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So many auto makers are offering xenon headlamps for cars now. What do you guys think of them? I just installed some in my car and had the headlights readjusted etc. My burn at 8000 kelvins(Blue/purple/white) very nice at night. The difference is unbelieveable.
Some pictures. They don't do the justice of how bright these are.
I had two Mercedes' that had them before they (the cars) self destructed and I really liked them. The night vision is incredible, however in the rain I hated them. I thought maybe they were just the way the lights were aimed, but I drove another car with HID's, and it was the same issue.
Great lights that look fantastic with crisp vision, but annoyed me in the rain. My car now just has projector halogens and they do the job.
HobokenGuy,
I know what you mean about the rain. It seems as though alot of new cars have the halogen projecters. They almost look like h.i.d's but if your real smart you can tell that they're not. The only complaint I have with mine is that I get people flashing me every now and then.
What is the issue with the rain? I haven't heard of that.
My ZZR600 had unbelievable headlights. Lo beam was far brighter than hi beam on my Civic Si. Hi beam on the bike threw a bright swath of light as far as I needed it on unlit roads late at night. They were conventional lightbulbs but just very effective. The 9R and the 12R also had great lights.
I had people flashing their brights at me all the time (when I was in lo). Sometimes I'd reciprocate by flashing my hi beams.
I think they're great from a functional perspective... but holy God are those things expensive. So expensive in fact that thieves are stealing the headlight assemblies. Yes, thieves are stealing headlights now. And if you have your OEM HID headlight assemblies stolen, expect to pay about a grand each to replace them.
They can be expensive, but they don't need to be. On my Porsche the factory xenons were a $2500 option from the dealer in 1996. I bought an aftermarket HID kit for $235, installed them in about an hour and they work awesome. And that was almost three years ago when they weren't that common. A friend with the exact same car has the factory xenons and there's no difference in light output. On my BMW they were a $750 option, but I got the car used and it came with them. On my wife's Mini they were also a $700 option from the factory. I bought some aftermarket HID's for $160 and installed them in about an hour. They are awesome. On my BMW bike I installed the same kit as on my wife's Mini (H7's). When the facotry option costs several times what the aftermarket ones cost, you can afford to lose a few of the aftermarket ones and still save money. You'd have to be pretty determined and knowledgeable to steal them out of someone's car. I could do it on cars I've worked on before. But it's just not worth the hassle.
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