'03 9-5 Aero Estate - Flickering HID - Causes?

[thetapeworm]

A quick one (hopefully) but the Saab I'm collecting in Poland next week and driving back might have an issue with one of the headlamps - as I need to get back safely and then have it MOT'd as soon as I get into the country I need it to be OK.

It had a service last week and the (slightly vague, translated) message passed to me is that one of the HID lights is flickering - far from ideal.

D1S bulbs aren't cheap but I was planning to replace them both anyway - the only issue being that I only have a few hours in Poland before I set off back so fixing time is limited. This isn't an issue as it's a relatively easy job but to compound things I'd have to take the bulbs (and any other parts) over in my hand luggage which is fairly limited.

Having read a bit on this there are quite a few potential things it could be, bulbs, ballasts, level sensors and more but I thought I'd ask on here to see if anyone has specific experience with this sort of issue, especially on a Saab.

One thing I thought might be responsible is the cold weather (-11C when the car was last checked) but being a Saab I presume they are designed for far worse?

I posted on UKSaabs and bumped a couple of old posts there but because I'm new all my posts have to be moderated first and time is against me to get parts without having to pay silly money or going overboard and replacing things I don't need.

Any input on this you might have (even if it's just to mock me for getting into this situation) would be appreciated.

[DennisTheMenace]

It could be a bulb, but then it could be a ballast, the bulbs you can get relitivly cheaply on ebay if you look around, personaly i would try the bulb 1st, having 23000v shoved up your chuff everytime your switched on would wear you out after a while