Not F-body related, but on my DD (2001 VW Golf) I have aftermarket light housings with projectors, and HIDs (with ballasts). One of the HID bulbs went out and I need to replace it. The problem is I have no idea what kind of bulb I need to replace it with. Written on the side of the ballast says it will take D2S, D2R, or D2C bulbs. However, all the pictures of those online do not match the appearance of the bulb I have (which appears to be a H3 bulb). Looking for something that will work and plug into the harness I have. Anyone know about this stuff or could help point me in the right direction?

 

Those look like AMP connectors (two wires with the weather tight clips in the 2nd image). If those are connected to the base of the lamp, just buy a pair of new HID lamps with the correct base for your headlights. Just about all aftermarket HID lamps use AMP connectors except for the Morimoto Xb products. They include the adapter plugs though so it's not a concern.

You sure those are a H3 lamp? Tough to tell since you can't really see the base of the lamp.

 

Here's a pic of the connector.

Do you have an eBay link to some that would work Jeff?

 

you just need an HID bulb that the lamp housings say you need...

for example: If the projectors take an H1 bulb you go to Theretrofitsource.com and find an H1 HID bulb...

 

That is not an H3 bulb. An H3 bulb is much smaller (total length is just over 1.5" not including the wire pigtail):

To my knowledge, H3 has never been used in headlights but they are common in fog lights.

What you have appears to be a D2S capsule (what an HID bulb is properly called). D2S and D2R are basically the same except that S stands for shielded (normally referring to projector lamps) and R stands for reflector referring to some specially designed HID reflector housings (still never a good idea for use in a halogen reflector housing). The D2R has a painted area around it that is designed to cut glare when used in the proper housing. The bases of each type have different notches to prevent installing the wrong one.

D2C is an aftermarket capsule that has notches in its base to fit either D2S or D2R housings. The C generally means Colored referring to the aftermarket tendency to use bluer color temperatures like 6000K and higher.

The problem is the base. If your projectors are OEM HID retrofit to your car then the D2S capsule will be the one you need. If they are aftermarket or OEM halogen projectors then you will have to match the capsule base to a corresponding halogen bulb base. For example, if the base has one wide and two smaller tabs spaced evenly around it and is held in place by a clip then it's probably H7 (could be H4 but that is a dual filament bulb not used in projectors). Similarly, twist-lock bulbs like H9, H11, 9006, etc. vary in the diameter and configuration of tabs on their bases.

It's very hard to tell from your photo because it only shows the edge of the base so the notches and tabs aren't visible but it looks like an ordinary D2S.

Here are the D2 capsule base types:

 

Those are AMP connectors so you just need a new set of lamps (if ballasts are good). To see if the ballasts are good, swap the ballasts from side to side and see if if the issues stays with side with the potentially bad lamp. If it stays, ballasts are fine and lamps are needed. If it moves with the ballast, then you know what this means.

You still need to figure out the base type of the lamp. Once you do, buy some Morimoto, DDM, eBay, etc lamps and call it a day.

Who is Jeff?

 

Take a pic of the bulb head on and from the back so we can see the shape of that base. Then we can identify what those are.