# Anyone replaced their Xenon bulbs?



## davesTT225 (May 22, 2006)

Been thinking about this for a while, I heard somewhere that they lose strength after a few years, as my car is 7 years old, perhaps it's time to get some new. I notice newer cars Xenon's look much brighter, is that the advancment of the technology, or because my bulbs are tired?


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

HID lamps are visibly brighter when replaced after a couple of years. Although they have a ten year lifetime, they can get very dim and change colour over that time, even though they continue to work. All HID lamps are limited to 35W so new cars that look brighter are either simply due to being new bulbs or better lenses. I suspect new bulbs is the main reason though :wink:

These are new Philips D2S bulbs which are standard TT fitment and used by most car manufacturers. They are rated as 3,200 lm @ 4100K and are the brightest available at the standard 35W power rating. http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec%20Sheets ... %20D2S.htm










Bluer (higher K rated) Philips bulbs are available but are not as bright at only 2,400 lm @ 5,800K: http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec%20Sheets ... ltinon.htm

You'll find this generally - the higher the K rating (bluer) the less lumens.

HID lamps are noticably dimmer beyond two years of age, although they do "last" for years longer, getting dimmer all the time :wink: . The best upgrade for visibility is to get new standard ones!

This is the cheapest source of Philips D2S HID bulbs I've found:
http://www.hidplanet.com/philips4100k.html 
$78.99/pair + $38.92 shipping = ~£55.9104 for a pair

The cheapest UK source I've found is: 
http://www.xenonmaster.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=4

... at £35 each plus £4.50 post making a pair £73.50

*Main Beams:*

For main beam, Philips Xtreme +80% were the brightest but this has been overtaken recently by Osram Nightbreaker +90%.

If you want visibility with maximum range then don't go for anything with a heavy blue tint - that just removes the yellow part of the spectrum leaving the bulbs bluer but with less light output.

At night, human eyes are more sensitive to yellow light anyway, so that is not a good idea. In dim conditions you perceive it as white anyway as colour vision is less sensitive than black and white.

Also blue light is scattered by water vapour and absorbed more than yellow, so blue bulbs cause more short range back reflection glare and by the time the light has gone down the road there's little remaining that gets returned from long distance.

I first noticed how good the new HID bulbs were down a good mix of roads in the dark. I am now very impressed with the combination of lights I have (Philips Xtreme H7, Philips D2S HID). In fact the new D2S burners are so good that I can drive at high speed and still see far enough ahead on dip beam to cover my comfortable stopping distance! Amazing!

With main beam on, my visible stopping distance is way greater than required for the maximum speed of the car. Very impressive!

Without the brighter HID dips, the bright H7 main beam caused you to loose visibility to the sides because of the contrast giving you tunnel vision but now with the brighter dips everything is more in balance and you get an excellent even spread of visible light  .

One disadvantage is that if you come across a reflective roadsign, the amount of back reflection is dazzling and you need to switch to dip :wink:

*WARNING:* When replacing the HID bulbs, make sure your lights and ignition are turned OFF otherwise you can get a 23kV shock :!: 

*Wak's guide on changing bulbs:* http://www.wak-tt.com/tt_bulbs/changingbulbs.htm

*Some supplimentary information:*

Here's a graph of the human eye's sensitivity to light colour during daylight when the cone sensors are more active:










At night the eye is most sensitive in the green - yellow portion at around 550nm when it is using its rod sensors:










Here's a graph of "Colour Temperature" in Kelvin.










This is the spectral spread of a bulb of 5000k amd one at 7000k:










So, for the most effective night headlight vision choose 4000k-5500k bulbs. 8000k bulbs put a higher proportion of the energy in the blue part of the spectrum where the eyes are less sensitive at night, so you'll end up with poorer night vision and dimmer light for the same wattage :wink: Some bulbs also achieve a blue hue by filtering (wasting) the yellow part of the emission - another reason for having less lumens for the same wattage.

There is also the effect of water vapour in the air. Water absorbs the higher colour temperature moreso than the longer wavelengths. That's why fog lights are sometimes coloured yellow - because the yellow part of the spectrum is not absorbed as much. If you have bluer headlights and fogs they will be next to useless in misty foggy conditions - the light has got to go down the road and back for you to be able to see it - being absorbed all the way. If you want to see further don't get blue/purple higher K bulbs! :wink:

Further reading:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... d/bad.html
http://www.motorcycleproject.com/motorc ... -blue.html


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## graham225 (Apr 5, 2004)

Very comprehensive John :wink:


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## davesTT225 (May 22, 2006)

That's quite possibly the best answer I've ever seen to a thread!

I'm not a fan of the "wanna-be-rozzer" blue light look, I'd rather have the length (who wouldn't?!) at night.

Thanks for the links, I'll be getting some of those now 

d


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## essexalan (Feb 7, 2008)

John,

That postage from the US seems a bit steep. Still works out cheaper but I wonder if the postage would be the same for multiple numbers of bulbs? Just wondered if you had already asked them this question. If it is the same price for, say, 10 sets then it would be worthwhile ordering them that way and sharing the postage/customs man charges.

Alan


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

essexalan said:


> John,
> 
> That postage from the US seems a bit steep. Still works out cheaper but I wonder if the postage would be the same for multiple numbers of bulbs? Just wondered if you had already asked them this question. If it is the same price for, say, 10 sets then it would be worthwhile ordering them that way and sharing the postage/customs man charges.
> 
> Alan


Yes, they did do me a discount (share the postage) for three sets so it worked out cheaper for each pair of bulbs. That's certainly the way to go if you email them and ask  - only thing is the risk of customs duty :? .


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## essexalan (Feb 7, 2008)

Thanks for that John. I am in the US for a couple of weeks soon so I will get them delivered to the hotel or pick some up locally.

Alan


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## ttsteve (Nov 1, 2007)

What an answer - I would have paid good money for all that info! It ought to be sticky'd somehow.


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## liffy99 (Feb 28, 2007)

I'd be into some sort of American group buy - anyone else.
Is anyone trying to arrange it ?


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## Ancien-TT (Sep 22, 2007)

We need a new category

FAR too much time on my hands :!:

Superb answer though and I agree that the Osram Nightbreakers make a huge difference. Hadn't considered changing the xenons but they are probably 7 years old.


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## Stub (Mar 17, 2005)

I have a set I got from the for sale section a few weeks ago if anyone wants them, I got two whole new xenons and they had brand new bulbs in them so decided to keep them in and not fit the philips, 
I had 10k's in before so brand new xenon normal bulbs were weird they were such a change, I also fitted the 90% night breakers to full beam these are just amazing,

I paid 40 from some guy in the for sale section if anyone wants them and they are going to the rr day they can have them for 30?


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## liffy99 (Feb 28, 2007)

Been in touch with the US suppliers - they can't move on the price but can ship 10 pairs to the UK for $30 or so. So assuming we would get hit for VAT, Duty, clearance fees (robbing couriers !) you could add about Â£15 to the US price - they'd work out at about Â£55 a pair.


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## Adam RRS (May 25, 2006)

I got 10k on my TT - works really nice with the Angel Eyes as before i changed them my xenons looked yellow next to them!


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## Stub (Mar 17, 2005)

I had the 10k's and found them dangerous in bad weather, especially if it was foggy, I loved the look but they just werent bright enough, 
when I changed to brand new 6k's the difference made me think I would never go back, 
the brand new ones look much whiter and less yellow and much much brighter, my OEM bulbs were 7 years old though when I changed them, oh and my brand new lights with new lenses make it better IMO


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

ttsteve said:


> What an answer - I would have paid good money for all that info! It ought to be sticky'd somehow.


That'll be 50p please :lol: . It's just a compilation from various sources. I've added two references at the end of my post if you're interested.


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## graham225 (Apr 5, 2004)

Emailed HIDplanet yesterday ref postage for the Philips DS2 xenon bulbs, here's what they emailed me back

*Shipping for this item will be roughly $18.00 USD for shipping and
processing. We can calculate more accurately if you decide to order*.

Bulbs (pair) $78.99 + $18 p&p

That works out at just under Â£49

Now that's good value 

Regards

Graham


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

Especially when you consider the dealer price is Â£149 each for exactly the same part!


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## petesky (Jul 24, 2002)

whilst looking for some replacement bulbs I "stumbled" upon this thread anf then did a search.
A BMW 5-series forum (don't ask why) came up with the following....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :middle:uk

Ebay at Â£25 per bulb.

I saw that the seller has been selling these bulbs for some time so even if he doesn't sell them when you look, he/she may get them back in in the future.

Hope this helps.

peter


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## Rosskie (Jul 31, 2007)

Customs charge on a set of the these bulbs from HIDplanet will be Â£11-Â£12.

can't remember exactly how much, but its Â£3-Â£4 then the post office add Â£8 handling charge.

Robbing *****

Dont touch the glass of the bulb when you change them over, John probably included that in his reply tho!


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## rob40 (Sep 3, 2004)

AS John H said , xenonmaster are the guys to use for best price plus is what the stealers use, dont be fooled by ebay shite , i replaced my HID's a few months back as one had gone , xenonmaster priced me Â£70 something for 2 D2S 4300k's which are the standard with a yellowish tint but will be the brightest, the higher the K the more blue they are so you lose brightness :? 
Stick with John H , i took his word and pleased with what i got and for what i paid. Nuff said :wink:


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## peter-ss (Sep 3, 2008)

Very interesting post John. That explains why my newer (post snow incident) headlight is much brighter than the original one.


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

Yes, best to replace them in pairs - there's a discount on the TTOC website from XenonMaster :wink: http://www.ttoc.co.uk/website/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=3910


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## peter-ss (Sep 3, 2008)

Thanks for that John, I'll have to add a set to my list of things to buy.

Got a bit of an intermittent immobiliser problem to sort out and a bad misfire at hight revs as well; think it's time for a new set of coils!


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## KammyTT (Jun 28, 2006)

ive tried and tried to fit my bulbs but it just does not happen for me!

ITS LIKE A BLOODY RUBIX CUBE 

ive been driving for months with my lights facing the side of the road


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## JohnnerLad (May 7, 2009)

I dont feel that you should have had an issue with this, i investgated my faulty lights laast night. Peice of P**s [smiley=book2.gif]

1. Remove the engine covers both sides
2. Remove the light back cover.
3. Good idea use a head torch, this helps
4. Locate Xenon D2S Buld, and you should see the back connection 1/8 of a turn
5. If you look you will see the black round locking cap. This is 1/4 of a turn.
6. Bulb FREE
7. Take a look at the black cover and you will see "TOP" stamped on it.
8. To install bulb do all of the above in reverse.

NOTE " Black Cap cover TOP must be located at the TOP" 

If not give me a shout and i will cover this all with pictures etc step by step. as i will have to remove both my old ones when the replacement bulds arrive (£47.50 each) As the Audi rip off shop is £129.00 not installed. Which would only take 5 mins

[smiley=gossip.gif]


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## ian222 (May 4, 2007)

Bit confused here guys, what is dipped beam and main beam? I thought they are the same? What i am after is the 2nd turn on the dial when turning on the headlights. Is that a H7 bulb or this ds2 bulb? I want a better light than what i am getting now, possible whiter?


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2011)

ian222 said:


> Bit confused here guys, what is dipped beam and main beam? I thought they are the same? What i am after is the 2nd turn on the dial when turning on the headlights. Is that a H7 bulb or this ds2 bulb? I want a better light than what i am getting now, possible whiter?


  really?

Dipped beam (D2S) is the headlight you usually use, main beam is the full beam you flash or put on in dark country lanes...


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## ian222 (May 4, 2007)

manphibian said:


> ian222 said:
> 
> 
> > Bit confused here guys, what is dipped beam and main beam? I thought they are the same? What i am after is the 2nd turn on the dial when turning on the headlights. Is that a H7 bulb or this ds2 bulb? I want a better light than what i am getting now, possible whiter?
> ...


Yeah really :? . Cheers though so i need the ds2 bulbs to sort out the headlights. wicked.


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

ian222 said:


> manphibian said:
> 
> 
> > ian222 said:
> ...


If yours has HID headlights - some imported 225s and some 180s had conventional bulbs.


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