I am going to grab my (brand new, never used, 3 year old) voltage regulator on Thursday and start measuring ... stuff. Quite frankly, I have no idea what to check, so I am going to start at the fuse box in the engine compartment and see where that takes me.

I was also going to ask if anyone knew of a safe way to see if the bulbs are in fact burnt out or not. Can I use electrical leads and just tap them to the battery or is that nuts?

Originally Posted by SaabScott

I was also going to ask if anyone knew of a safe way to see if the bulbs are in fact burnt out or not. Can I use electrical leads and just tap them to the battery or is that nuts?

My guess is you'll be ok... but I've done plenty of things that seemed like a good idea at one point in time.

Originally Posted by SaabScott

I was also going to ask if anyone knew of a safe way to see if the bulbs are in fact burnt out or not. Can I use electrical leads and just tap them to the battery or is that nuts?

Unless you have some kind of transformer to convert 12V from the car battery to 23kV needed to ignite the bulb, I don't think this will work.

From the WIS:

A xenon lamp governed by a headlamp/AHL control module in each headlight is used for main and dipped beams. The control module regulates the current/voltage to the xenon lamps. The lamps require extremely high voltages (approx. 23,000V) to ignite. Normal operating voltage is around 85V.

And there are a few warnings to read before playing around with the Xenon light system.

Saab 9-5 Xenon headlamp, changing bulbs and control module WIS

I'm a little late on chiming in but what bulds are you running OES or aftermarket? The cheaper ebay/aftermarket bulbs are known for causing voltage spikes and frying lamp control modules.

Another thought is to pull the lamp assemblies out and remove said lamp control modules and inspect the connectors for corrosion.

Hope this helps...

Never too late. ;-)

I did try aftermarket, but they were from a quality company.

The bulbs in the car right now are OE ... same brand and model that were in the car for the previous 80K miles or so ...

And I have changed out the passenger side EMC 4 times, including one swap from the drivers side.

Originally Posted by Brad Lauzze

I'm a little late on chiming in but what bulds are you running OES or aftermarket? The cheaper ebay/aftermarket bulbs are known for causing voltage spikes and frying lamp control modules.

Another thought is to pull the lamp assemblies out and remove said lamp control modules and inspect the connectors for corrosion.

Hope this helps...