xenon HID headlights???

[glc8937]

I am noticing more and more ads selling these alleged super bright new headlights thata re supposed to mimick the new BMW headlights. Ebay as them for around 30 bucks. Has anyone tried these or seen these on a vehicle to see if they really work??

 

[exploreraudio]

Hey,

I have the blue (xenon white) bulbs in both the headlamps and the foglamps in my 98 Limited. I really like them, they do in fact have a bright white with blue-tinge like the BMWs, but are a little less..."vivid?". I have owned 3 sets of these bulbs, and have found out the following:

- The rainbow colored bulbs give off the color-change light, but provide very little actual night-lighting.

- The blue bulbs light up road signs like MAD! It's awesome!

- For some reason, the darker the blue color on the bulb, the whiter the light. This makes no sense, but I tried some bulbs that were really light blue, and they just looked like regular headlights.

- The blue headlights look a little funny when the headlights are off, because you can see the blue bulb in the headlight reflectors. It looks wierd, but you'll get over it.

- If you have plastic lenses, like the headlights are on my 98, don't get the higher wattage lights...they can actually MELT the lenses! Fortunatly, this didn't happen to me, but I have talked to people that melted their foglamps this way.

Hope that helps! If you would like, I can take some pics of my truck at night.

 

[00XLT]

There are two characteristics to a bulb's light output: color temperature and actual light output. Color temperature is the color of the light. As for actual light output, that is rated in candelas, lumens, etc. and these are measurements of the actual intensity/light energy given off by the bulb. All of the $30 xenon bulbs mimic the color temperature of high intensity discharge systems and try for higher light output through increased wattage, but fall short. Last I checked a standard HID system was equivalent to a 150-watt bulb.

Here's a comparison from a bimmer mod site, bavauto.com, should give you an idea of the differences

Relative Comparison-----Lumens:-------Kelvin Color Scale*:
Halogen Lighting----------800-------------2800
HID Lighting----------------3200-----------4300


Hope some of that helped

 

[glc8937]

Thanks for the great input guys! Can't beat getting stats and opinion of someone who has actually used the item. I am going to probably buy them off ebay sometime this week. Do you think 30 bucks is a fair price or is there a site selling them cheaper.

Thanks again for the help

 

[00XLT]

I think I didn't make a strong enough distinction between the knock-off $30 Xenon bulbs and the true HID well enough in my last post. What it boils down to is the $30 bulbs only mimic color of true HID, not light output. The $30 bulbs use higher wattages to try to get similar light output of HID, but do not (and frankly can not) achieve it. Just wanted to make that distinction a little more clear, I'm not knocking the $30 bulbs, but I don't want you to think I'm telling you they are in any way comparable to true HID

 

[leenjen]

there are some websites that sell HID conversions for explorers, but true HID runs $600+.

i have xenon plasma green headlights, they look cool, but only slightly brighter than regular headlights.

 

[glc8937]

I realize the light would on be "mimicking" and would greatly fall short of the original system. But it does seem that the Xenon's do in fact put off more light than standard halogen bulb. I figure I will add some more lighting to my vehicle and perhaps even have a blue tint to the light...even if minimal.

I really do appreciate the help and advice. It's nice to know you can count on fellow members for their advice and opinions. I will let you know when I get my headlights if I am terribly disappointed or if they are at least worth the money.

Thanks again!

 

[blk mk8]

this site has them listed.
www.speedfreak.cc/products/explorer/