Well, having got a car with factory HIDs (you know, those proper really legal ones with leveling and washers), I've looked around and there seems to be a lack of consistent information about them.

 

What colour temp are the OEMs?

What wattage are the OEMs?

Which fitting are they supposed to be?

What direct-fit upgrades have people fitted? (better colour / higher output)

 

 

Cheers

Over a period of time the bulbs can lose their 'power' so a couple of new ones may bring it up to scratch?

mine are D1S bulbs

 

I believe the oem temp is 4.3k. Anything over that and you start to loose output as it gets bluer. You could probably go up to 6k without noticing too much difference.

 

HID's are different to halogens. You dont get higher wattage, these things run at thousands of volts, isnt that enough? lol. The colour temp is what determains your light output as the "wattage" will always be the same because of the ballast.

 

From what i've seen you are looking at between £70-£150 PER BULB

Well, having got a car with factory HIDs (you know, those proper really legal ones with leveling and washers), I've looked around and there seems to be a lack of consistent information about them.

What colour temp are the OEMs?

What wattage are the OEMs?

Which fitting are they supposed to be?

What direct-fit upgrades have people fitted? (better colour / higher output)

Cheers

To be pedantic NO HIDs are legal as only filament bulbs are permitted in the Road Vehicle Lighting Regs....

To answer your question, std are 4.3k and the bulbs begin to degrade from day one. Like most things nowadays the designs have been copied and made ever cheaper and as such you can get ones for less than £10 off eBay. Whether you want to risk fitting them is up to you. There are some Philips ones for £25ish. Personally I would stick to known brands from trusted sellers.

To be pedantic NO HIDs are legal as only filament bulbs are permitted in the Road Vehicle Lighting Regs....

Which is overruled by EU type approval on factory fitted headlights But otherwise, yes. 

 

Factory ones are 4300K as above.

What wattage are the OEMs?

 

They are 35 Watt D1S bulbs.

Which is overruled by EU type approval on factory fitted headlights But otherwise, yes.

Factory ones are 4300K as above.

Indeed but EU type approval isn't on the statute books hence to the strict letter of the law...

Mute point really.

This is quite a rare one as the op has oem hids so no mention of aftermarket ones.

Quick look on ebay and there are some very cheap d1s hid bulbs, way too cheap imo.

Buy philips or osram and you know you are getting a good bulb

Indeed but EU type approval isn't on the statute books hence to the strict letter of the law...

Mute point really.

 

There is an officer of the Law on here who has repeatedly said that RVLR is just a set of guidelines.

Obviously his opinion has been discounted, several times.

 

From what I've read in/on RVLR, it only mentions that light-sources have to be E-marked and approved, for vehicles first registered on or after April 1st 1986.

 

But that is a discussion that's been had many times before, and is currently another thread on Farcebook. ;)

 

 

 

So, things are pretty much set then, no major scope for upgrade, am cool with that. Is always good to see what the options are. I got the car at Easter so not too much night-driving just yet, but it has been good so far.

 

Yes, will always go for named brands (Osram, Philips etc) for things like this, especially as they are fairly important units. (If one of the tail-lights blows, it's not the end of the world. A headlight down is 50% less light in front) Knowing that there's a lot of current going on, I will be staying well clear of cheapo copies.

 

For a while, I did run 4300K followed by 5000K retros in the old car, I didn't do a side-by-side comparison though. Has anyone *really* noticed a difference? (FTR: they were removed when the car was sold)

 

Has anyone compared branded burners?

There might be d1s comparisons by people like auto express etc.

Id imagine the difference between 4.3 and 5k is minimal but technicaly 5k will put out less light as 4.3k is the temp with the highest lumen output

you could try fitting philips x-treme vision bulbs as an upgrade, they are around £136 a per pair but suppose to offer 50% more light compared to normal bulbs

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Xz8yqs9_I&int_origin=2_LI_all_slot1_gb_en_carlights_carcategory_stateoftheart

I have the osram 5000k D1S cool blue and they are great except when raining. More yellowish, meaning the 4300k(original color) are best on wet roads.

Edited 24 June, 201412 yr by alberg