General Xenons

[XIIX]

thanks J333, will def look at those sites!
mark your lights look great! not chav at all & v cool!

 

[kw1984]

Found some, and duley purchased a pair

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=004&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=140217148763&rd=1

I don't know if you have found out yet but these bulbs make a message come on the display saying that the bulbs are out. Obviously, becuase they draw so little current, it registers as blown.

Also this type of wedge bulb but in amber for the front turn indicator doesn't fit through the hole into the reflector.

As the DRL holder is the same twist type as the indicator, I'm not sure the bulb would fit in there. I only tested it and when I got the message about a bulb being out, I didn't even try and fit it into the reflector.

Fitted Osram night breakers, H1 and H7's about an hour ago so not seen them in the dark yet.

 

[Mark Elvin]

So does the DLR show as a bulb out then?

 

[kw1984]

So does the DLR show as a bulb out then?

Yup.

Say's "check day lamps" on the display and the ! in a triangle is also lit on the dash.

That can probably be got around with a load risistor to simulate the load of the fillament lamp. As I stay though, I haven't seen if the LED bulb even fits in the hole it has to fit through.

I'm in the same situation as you now with nice crisp white mains and dipped but cream looking DRL's

 

[roadster1_98]

Really? I don't rate them at all... and that's from someone coming from a Ford Ka, not some xenon specced Audi or BMW. Main beam is useless, there's such little extra illumination over dipped that I don't know if it's even worth putting them on main beam.

in the short time I've had mine I have to agree with you. Looks like I'll be upgrading.

 

[Mark Elvin]

If anyone want a set of H1 & H7 bulbs like mine I have a spare set, £15 posted

 

[white 500]

xenon/hids headlights, are the same thing and as said, they are optional, how will the police know if they are an aftermarket kit or the optional extra? they wont simply unless they rip your car into bits.

no there not the same xenon bulbs have a fillament. H.I.D is High Intensity Discharge. which is a discharge lamp (no fillament ) they work on electricity passing through a gas which is usually xenon this is why HID lamps need a very high powered firing unit, hid "bulbs" sometimes cannot be replaced and when they can they are usualy £50+ each. so although they use the same gas there not the same, i recon the abarth will have HID's either as an option or standard

 

[mark_mcd]

Sorry if this has been posted already (can't be bothered reading 6 pages...) but the best upgrade personally is the Philips Xtreme +80% headlamp bulbs (think osram maybe do some +90% which are also meant to be very good). Order them from Powerbulbs.com and install the free Philips Bluevision bulbs. Very modern, powerful, white light that will not blind other drivers

 

[pearce_jj]

Sorry to bring this crashing back down, but these 'blue' bulbs are not, in any guise, an upgrade.

They work by having a blue filter applied to the glass. This restricts the output in the yellow region, providing the desired effect. But all halogen filament bulbs have the vast majority of their output in the yellow band of the spectrum. In other words, the overall light output of the bulb in reduced.

The "+50%", "+80%" or whatever else claimed refers to a the measurement of light output at a specific point in the road ahead of the vehicle. This is achieved by winding the bulbs' filament physically wider, which because of the construction of the headlamp reflector or lens, alters the beam spread on the road. This is why the claim is 'up to 80%' or whatever, it is a specific measurement made on a specific vehicle. Philips documentation even shows this, if you dig far enough.

The 55w=80w claims, yet more rubbish I'm afraid. The headlamps, wiring, and relays are all designed for 55w bulbs. Running an 80w bulb would either kill the wiring or melt the lamp fitting. And in any case it would be illegal. Probably it just refers to the same thing as the +50% type claims.

HIDs, which they are trying to look a bit like, are fundamentally different. These lights work by creating a continuous spark between to electrodes encased in a high pressure (xenon rich) gas. They require 000's of volts to ignite and require by law complex self leveling circuitry (to avoid dazzling other drivers) and must also be permanently disabled if the air bags are deployed - this is to prevent fire in a collision and also to protect the emergency services from electricution.

Also the use of the term 'xenon' is again marketting spin - all halogen bulbs use some xenon, these simply use slightly more which permits the filament to run slightly hotter which does alter the colour balance away from yellow a little. But most normal bulbs have already taken advantage of this as much as possible.

Hope that's of interest.

 

[RobW]

The "+50%", "+80%" or whatever else claimed refers to a the measurement of light output at a specific point in the road ahead of the vehicle. This is achieved by winding the bulbs' filament physically wider, which because of the construction of the headlamp reflector or lens, alters the beam spread on the road. This is why the claim is 'up to 80%' or whatever, it is a specific measurement made on a specific vehicle. Philips documentation even shows this, if you dig far enough.

Also the use of the term 'xenon' is again marketting spin - all halogen bulbs use some xenon, these simply use slightly more which permits the filament to run slightly hotter which does alter the colour balance away from yellow a little. But most normal bulbs have already taken advantage of this as much as possible.

Hope that's of interest.

Maybe, and all very interesting theory but the fact is that upgrade bulbs DO improve the car's lights. I have successfully used 30% and 50% upgrade xenon bulbs on Fiat Cinquecento and Alfa 156 with vast improvement.

 

[Skye]

Some info here - Philips X-treme Power are the brightest http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/212937/make_light_of_winter.html

 

[mark_mcd]

Sorry to bring this crashing back down, but these 'blue' bulbs are not, in any guise, an upgrade.

They work by having a blue filter applied to the glass. This restricts the output in the yellow region, providing the desired effect. But all halogen filament bulbs have the vast majority of their output in the yellow band of the spectrum. In other words, the overall light output of the bulb in reduced.

The "+50%", "+80%" or whatever else claimed refers to a the measurement of light output at a specific point in the road ahead of the vehicle. This is achieved by winding the bulbs' filament physically wider, which because of the construction of the headlamp reflector or lens, alters the beam spread on the road. This is why the claim is 'up to 80%' or whatever, it is a specific measurement made on a specific vehicle. Philips documentation even shows this, if you dig far enough.

The 55w=80w claims, yet more rubbish I'm afraid. The headlamps, wiring, and relays are all designed for 55w bulbs. Running an 80w bulb would either kill the wiring or melt the lamp fitting. And in any case it would be illegal. Probably it just refers to the same thing as the +50% type claims.

HIDs, which they are trying to look a bit like, are fundamentally different. These lights work by creating a continuous spark between to electrodes encased in a high pressure (xenon rich) gas. They require 000's of volts to ignite and require by law complex self leveling circuitry (to avoid dazzling other drivers) and must also be permanently disabled if the air bags are deployed - this is to prevent fire in a collision and also to protect the emergency services from electricution.

Also the use of the term 'xenon' is again marketting spin - all halogen bulbs use some xenon, these simply use slightly more which permits the filament to run slightly hotter which does alter the colour balance away from yellow a little. But most normal bulbs have already taken advantage of this as much as possible.

Hope that's of interest.

Agree about the blue tinted bulbs.

However you really must try some uprated bulbs as, with the best ones anyways, the difference is fantastic. There is more to it than wider filament - pretty sure that different gasses are used and the filament is burned brighter/hotter as well. Bulb technology is always improving.

Also agree with the higher wattage bulbs - do not run these over the standard 55w as they create much more heat which can, after extended periods, damage the headlamp unit. Wiring looms can also suffer with the extra wattage...

HID kits are illegal as many people know. However a good quality kit can produce nice results (cheaper bulbs tend to create a scattered light that dazzles others regardless of how they are alligned). The main problem is that if you are fitting them to your car you wont have the auto self-levelling alignment so if, for example, you were driving at night over swoopy roads there is the potential to seriously dazzle oncoming drivers when going over bumps etc.

Seriously go for the Philips X-treme and Bluevision sidelights

 

[Lloyd71]

Sorry to bump this but I've been looking at getting some new bulbs lately and have been wanting to get some 7500k ones like Mark got off ebay, but i cant find any that say they would fit a 500. Should any H7 bulb fit?

These are the ones I was looking at;
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/H7-7500K-XENO...14&_trkparms=72:1432|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

 

[j3bnl]

Has anyone managed to find a bulb (or LED) for the DRL's that is a bit whiter than the yellow effort on the 500.
Have replaced the dipped and high beam bulbs with Osram Night-breakers which I would recommend, they are excellent.

 

[j3bnl]

Order them from Powerbulbs.com and install the free Philips Bluevision bulbs.

Nice idea but the free sidelights wont/dont fit on a 500.

 

[j3bnl]

Found these for replacing the horrible yellow DRL's :-

http://www.priracing.com/product.php?xProd=374

 

[Lloyd71]

Went out today and took advantage of Halfords' buy one get one free offer on bulbs, got me a pair of Extreme Bright bulbs for £23.99 and the difference is astonishing! They are well worth the money, the distance of the light is good and the light they give off is just the right shade of white. They have a very very slight blue tint to them at a certain angle, too.

I'll try and get decent exposures tomorrow on my SLR to show the difference. Next up, DRL replacements!

 

[Lloyd71]

I finally got the photo I promised 2 weeks ago, I can't even remember what the standard ones looked like from the outside so I've no idea if this will show the difference but it's worth a shot.

 

[Roadsterchinsk]

Thanks for getting the pic up LLoyd, I think many like me prefer the whiter look and that looks about right.

Im not aftre simulating xenons as I think you get what you pay for but a brighter stonger white light without goign over wattage or getting a bad pattern fits the bill.

 

[Lloyd71]

Thanks for getting the pic up LLoyd, I think many like me prefer the whiter look and that looks about right.

Im not aftre simulating xenons as I think you get what you pay for but a brighter stonger white light without goign over wattage or getting a bad pattern fits the bill.

That's the same as me, I don't like the blue look bulbs much, I prefer the bright white instead and these bulbs were spot on. The increase in vision is definitely worth the money.