Xenon Headlights

[MadBaz]

Just to let peeps know Halfrauds hava a bogof deal on thier 'super brilliance' 50% brighter xenon bulbs atm, I changed mine yesterday for

[mumble_bee]

hey madbaz, nice to know mate,

 

I just wonder how long the warranty on them is, I've had some bad experience with some that were popping.... until I ordered some from japan which worked great.

[MadBaz]

hey madbaz, nice to know mate,

 

I just wonder how long the warranty on them is, I've had some bad experience with some that were popping.... until I ordered some from japan which worked great.

 

 

To be honest I'm not sure, but if they pop soon i'll be letting them know, I was tempted by some phillips blue tipped xenons at motosave but they only give out 30% extra (compared to halogen) and were 26 quid.

 

I was a bit miffed at first, I change one and switched h/l on and from the front there didn't appear to be much difference other than the Xenon was whiter, but from behind the wheel with both changed, well as I said wow.

 

I'm just happy cos I can see in the dark now, lots of unlit narrow windy lanes round here.

 

Now how to slim down them A pillars so I can see the bends.....

[mumble_bee]

do keep us informed about these,

 

theres a trick for getting a better view ... lose weight, pull the driver seat right up to the wheel and lean over it as you drive. ...

 

seems to work for some ;)

[faz]

I fitted mine about 6 months ago, very happy with them , no problems.

[MadBaz]

do keep us informed about these,

 

theres a trick for getting a better view ... lose weight, pull the driver seat right up to the wheel and lean over it as you drive. ...

 

seems to work for some :o

 

 

Mmmm, not so sure about that one, not a good idea if airbag needs to deploy, my fiestas did enough damage to me last May and I was in a 'correct' driving position!

 

I should do what some of the colonials do round here, lowwer and and recline seat fully and i'll be able to see out of rear passenger windows. :huh:

[sanjsanj]

I'm confused....

I know of:

Normal headlamps

Normal headlamps with a blue tip, to make them appear whiter (styling aparently)

Halogen lamps (or is that the same^?)

Xenon lamps

The ones which have a lenses in front of them, which are like energy saving bulbs and take some time to warm up. link)

 

Can someone shed some light onto the difference's between the lamps?

 

thanks

sanj

Edited March 22, 2007 by sanjsanj

[MadBaz]

Halogens are normal

Xenon are whiter and normally brighter and come with blue tipped/coated varietys, xenon also go bluer the older they are, due them decomposing,

and HID (high intensity discharge) which are whiter still, usually a mfr option nowadays, although they can be retrofitted.

I don't know what they are in the link, heated lenses?

 

Just a note the 55/60 watt varietys of xenons are legal anything higher is not and I think those that have them are tossers.

[sanjsanj]

did u need H7's for your's?

[MadBaz]

did u need H7's for your's?

 

 

H4's

[sanjsanj]

What K rating (blue intensity) (more info here) were the ones you bought from halfrauds?

[MadBaz]

What K rating (blue intensity) (more info here) were the ones you bought from halfrauds?

 

 

I don't know what the specific light temp (kelvin) is on mine, but all xenons are around 6500K, extra blue can be attained by colouring the tip/glass.

 

The link to ebay says all his bulbs carry an E mark and are ISO9001 compliant, all E marked products have to be produced to ISO 9001:2000 in order to get the mark, the comment "absolutely legal" in UK is misleading, the 90, 100 watt varieties are not legal. look here for some FAQ's.

[Guest MATT jr]

be very careful if you buy on ebay, theres so many that claim the bulbs are legal, but infact are over the 55W limit.

 

i have also got some halfords Xenon bulbs, both dipped and main beam - there was some improvement, but not enough to justify the cost (IMO)

 

MJR

[mumof4]

Hmmm, must say that when im night driving, the oncoming headlights that are bright blue do tend to dazzle me, and if they are behind me i have to move my rear view mirror.

[strouf]

I think the xenon performance is worth the extra money, but the service life of the bulbs is really short (specially on diesel cars). I have tried the "OSRAM true blue". They did not last more than six months, while the halogen ones last for years...

[buford_t_justice]

I just had a Philips Blue Vision bulb fail on me last night and it had only been in for a year.

 

I've never had standard bulbs blow before and I'll be buggered if I'm going to pay top prices to change these bulbs as often as that.

 

Back to standard for me !! ;)

[seatkid]

Don't be fooled by the marketing con misleading advertising.

 

FACTS

 

Mk1 galaxys were fitted as standard with...... Osram or Philips bulbs.

 

The best "+50%" bulbs on the market are....... Osram or Philips.

 

The "+50%" is a just selected version (suffix A) of the standard version with around 3% average increase in lumen output (not +50%)

 

The 50% claim should really read "up to 50% brighter than those cheap and nasty, made in china, bulbs you got down at the discount motor place"

 

Whenever I change a tyre, bulb, oil, air filter etc, I swear the car's running far better than it did before. In fact this is a pyschological effect known as "I've just spent some money on this so its got to be better syyndrome" ;)

 

Cheap "Xenon" bulbs not made by Osram/Philips can sometimes be a little bit brighter, but they usually have terrible light distribution and pop after a few months.

 

I know all this cos I been there, done that, scratched my bollocks head a lot wondering what the f...., got the PhD degree researching it thoroughly and have the empty wallet to prove it.

[sanjsanj]

Hmmm, must say that when im night driving, the oncoming headlights that are bright blue do tend to dazzle me, and if they are behind me i have to move my rear view mirror.

You have two rear view mirrors...one for day and one for night. to switch it to night mode, just put ur hand around the back of it and you shoulf be able to flip a switch of some sort which makes the whole mirror move towards the sunroof. Try it...

 

 

How many of you guys with Xenons have had to change the bulbs unexpectedly earlier than usual?? please state make and time of use

thanks

sanj

[Guest grant]

Hi,

I bought some of the Halfords ones yesterday, having read this thread I think I had better keep the old halogan bulbs and the recipt. If they 'pop' in less than a year I will bounce them back.

 

Cheers

 

Grant.

[Dave-G]

So you best be reading the motor manufacturers smallprint that refers to bulbs as consumables then. :ph34r:

 

Imagine a night time taxi driver - and a school run mum as two extreme examples of the possible lifetime of a bulb. :ph34r:

[big_kev]

I'm confused....

I know of:

Normal headlamps

Normal headlamps with a blue tip, to make them appear whiter (styling aparently)

Halogen lamps (or is that the same^?)

Xenon lamps

The ones which have a lenses in front of them, which are like energy saving bulbs and take some time to warm up. link)

 

Can someone shed some light onto the difference's between the lamps?

 

thanks

sanj

 

I think you will find that the normal ones are legal for road use.........the rest probably are not

[strouf]

I think HID is the real thing, so I will try to find quality components and avoid made in China crap...But the most important part of the system is the headlight and it's lens. What is different in those factory fit , high performance systems is that the headlights are designed to work with hid bulbs.

But my question is: Are there HID headlights for the galaxy (MK2)? Was this ever an option? Having ETKA, I saw that VW sell them, but Ford have no idea of what I'm talking about !!

[Guest wolfie]

yes HID's were a an option on the Galaxy, part of one of the option packs, if HID's are OE fitted they have to have head light washers and auto leveling fitted as standard, these are not needed if you fit an after market kit!

[big_kev]

Nice....expensive though

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=330186229114

 

These are cheaper...

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=190171832068

Edited November 15, 2007 by big_kev

[rdfb2]

had hd lights on a audi a3 brilliant really,cant beat them.