D1S xenon bulbs

[alberg]

Has anyone changed the xenon bulbs from 4300k to 5000k .

What bulb make would you recommend.

I ask because soon will retrofit xenon, original, on my estate.

[ryan-re]

the only difference technicaly will be very slight less light output and a bit more of a blue light

I think philips and osram are the main brands, i've not seen any other people who make them bar oem ones

[mr_awol]

I have 5000k (albeit HIDs not full retrofit of xenon units) and they are spot on colourwise

Edited 18 June, 2013 by mr_awol

[Stoofa]

I have 5000k (albeit HIDs not full retrofit of xenon units) and they are spot on colourwise

What do you mean by "spot on" colourwise?

For me only 4300k would be "spot on" because I demand the most amount of light on the road and it that means sacrificing some blue (maybe not getting noticed that I have Xenons) then so be it.

[Perc]

In my eyes, 5000K is white. 4300 is a bit yellowish but still plenty white enough to make halogens look yellow and sad.

I had a 5000K conversion kit in an old car and it was absolutely fine, IMO. I wouldn't mind having them in my Octavia. Then again, I don't mind my factory 4300K osrams either.

[ryan-re]

Anything above 4300k is going away from white towards blue. Thats how the colour spectrum works.

I had hid fogs on my old civic (mainly due to the awful headlights) and they were 5000k as thats all i could get and i could see the blueish tint in them.

[mannyo]

4300K is OE colour used for all factory fit xenons, if you go higher you lose output and the light starts to turn blue/purple.

I'll possibly soon be sourcing a set of 4300K D2R's for my A8 to replace the 12 year old 4300K bulbs that are now taking ages to warm up.

[mr_awol]

What do you mean by "spot on" colourwise?

For me only 4300k would be "spot on" because I demand the most amount of light on the road and it that means sacrificing some blue (maybe not getting noticed that I have Xenons) then so be it.

I expected this, and I thought that too because that's what everyone 'knows'. However I've looked into it a little and your assumption is not necessarily correct. Kelvin and lumens are not directly proportionate but with car lighting do roughly follow a certain pattern because all other things related to the bulb are otherwise equal.

I saw a test somewhere which showed kelvin:lumens based on standard car HIDs, mainly based upon Phillips D1/D2 bulbs. The highest output was at 4800k (3800 lumens) whereas 4300k achieved a pretty close 3200 lumens. Essentially the most light was between 4000k and 5000k and anything outside that range fell away quickly, so it's fair to say that going too far beyond that range would result in noticeably reduced output.

Aside from that, daylight is generally reported to be 4500k to 5000k whereas 3drender.com suggests 5500k and osram state 6500k = "cool daylight" and uk.daylightcompany.com afree that daylight is 6500k so a lot of what we 'know' from forums isn't necessarily true

[ryan-re]

but if you look at the light spectrum which is the only true light colour rating it states that white light is 4300k.

Lumens is obviously not related to kelvin because it changes depending on what lamp the bulb is housed in

[mr_awol]

but if you look at the light spectrum which is the only true light colour rating it states that white light is 4300k.

Lumens is obviously not related to kelvin because it changes depending on what lamp the bulb is housed in

http://www.atgelectronics.com/support/PDF/2008041801.pdf

Look at the colours, and descriptions. 3200k to 3400k is 'warm white' and has a clearly yellow tinge (like oem xenon). 5000k to 6500k is called 'natural white' and is more what we would call white.

Alternatively:

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/white-balance.htm

"Note how 5000 K produces roughly neutral light"

I'm not saying that 5k is definitely 'better' - there may well be reasons why many manufacturers choose it (or it may be simply that such colour is currently industry standard for ease of production/spares and that this will change in time). What I am pointing out is that if stoofa does genuinely "demand the most amount of light on the road" then he should maybe swap out his 4300k bulbs for upgraded 4800k units.

It's nice to get multiple misconceptions out of the way at the same time so I threw in the white and daylight ones for free

There's also a possibility I could be wrong - but if you look around the web all the 'optimum light is 4300k' posts are based on heresay. Nowhere have I seen any expert testimony on it.

[silver1011]

I guess there is a reason why all OEM xenon and bi-xenon headlights are 4300K.

[alberg]

Heard other day that Mercedes come out with 5000k as now all makes will follow this because it has been proven that more white/blueish colour will light up more road (make road seen better) and will not affect the eyes as much as the 4300k.

I personally on my HID xenon do like the 5000k colour or even the 6000k(depending the makes) than the 4300k. Seems like the road is brighter.

That´s only me.

Seems many are very happy with these

Osram D1S 66140CBI 35W 5000K

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2X-OSRAM-Xenarc-COOL-BLUE-XENON-D1S-LAMPS-5000K-35W-DUO-PACK-BMW-MERCEDES-/121114929332?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item1c330328b4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_kIl9ctxac

[mr_awol]

I guess there is a reason why all OEM xenon and bi-xenon headlights are 4300K.

As I said, undoubtedly there is.

But whether that is:

- Performance

- Effect on others

- Because that's what was used first off and parts are therefore now pretty standard

- because te parts have to be multi-market and brightness is limited due to the longer beam pattern of te American market (I.e the brighter 4800Ks are safe in Europe but wouldn't be elsewhere)

- 4300 is approved and they can't be arsed getting anything else approved for marginal benefit

- any other reason

Who can tell?

There's also a distinct possibility that 5000k may become the norm - particularly if other makes follow

Mercedes:

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/mercedes-benz-xenon-headlamps-get-brighter-starting-december-25792.html

As I say, I'm not saying one is 'better' than the other - just debunking some myths.

[mr_awol]

Damn, Alberg beat me to it lol.

Best tell Audi, Hella, Osram and Nichia that 4300k is the optimum output too, so that they can scrap their fancy new 5500k LED malarkey:

"Audi worked with Hella, Osram and Nichia to develop the LED technology, and, while it’s much more efficient than xenon lighting and gives a better light quality – colour temperature for LEDs is 5,500K compared to 3,000K for xenon – it’s complex."

http://ae-plus.com/vehicle-development/audi-a6/page:3

Edited 19 June, 2013 by mr_awol

[xpower]

I run 55w 5000k D2S bulbs and they are perfect - pure white to the eye. Although the higher wattage ballast pushing the arc harder washes the colour out so they probably look more like 4800k - 4900k.

4300k are "slightly" better for driving in the rain and fog as the slight yellow tinge penetrates better but I'm not sure in reality you'd tell.

In the dry you can see the yellow of a 4300k, and 5000k pure white just looks better :-)

[alberg]

I run 55w 5000k D2S bulbs and they are perfect - pure white to the eye. Although the higher wattage ballast pushing the arc harder washes the colour out so they probably look more like 4800k - 4900k.

4300k are "slightly" better for driving in the rain and fog as the slight yellow tinge penetrates better but I'm not sure in reality you'd tell.

In the dry you can see the yellow of a 4300k, and 5000k pure white just looks better :-)

You are running on D2S bulbs?

Didn´t know it had D1S and D2S bulb option

[xpower]

I'm running Hella OEM spec bi-xenon projectors which use D2S bulbs :-)

[alberg]

To conclude this topic, I have retrofited original xenons with AFS

Also added de Osram Xarnac Cool Blue CBI 5000k bulbs along with high beems H1 also Osram Xarnac Cool Blue (non xenon)

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Edited 5 July, 2013 by alberg

[GeorgeL]

Nice thread. I'm taking the plunge with 5000k then, my last 4300k looked yellow after 12 months anyway.

Are there any members in the east mids that offer a fit and code service?

[Mysticality]

I have aftermarket 55W 5000K in my low beams. Look fantastically white, and light up so much better than the 35W 6000K I had in there previously.

Also, the 5000K is an exact match to the colour of the light coming out of my LED light bar (LED spot/driving light)

I have 35W 6000K H1's in the high beam, to give the reach which the LED light bar can't do. Looks too blue, might get some more 55W 5000K's