do hids wear out?

[electricracer]

my 99 s4 has the original oe hids fitted, coming home last night down dark roads found the lights to be honest crap. i had to fix one of the headlight motors recently and set them up afterwards so know they are adjusted correctly. but they seem to be not lighting the road up very far in front of the car. one of my other cars had an aftermarket kit fitted and i remember that being better, and gfs new auris is fantastic. is it just the old design of headlamp projector or do the bulbs degrade with age they are nearly 10 years old

 

[Oranoco]

Thi smight be a stupid question but your headlamps are clean aren't they. Dirty lenses can really impede the light output

 

[Siena]

I would imagine the Xenon bulbs have a limited service life, like any other component.

First thing to check is that the projectors / reflectors are in good shape.

I have OEM RS4 units on my car - one-piece, and the lighting compared to even higher wattage halogens is like night and day.

I have heard though, some folk replaced their Xenon bulbs, and got better light output, so worth considering.

 

[Blue_Thunder]

Yes, the OEM bulbs output does degrade over time.

 

[Oranoco]

Any lamps lumen output will depreciate over time.

 

[electricracer]

so do i replace with standard or are there upgrades available?

 

[electricracer]

what are the replacement lamps part no? can you get aftermarket ones (ebay) what temp is the brightest?

 

[Blue_Thunder]

Go for a 4300K HID setup. 50-55W if possible. I've fitted aftermarket HID's to my S4.

 

[electricracer]

from where???

 

[aragorn]

i've heard of a company called HIDS4U who seem to do both replacement OE bulbs and upgrade kits giving 35 (oe) or 55w output. (the ballast sets the output wattage afaik, not the bulbs)