Xenon vs. normal Hella life span (1 Viewer)

[SR.GRINGO]

Xenon vs. normal Hella life span vs. HID

I have been reading all of your guys postings regarding light and how the Hella's made in Korea suck. Most of these posts are older so if I order the Hellas have they found a german producer yet? Also are the normal halogen versions good or should I go for the Xenon? Mexican roads suck--no reflective paint or reflectors for the most part--also no laws really regarding wattage.....

9005 Xenon 100 watt
9006 Xenon 80 watt

I can also go for normal Halogen depending on your guys thoughts.
I would also consider the HID's replacements if anybody knows where I can find some at a reasonable price.....

 

[ryanjl]

Go with the HIR's. Same longevity as stock bulbs with good, quality illumination.

danielstern.com

He would also be a good source to ask about Hella bulbs' manufacturing location, if that's the route you want to go.

 

[cary]

Read the lighting faq. The "xenon" lights you are talking about are nothing other than a halagon bulb with a different lable. Get some HIR bulbs and be done with it.

 

[PDoyle]

I just saw xenon bulbs in the JC Whitney catalog. Ultra White 29.99 a pair.

 

[Rookie2]

FWIW, there's a FAQ on vehicle lighting. Don't remember if it discusses xenon vs. hella, but covers quit a few of the headlight options. Might give it a read if you haven't.

I've had my Hellas for about eight months (everybody waited until after I order before talking about how much they sucked ). Don't know if mine were made in Korea, but I haven't had any problems so far. I'd like a little brighter low beam, but I'm very satisfied with the amount of light from the highs, which it sounds like you'd be able to use a lot.


Rookie2

 

[cary]

I just saw xenon bulbs in the JC Whitney catalog. Ultra White 29.99 a pair.

That's great, JC Whitney is only charging $20 more than those are worth, rather than the usual $50.

 

[PDoyle]

ok, I need lights too.
Are they tough to install?

 

[SR.GRINGO]

Go with the HIR's. Same longevity as stock bulbs with good, quality illumination.

danielstern.com

He would also be a good source to ask about Hella bulbs' manufacturing location, if that's the route you want to go.

The HIR's sound good.

Any thoughts on HID--I can't believe you can still buy them.

I found some phillips with the ballast made by hella at 4100k(the best light output)--cost $500

Philips ballast by Philips and Ultinon Bulbs. Philips highest grade capsules--$550

I have also read that catz hids are good--any comments?

 

[cary]

There are many problems with HID conversions and they are not worth doing. Among the problems:

1) HID conversions use rebased bulbs that are not properly focused for your housings, the arc is shaped differently than the incadecent filament, and the arc puts out light in a different pattern than the incadecent. See this link for information concerning the problem:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

2) HID lamps in general have a lower color rendering index which can cause eyestrain. This is why some racing teams have gone to a more yellow HID bulbs. See this information:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/disadvantages/disadvantages.html

3) Even if you did the HID conversion for your low beams, you would still have stock high beams, so there is no help there. To maximize the HIR conversion, you can use a Slee harness with the bulbs to get the most voltage possible to the lamps.

4) Reliability of the HID conversion kits is rather dubious. If you have a problem with the HIR bulbs and/or slee harness, they can be easily repaired in the field.

5) Here is just a good general link about Blue bulbs and their problems:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/bulbs.html

Finally, Catz is out of business.

 

[SR.GRINGO]

Cary-- I really appreciate your help--your response is great. Adios HID

 

[PDoyle]

Isn't their a bulb upgrade?
I really don't want to rewire the lighting system.

 

[cary]

Isn't their a bulb upgrade?

No there is no bulb upgrade you have to use the stock bulbs.

Did you read the thread even? The Faq? The other 25 threads on this same subject. Go back and read this thread very slowly. If you need some help reading it, get some, as it seems you are having some trouble with your reading skills. Here let me help, from the second post in this thread:

"Go with the HIR's. Same longevity as stock bulbs with good, quality illumination." Shocker even provided the link.

From the third post:

"Get some HIR bulbs and be done with it."

You really can't be this stupid.

To everyone else, yes I am being a prick, but crap, talk about needing to get a clue.

 

[Steve C]

I've got factory Xenon headlights on one of my cars (non-toyota), and while they are OK, I am not looking forward to repairs. I would prefer the normal halogens so I can buy the elements at walmart, etc.

The question is can you see better? Maybe a little, but you can see just fine with the bulbs that are in there, and they do not have the associated costs/hassles.

If I wanted to spend money on upgrades I would get SATELLITE RADIO instead. Once have it you'll never go back.

All just opinions.

 

[mot]

Catz is alive (and well?), at least in Japan.

Their HID products:
http://www.fet-japan.co.jp/catz/hid.html

HID fog:
http://www.fet-japan.co.jp/catz/lamp.html

You may also want to try the Phillips aux. HID assist lamps that have been discussed here.
Xenarc or something like that (fairly in expensive and would be better than doing the conversion).

Good luck!

Mot

 

[cary]

Sylvania used to sell the auxilary HID lamps, they pulled them from the market in the US.

 

[mot]

Not enough demand, perhaps?

 

[cary]

They pulled them from the market due to the DOT cracking down on lights not meeting FVSM 108. Apparently, it was not worth trying to certify them. There are other good options though such as Cibie Osram+ lamps with a euro beam, the higher end hella's, etc. The stock LC lamps have pretty good lenses and reflectors, not eurospec quality, but pretty close. The HIR bulbs have enough output that they work great. To put it frankly, driving a friends e320 with HID's and an A6 with HIDs (generally considered two the better factory HID lamps) I felt the HIR's had better useful output.

Cary

 

[Steve C]

The european cars also have self leveling of the xenon headlights, which really can't be retrofitted. Nice, but wait until that breaks.

One of the things I like best about the 80 series is the bling free environment.

 

[cary]

Suprisingly the HID's are not as bad to fix as you would think. Replacement bulbs are available for about $100 each, same for the Balast. Those are really the only two unique items that can go bad. The leveling systems if manual (like the older mercedes with the level switch next to the headlight switch) are not that expensive. The automatic ones are probably very expensive. How about the new BMW lights that pivot left to right (lexus has them to), or the bi-xenon that use housings that pivot up and down.

 

[mot]

You, too, can own your own even if you don't own a BMW or Lexux :

http://www.hella.com/produktion/Hel...ng/Intelligent_Lighting/Dynaview/Dynaview.jsp

http://www.bestdarnparts.com/dynaview.html