XENON ANYONE TRIED

[ArmRS]

Hi guys, has anyone tried to fit xenon headlight bulbs to a 172 (or any other car)?? Any comments about them, are they reliable, are they really as good as originally fitted xenons in MK2 172, or a BMW etc., any problems they cause? I dont know the bulb type in my car (MK1 172) is it H4?? I found some for 7 to 9 quid in e-bay, do you think these prices are ok?? Any comments and advice welcome

 

[Turkish]

i thought mk1 172s had xenons too, xenons arent just a case of a bulb they are totally different you need control units step up transformer packs and loads of other parts, you can get retrofit xenon kits for about £500 from companies like RING and HELLA

 

[ArmRS]

Unfortunately mk1s have halogen bulbs (At least in Turkey) . As far as I know u need all the other bits u mentioned as well but check out the web pages below. Talking about an upgrade, apparently without a supporting system. Confused...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? I ViewItem&item=2419868735&category=28646">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? I ViewItem&item=2419868735&category=28646



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[wado]

No, you can get Xenon bulbs. They are meant to be up to 50% brighter. To be honest you only really notice the difference on country roads.

 

[Turkish]

xenons sometimes get called H.I.D (high intensity discharge) there are bulbs on the market with xenon gas in them which are slightly brighter but are conventional bulbs they have an element in them but use xenon rather than halogen to cool them it is more efficient at cooling so the element runs hotter and therefore brighter. proper xenon H.I.D units dont have an element they create an arc to produce light hence step up transformers control units and a price tag of £500 ish, hope this helps

 

[Turkish]

and you will definatley notice a huge difference with proper H.I.D xenons i hate driving cars with standard halogen bulbs since ive had my 172, the light is whiter clearer and the spread of the beam is wider and further than a halogen set up by a considerable amount

 

[ArmRS]

So wado u mean they are not as good as original xenons.. That is bad... But I suppose 50% more brightness plus white look should be better than nothing. At least, they give the white look right?

 

[ArmRS]

Hmm, got ur point 172loony, thanks, I will think about it then...

 

[Turkish]

the xenon gas filled bulbs for about £10 from halfords etc are better than standard halogen bulbs but they arent anything near the performance of a true H.I.D set up, you pay your money and take your choice really

 

[ArmRS]

I wouldt pay 500 quid, for the system, no way, probably wont get the imitation bulbs either, cheers guys

 

[badley]

It costs about £100 for an individual xenon bulb, for a kit about £300+. If you were to change to xenon you can get kits to change from H1 - H4 - H7 etc. What bulb does the Mk1 172 use for the high beam?

Try these people:

http://www.xenonvalot.com/http://www.xenonvalot.com/

 

[ArmRS]

I dont know what bulb it has actually. Checked the web site, its cool, but pricey, would be brilliant if could just do it with only changing the bulbs

I suppose a HID kit from a scrap yard would be convenient and cheaper than 300+ what u think??

 

[ArmRS]

What about this?? It says HID too, it is for 50 dollars this time.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33709&item=2418640134http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33709&item=2418640134



I suppose this is imitation as well.. I will check car breakers...

 

[badley]

They are still halogen bulbs, Personly I would not bother. They will certainly not be a bright as standard halgens, due to the blue filter (restricts other colour light yellow ect). That type of light wave has been known to mist/bubble the plactic headlight cluster. You will not regret getting a xenon kit, but to make it road legal you also need auto hright adjustment (dont worry too much about that though).

 

[ArmRS]

I searched a little on the net. I suppose the real HID xenons have 8000K colour temperature (from xenonovalot.com web site). The bulbs sold in ebay have temperatures varying from 3800K to 6000K. I think for a price like 8-9 quid, it is convenient to try a bulb with 5100K colour temperature, which should be close to real HID systems. I think I will go for it and try one. As I see, these imitation bulbs are so different than each other as well!!

 

[philip]

youre mixing up different types of systems. 172loony is right. proper "xenons" are high intensity discharge lamps that have no filament. the eason why they need more than just a bulb is that a complex condenser setup is used behind the bulb to create the very high voltages needed to create an arc. The arc itself occurs inside the bulb which is filled with Xenon. HID lights produce a 7000K+ temperature, like daylight. Thats whats fitted to the 172 and "xenon" cars.

Everything else is not HID. There are some standard filament bulbs that are filled with xenon or other gases but they produce lower colour temperatures.

If you are after HIDs for the 172, have a look at rallyeusedparts.co.uk. Somebody had stripped out a 172 and was selling the light assemblies. If you cant be bothered, just put on xenon-filled standard filament bulbs.

HTH

 

[RobFenn]

I hate xenons..im always blinded by them, they should be 100% safe or shouldnt be put on cars.

 

[McBunny]

they are 100% safe for the person in the car with them hehe

 

[badley]

Xenon Light tempreature starts at about 6000k+. 8000k are very blue, possibly not the best to go with.

Just to let you know if you are to get some halgens that replicate xenons you will notice that the beam produced is minimal in comparison with xenons and even standard halogens!

HardcoreSax bought some PIAA Plasma GTX from Japan, cost about £75. they look good but are not very bright (they say 120W, mmmm whatever)

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0dQC0BH4iy*2te7RYFE1Avud04Xw1vBjg46tu2kHEOtxEHToIIfNbDjzXO0pUPbmutqruPQcKcqZqdqOd!AebL01rEi*b6BjFsXJ3hIpHOZUrYRWAe5IED5jT8pS3TstGICiee3VBoCfIn*nu4967da9mflBotuFHNMNUs3t1rHY/Philips-Blue-Vision-Vs-PIAA-Plasma-GTX-02.jpg">http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0dQC0BH4iy*2te7RYFE1Avud04Xw1vBjg46tu2kHEOtxEHToIIfNbDjzXO0pUPbmutqruPQcKcqZqdqOd!AebL01rEi*b6BjFsXJ3hIpHOZUrYRWAe5IED5jT8pS3TstGICiee3VBoCfIn*nu4967da9mflBotuFHNMNUs3t1rHY/Philips-Blue-Vision-Vs-PIAA-Plasma-GTX-02.jpg">



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[badley]

As Philip said, I think people are getting a little mixed up here:

Xenons need a Balast to generate 1000v+ for these kits, which includes all the wires etc.

A xenon bulb (long and thin) looks nothing like a halogen bulb (short and thick)

Various packaging on halogens replicating xenons say HID.... Xenon.... etc just ignore it, its just marketing.

The halogen replicating xenon, range from £10 too £80. Xenons £350 too £700 but this is for the whole kit.

 

[Turkish]

another fact is although its takes a huge charge to create the arc initially xenons actually draw less power when running than standard halogen lamp set ups

 

[philip]

yep my HID diving torch is 10W has 3.5 hours autonomy and produces more light than a 30W halogen torch which only has 70 mins autonomy.. Costs a bomb though, but hey, the "fishes" get a nice sun tan

 

[badley]

Can one buy standard HID torches?

 

[visceral]

nowt as cool as turning on ur xenons though - They flicker into life, then brighten up, and when u turn them off INSTANT darkness.

Not really noticed much difference on the road under streetlamps, but its 10x better down the lanes.

 

[philip]

RT-ED dunno about standard HID torches, but if I have a 150m depth rated canister HID torch, it must be fairly easy to find a "standard" non-sub one. wouldnt know where to look though.?. Can help you for a diving torch anytime!

 

[ArmRS]

Havent found a 7000K halogen bulb but will try the ones in the link below. They are supposed to be 5800K and the highest Ive found that are not proper HIDs. I will let u guys know after I fit the bulbs. They have good feedbacks but u never know... I bought the ones wit low wattage as wanted them to last longer, I thought they must be at least as bright as my halogens.



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