Last week I had a rare bit of night driving on unlit NZ country roads - basically zero light around - and my xenons don't seem to be as awesome as they used to be. Full bean halogens are still great on the dark roads.

 

Do Xenons get dimmer over time? My car is 11 years old now

 

Contributing factors to possible dimness are the Lamin-X subtle tint film I have fitted, and the fact that my car is about 40mm lower than stock so presumably light won't throw as far. But I'm sure they used to be better.

 

Thoughts?

Yes, over time the colour temperature alters. The move is towards the purple end of the spectrum, so as the bulbs age light output diminishes. The Lamin-X is most likely masking the effect, so the bulbs maybe worse than you think.

 

As you are heading towards Winter or even in Winter down in NZ, I guess you'll be needing working lights.

Hmm better think about replacing them

I wonder if there's such a thing as LED replacements

When I had my vRS I changed the xenons when it was around 7 years old and really noticed the difference with new lamps, so after 11 years yours could be well dim, and worth changing.

Our mk2 was starting to degrade after 7 years but we part exchanged so never got round to swapping. As Manny says, they'd started to go blue instead of a nice crisp white.

The "dimming effect" is well discussed.

 

All else being equal, there is a direct relationship between height and range of light too.

 

Also, IIRC Lamin-X filters on the blue end of the spectrum, so it will be reducing your light output too.

Hmm better think about replacing them

I wonder if there's such a thing as LED replacements

 

There are LED's now available but at present I wouldn't touch them - the beam patterns I've seen from them have been very poor compared to stock Halogen or HID so they are more for show than function...

There are LED's now available but at present I wouldn't touch them - the beam patterns I've seen from them have been very poor compared to stock Halogen or HID so they are more for show than function...

Can't comment on the quality but here's some I found on fleabay.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=331430474307&alt=web'> http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=331430474307&alt=web

Regards, Mike

Yes, all discharge lamps wear out over time, likewise the lamp ballast controller can get tired too.

You can get replacement bulbs.

 

They're something like D1S fitment.

 

Phil

Would you also replace the ballast or just the bulbs?

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