xenon headlight bulbs - Quick question!

[Siany]

Hi

I've just seen these headlights on eBay and was wondering if they are as good as they seem?

eBay.co.uk: BMW MINI all xenon headlight bulbs H7 & 501 (item 130108509387 end time 11-May-07 22:48:35 BST)

If I get them, do i just change like for like, or will I need to do something with the headlight covers/glass??

Sorry if it's an obvious question!!

[ScottyBoy]

The best way to check is buy them and report back tge difference on hear!

And yesits just a straight swap of lights!

Scott

[NeuroBeaker]

Siany,

Actually, I was thinking of doing a little review of my bulbs at some point, just to let people know how good they were, . I guess you beat me to the punch on the bulb issues so I'll put my post here instead.

I can't seem to find a brand name on the bulbs in the eBay link you provided, so I'd be a bit wary of them to be blunt. Also, as they're priced at only £5.00, so I doubt they'll be much of an improvement on your OEM bulbs.

Now, there are quite a few expensive bulbs out there you can buy. However (and I did a lot of looking into this), I've found as a general rule that the bulb products that try to 'mimic' the blue-tint of High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D.) systems invariably are no good for safer vision. Your headlights might look good to people outside of the car, but it won't allow people inside the car to see any better. This is because they tend to use filters in order to filter out selective the wavelengths in order to give them that boy-racer 'blue appeal'.

I was having trouble with night driving, and actually felt that at speed my headlights weren't illuminating far enough ahead... a problem that arose after my 25,000 mile service, actually. I didn't go for the auto-leveling headlights when I bought my car, and so I strongly suspected that the dealership had adjusted them - and in doing so completely messed them up. And before anyone says "there's a leveling wheel on the dashboard", this was set to maximum elevation - to no avail.

Apart from pointing at the floor, my dipped headlights were also quite dim. So I also considered an upgrade to H.I.D. headlights, but instead decided to try a bulb upgrade instead, as this was both cheaper and an H.I.D. kit would have invalidated my warranty (still had 6 months of that left at the time).

I installed two H7 Philips X-treme Power bulbs (click here for link) into the dipped beam for my Mini One (although I left the OEM bulbs in the main beam, you could replace these too if you wanted... seems to work ok without upgrading these too). If you just do a search for them online, I'm sure you'll find an online store to buy them from. After installing them, tell your dealership (or a skilled friend who's a mechanic) that you want your headlights set to the maximum legal elevation. I found that this a perfectly sufficient and I decided I'll not need any aftermarket H.I.D. kits for this car.

Note: when installing your bulbs, hold them in a DRY (i.e. not damp) paper towel or use sterile rubber medical gloves (being a scientist, I had a lot of these about. ), etc. Be vary careful not to get dirt or moisture on them. The Philips bulbs are quartz instead of glass and thus won't explode, but getting dirt on them will shorten their lifespan considerably. Not sure about the physics as to why, but I was careful to follow these instructions and haven't had any problems.

There are brighter bulbs than the one I've recommended, but there are two very good reasons why you shouldn't use them. First, they might not be 55 watts. They could be a higher wattage and therefore could put strain on your battery (and hence, your alternator too - an expensive replacement item!). And secondly, if you're driving around with 80 or 100 watt bulbs, those are marked for off-road use only and thus are illegal for commuting.

I paid £32.99 for my bulbs and I think (though can double check if you want me to) shipping was free - I did quite a lot of looking around as to where to get them and that was the cheapest I found. So that's about the price you should expect to buy these specific bulbs.

So, I'll stop babbling now, and hopefully that was helpful. Good luck!

All the best,
Andrew.

[NeuroBeaker]

Forgot to talk about this bit...

Quote: Originally Posted by Siany (original)

will I need to do something with the headlight covers/glass??

For the Philips bulbs (and most others you can buy of similar level), it's simply a straight swap. No fiddling about changing covers or glass or anything like that.

Although in my first generation Mini One, there were these little metal bars holding the bulb in place that were a pain to get off to get the old bulb out and a pain to get back on to put the new bulb in. Not so much difficult to understand what to do, just fiddly with the lights pointing up at the sky. Odd angles to twist yourself and your neck into to get to them. Or maybe that's just me...

Though, and to note this again: don't touch the glass/quartz bit of the bulb. And never try to remove them after your headlights have been on (they'll be hot and might burn you). Water or dirt on a glass bulb can cause it to explode when it's switched on. Water or dirt on a quartz bulb doesn't make it explode as far as I'm aware, but it will reduce its lifespan significantly.

All the best!
Andrew.

[Siany]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the response, I wasn't expecting a quite so detailed response!

I'm off now for a hunt for the Philips headlights, and getting ready to do battle with the small fiddly metal bars (I've battled with them before!) to have a try.

Must do this today as tomorrow will be watching the Grand Prix!!

Thanks again

Sian

PS I wont forget the gloves!

[AndyParker]

if u want to buy in the net this site is quite good Power Bulbs - autobulbs, autolamps, xenon headlights, car bulbs, headlight bulbs, osram silverstar, silver star, philips vision plus, philips blue vision, bluevision

on the left under bulb type click "type of light"

then when the page loads click on "Blue Xenon Effect"

They have the phillips osram and some own brand ones. You get 2 for 1 on the own brand ones.

They also do the non orange coloured indicator lights too

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by AndyParker (original)

if u want to buy in the net this site is quite good Power Bulbs - autobulbs, autolamps, xenon headlights, car bulbs, headlight bulbs, osram silverstar, silver star, philips vision plus, philips blue vision, bluevision

on the left under bulb type click "type of light"

then when the page loads click on "Blue Xenon Effect"

They have the phillips osram and some own brand ones. You get 2 for 1 on the own brand ones.

They also do the non orange coloured indicator lights too

Nice link for what looks like a good website Andy, but I think it's a bad idea clicking on the "Blue Xenon Effect" link if Siany's looking for the maximum improvement possible for visibility and safety. As I said before, if looking for the maximum light down on the road, such a choice is far from ideal.

Quote: Originally Posted by ARCrawford (original)

However (and I did a lot of looking into this), I've found as a general rule that the bulb products that try to 'mimic' the blue-tint of High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D.) systems invariably are no good for safer vision. Your headlights might look good to people outside of the car, but it won't allow people inside the car to see any better. This is because they tend to use filters in order to filter out selective the wavelengths in order to give them that boy-racer 'blue appeal'.

Having said that, if you want the boy-(or girl-)racer fake H.I.D. look, then the best choice would probably be the Philips BlueVision bulbs (as seen after following AndyParker's links or by just clicking here).

Rather, click on "type of light" on the "Bulbs available" dropdown menu on the left. Then click on "maximum light" when the page loads. If you're in a 1st generation Mini (don't know about 2nd generation), then you'll want an H7 bulb. Alternatively, just click here and it'll take you straight there. Nice and easy!

This will give you some options for the maximum light varieties and the Philips X-treme Power bulbs is one of the options (as seen if you click here).

Anyway, hope that was helpful! Enjoy the Grand Prix tomorrow, I'll also be glued to the TV for that very reason! Qualifying today was pretty good although poor Jensen Button didn't really have a good day, did he? Ah well, maybe his luck will improve in Monaco... although that is, unfortunately, pretty unlikely. Having said that, Lewis Hamilton and David Coulthard are doing pretty good for the Brits, eh?! Fourth and ninth, respectively!!

All the best,
Andrew.

PS
My strong advocacy of the Philips range is just down to looking into bulb options for several weeks before changing my own bulbs (I'm a scientist, I do things thoroughly, hehe). I just personally decided that they're the best product on the market right now in terms of both performance and value for money. I don't work for them and I'm not a shareholder either, . I'm just happy with the choice I made and with hindsight would make the same selection again.

[AndyParker]

sorry should have said there are also bulbs on that site which maximise light on the road. Just assumed from the thread title she wanted the xenon lookie likies