OEM Xenon lights poor

[Rudedaubin]

My stock hid headlights don't seem to be any more effective at lighting the road ahead than halogens, in fact when the main beam or foglights are on the xenons light is almost lost, yet when I see the growing number of other cars on the road with xenons they're almost blindingly bright. I've fitted new oem Philips lamps but the difference is negligable. The light throw is good they're just not that bright. Side by side with anything new with hid's and it's almost embarrasing. Is any body else of the same opinion that the stock lights are poor or any advice on what to check with mine, cheers.

 

[KevM3]

same with mine i put new d1s bulbs in and still rubbish, my m3 xenons are much better

 

[JasonS]

I sometimes wonder if mine are on at all.. the only good thing about them is the self levelling.

I had a vauxhall Omega Elite in 1998 that had fantastic factory xenons, nothing has come close since.

 

[Rudedaubin]

Looks like I'm going to have to start modding then .

I think the self leveling is good too,especially on start up,but occasionally in fog /snow I'd prefer to be able to manually drop them.

 

[Ian2012]

at least i am not alone in my thoughts, i am disappointed with mine, just seem to fall short in terms of output, coverage and range, i rememner fitting an hid to kit to an old urs6 that i had and being blown away by the difference, had elipsoid headlights so wasn't chav / corsa look at all, glass lenses though not plastic, hmmmmmm

 

[Rudedaubin]

I decided to have a closer look at the lights today, with the intention of cleaning the internals of the projectors and this is what I found. You can see the projector has overheated to the point of cracking and the reflective surface is now charred and black. Both driver and passenger lights are like this. My car has the factory fitted xenons and hasn't had high power lamps fitted,just genuine replacement lamps (philips 85122) . I'm quite surprised that the reflectors are plastic as I would have assumed that xenons run quite hot. If your lights seem dim maybe pop the lamp cover off to see if yours are the same. It doesn't look like the reflectors would be available seperately, anybody any idea how costly new headlights are?

 

[Andi25th]

I'm sure OEM replacements are going to be extortionate.

Maybe you could buy non Hid type and convert them using the factory parts from the old headlight ?

 

[Spacemonkey]

I know this is an old thread, but hey, I did a search...

Has anyone found a way to improve factory HIDs? Mine too are quite disappointing.

First thing I'd like/need to do is raise them a bit. I know they're self levelling, but is there a way to raise the 'base line' so to speak? On country A roads, which I do most of my driving, they are frankly dangerous on dip and high could do with being a bit higher too. By contrast, when I flick to main beam (Osram Rallye 65w) it is like day from night... I really was expecting more.

I assume they're 35w? I also assume to upgrade to 55w hids I'd need to change the ballast. is this do-able in the factory setup?

Any other ideas?

 

[t8ups]

The projectors are possibly burnt out, if you wanted to split your headlights i can supply you a projector upgrade which will make your xenons perform as/better than a 2014 car.

Trups

 

[Spacemonkey]

That sounds interesting... got a price at all? pm if you like..

 

[lowlife89]

You can upgrade the projector lens to TSX-R ones: http://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/lenses/tsx-r-clear-lens.html

I'll post back after I've received and installed them.

 

[t8ups]

But if the projector bowl is burnt out changing the lens won't make a difference.

Trs

 

[t8ups]

That sounds interesting... got a price at all? pm if you like..

Did you want just the projectors and you will use your existing setup? I would recommend new bulbs as well as over the years they loose lumens.

Trups

 

[Spacemonkey]

You can price me up for both if you like then I can decide.

 

[GeoffDunk]

I don't quite get this, is this soemthing I should keep an eye on my B6 S4? I find that my lights are excellent an iluminate the road very well

 

[Mike B]

Mine are still good too

 

[Spacemonkey]

Did you want just the projectors and you will use your existing setup? I would recommend new bulbs as well as over the years they loose lumens.

Trups

Ok, so why do you never respond once I ask for prices???

I was kind of expecting more from my factory HID lights on low beam but they are not as good as my Golf on H7 halogen bulbs. I assume this is because they are 13 years and 185k miles old and th ebulb has dropped in efficiency and the reflectors have coloured.

 

[t8ups]

Hi.

Sorry for the late reply on this, I was away last week so answered while browsing and only saw you replied when this thread come back to the top.

So if you want to upgrade just the lenses I can get them in for £35 to the uk, but if you wanted new projectors, bulbs, and fitting hardware I can also do this, are the ballast you have ok of would you want a complete new setup?

Like you have said, over the years the and the wear the bulbs will start to loose the lumens and will get worse every year so refreshing them is a good way to get light back.

You think you could go upto a white wall, park 25ft away and get a picture of the headlights and I will put a comparison shot up of a new setup?

Trups

 

[Spacemonkey]

Cheers mate, I shall try to do that and post back!

Ballasts fine AFAIK. The beam spread is fab just a bit low so somehow I need to raise the base level of the low beams so I can see a bit further ahead. The main beams are considerably brighter and the low beams seem yellower than I'd have thought they should be. My sidelights are white cree leds and on other HID cars they have been a good match but appear much whiter than my current hids.

Which bit can burn out and is it hard to replace? Would it involve splitting the lamp assembly?

 

[t8ups]

Hi.

It's the reflector bowel that burns out, you do need to split the headlamp to swap them, if you say they are good then maybe a bulb upgrade would improve and also manually raising the lights will improve distance with some upgraded bulbs that produce more lumens.

Trups

 

[Spacemonkey]

Can you let me know some prices so I have a rough idea what I'm looking at for reflectors and bulbs. Thanks!

 

[t8ups]

Hi.

Clear lens if you want to open the headlights are £40 for the pair.

Are you running d2s as stock, 2 options, have after market ones which are £20 for the pIr or I can supply Phillips ultinons of or £135 per pair or osram cbi's for £125 per pair.

Trups

 

[Spacemonkey]

I assume the clear lens includes the reflectors that burn out? I don't know much about the inner workings of HID light units I'm afraid...

Is there a huge difference in the bulbs? I normally use the Phillips Extreme Plus bulbs in H7 H4 etc so is it the same kind of improvements over standard bulbs?

 

[lowlife89]

You think you could go upto a white wall, park 25ft away and get a picture of the headlights and I will put a comparison shot up of a new setup?

Highly interested in this as well. I've had my TSX-R clear lens delivered some time ago and I'm about to put back together the first swapped headlight. Can you post the sample pics with your lens please? here's two pics from a drive in pitch-black (stock Valeo low-beam only xenon, Philips D2s bulbs that I think are ancient):

 

[Spacemonkey]

Just trying to find a white wall.... what happened to them all?

 

[hollows wife]

t8ups any idea wether these fit the audi a3 facelift 2009 xenon headlights , my light output is terrible , next question is does the projector lens come out of the rear of the light or the front ?
i have once cut the lights open with a dremel as they dont come apart by heating them up . dont fancy cutting them open for a second time . its either this or trying new XENARC NIGHT BREAKER UNLIMITED bulbs

 

[t8ups]

Send me an email to sales@emtuning.co.uk and il ask some questions about the headlights ATM.

Trups