[dav]

Love the Xenon HID lamp option on my MCS. Highly recommended. Do other owners feel they more white in color than blue? I have noticed other European cars (the A4 escpecially) on the road with Xenon's and they seem to be more blue in color when on. When mine first are ignited by the ballast they are blue, then slowly fade to a bright white after a few seconds. Just an observation I had.

[NEMINI]

usually the cars with fake Xenon bulbs are more bluish, my Xenons are white like they should be

[ruthie]

Is that what those annoying blue lights are? Xenons?

Perty car, Dave.

[vegasmini]

My Xenons are white. Xenon light do come in different colors though. The MINI Xenons are about 4500 Kelvin, which is white, blue Xenons are around 6000 Kelvin, and purple xenons around 8000 Kelvin. Those numbers are approximate, so don't quote me on them.

[valnmike]

Quote: Originally Posted by dav

Love the Xenon HID lamp option on my MCS... snip ...they seem to be more blue in color when on. When mine first are ignited by the ballast they are blue, then slowly fade to a bright white after a few seconds. Just an observation I had.

That is the same thing I see when I switch on mine. Could the apparent colour change be a) the light coming up to temperature b) you eyes adjusting to the colour, the way amber sunglasses make everything look off when you first put them on, then after a bit, you don't notice it any more?

[NEMINI]

it's the light getting up to operating temperature

[GadgetGav]

Quote: Originally Posted by ruthie

Is that what those annoying blue lights are? Xenons?

Perty car, Dave.

Most of the time, the noticably blue ones are fake 'xenons' which are just halogen bulbs with the glass envelope tinted blue. This is a really bad idea as it cuts the amount of light that actually gets out onto the road.
Either that or it's a chromatic abberation of projector lights that look blue when you're off-axis because of the effect of the big projector lens.

[condition]

The mini Xenon's are indeed around the 4300 Kelvin (depending if they have a little piece of metal hooked up to the light to reflect the beam. The same type of light bulb used for the projection or diabolic ligths have the 4500 Kelvin temperture because of the piece of metal missing. The higher the light temperature the more blue they will get. You can even get the 12000 Kelvin Xenon lights which are almost purple.

The ideal light temperature for seeing in the dark is around 4300 to 5000 Kelvin. This temperature gives relatively the most light power and the highest contrast when it shines on objects. Mercedes and Lexus use also Xenon bulbs with this light temperature. Most people who like tuning and different Xenon colours for their car will get a higher temperature up to 12000 Kelvin. They will have a less efficient colour for seeing in the dark.

[dav]

Thanks for responses fellow members. The Kelvin thing makes sense. I thought I was the only one noticing my headlamps change from a bluish to white color after a few seconds after I turn on the headlamps.

[NICmini]

You are not the only one!
I have noticed that with both my Mini and my Miata.

[rrypma]

Well, the light you see initially shouldn't be *more* blueish in color if the light eventually warms up to a whiter light. I really think that it is our eyes to a certain extent that are tricking us into believing that the lights are warming up. If the lights did indeed have to warm up, wouldn't they be more of a yellowish color at first, gradually warming up to something higher on the Kelvin scale? I probably shouldn't be using the word warming, as this may connote a warmer color such as the reds, while cooler colors include blue. But, I'm speaking in terms of the temperature of light on a Kelvin scale.

[ecylai]

what is the difference if u get the xenon light at the dealer and after market

how much is the xenon bulb going to cost @ aftermarket??

i'm thinking of getting mine done any ideas where i can shop for them at a good price?

[swamos]

Quote: Originally Posted by ecylai

what is the difference if u get the xenon light at the dealer and after market

how much is the xenon bulb going to cost @ aftermarket??

i'm thinking of getting mine done any ideas where i can shop for them at a good price?

Mate,

You can't really get real xenon bulbs aftermarket. The type sold as options are **special**. They are super high current globes where there is no fillament, and it is actually the xenon gas that is made to glow. As a result, they last the life of the car!!!

The aftermarket xenon bulbs are just conventional light bulbs with a filament that give off a light of a similar colour to real xenon light systems. I think they may also have xenon gas in there as the inert gas, but only for marketing reasons!!

While they will have the colour of **real** xenons, you won't get anywhere near the light output of the factory system.

[B4d4Bing]

sorry buddy above...but that is alot of rubbish...you can buy real xenon aftermarket kits to convert the halogen ones to real HID..they are about £500 minimum and i am not too sure they are 100% legal as i thought they had to auto level and have washers if in the uk..but i not completely sure.

http://www.autodirectsave.com/REAL_HID_SYSTEM.asp

if you buy aftermarket you can choose what temp u want from white to purple.

if you have xenon in your mini from factory you can buy the new bulbs for you xenons any temp u want but the bulbs for xenons are dear, about £150 each...i am thinking about it to get more blue purple ones and sell my original bulbs for anyone that needs a spare...about £50 each maybe

mark

[swamos]

Quote: Originally Posted by B4d4Bing

sorry buddy above...but that is alot of rubbish...you can buy real xenon aftermarket kits to convert the halogen ones to real HID..they are about £500 minimum and i am not too sure they are 100% legal as i thought they had to auto level and have washers if in the uk..but i not completely sure.

http://www.autodirectsave.com/REAL_HID_SYSTEM.asp

if you buy aftermarket you can choose what temp u want from white to purple.

if you have xenon in your mini from factory you can buy the new bulbs for you xenons any temp u want but the bulbs for xenons are dear, about £150 each...i am thinking about it to get more blue purple ones and sell my original bulbs for anyone that needs a spare...about £50 each maybe

mark

Maaaaate,

What you said is probably true for the UK, but I am not aware that the aftermarket system is available in Australia. I have never seen one for sale, nor am I aware of anyone ever buying one. I have grave doubts about their legality due Australian law being very very specific about your primary headlights. Even changing bulbs to higher output is a gray area.

If they imported that system from Europe, then by the time it landed here it would probably be nudging $2000, and I'm not sure whether ecylai would pay that

However I have seen heaps of MINI's with blue bulbs, part number "CP1255BL" from www.hella.com.au . These "xenon" bulbs are as I say, a conventional bulb with xenon as the gas for marketing reasons.

[ecylai]

sorry i was thinking halogen bulb not xenon ... i am not too fuss about the lighting anyways ... just wanted a lil different .. like the white bulbs thats all

but thanks for the links and advise

Eric