Want to upgrade headlight performance

[e30smith]

Hi all,

I would like advice on the best plan to improve the quality of my city lights. Right now I have US style Hella ellipsoid sets. The dispersion and output of the low beams is not great. I considered European Smilys, but am now thinking of installing Prolumens 55w HID pack.

Question: Will I see a dramatic improvement from this? Also, is there any reason I would want to get Smilys and THEN add an HID package?

Thanks

[jlevie]

More powerful bulbs will increase the light output. But the headlights have to change to affect dispersion. I'm rather found of Cibe headlights as they have brighter bulbs and a much better beam shape. You can find out a lot about headlights from Daniel Stern's site (http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...uperwhite.html)

[e30smith]

Thanks. I'll research that. I assume your saying the dispersion from my current set will still be crummy even with a bulb upgrade ( the brights are fine). Do you have an opinion on the dispersion from euro smileys?

[e30smith]

Very cool website, btw. Emailing him my query.

[jlevie]

Because of the differences in regulations, the headlights in cars destined for the European market could have different beam characteristics. And in fact the part numbers are different. As I recall, Mr Stern talks about that.

If you have read through all the stuff on the site, it should be apparent that beam shape is the most important factor.

[CorvallisBMW]

You can replace your low beam bulbs with the equivalent high-beam version (slightly higher wattage, not opaque cap on the tip). You'll have to trim a bit of the plastic in the female end of the plug (bulb) but other than that it's plug-and-play. You will notice a very good difference. Also, make sure your headlights are aimed properly. You'd be surprised how many cars have their headlights pointing straight down or off to the side. HIDs are also an option, and might give you a bit more light than the high-beam setup.

[stamar]

if you put halogen brights in your lows your headlights will last about a week. In a very short time hids will be cheaper.

[mr ilia]

HID bulb, in general, will last times longer then the equivalent non-HID bulb.

[CorvallisBMW]

if you put halogen brights in your lows your headlights will last about a week. In a very short time hids will be cheaper.

Mine lasted for years :shrug:

[stamar]

tell us the brand.

by design halogen bulbs that are bright arent meant to last long... thats why theyre in the brights.

[AndrewBird]

Pretty much EVERY modern bulb is halogen, even the lows, so...

[stamar]

um.... halogen is i suppose modern but its the oldest technology.

halogen really just means a noble gas.

the cheapies. hot

yes halogen lows are less bright because they need to last a long time. Brights are just something used once in a while so they can be hot. If you left your brights on all day they would burn out.

thats why they are seperated in lows and highs.

[E30_Pare]

Go 55w hid. If your still unhappy then bi-xenon is for u

[iansane]

um.... halogen is i suppose modern but its the oldest technology.

halogen really just means a noble gas.

the cheapies. hot

yes halogen lows are less bright because they need to last a long time. Brights are just something used once in a while so they can be hot. If you left your brights on all day they would burn out.

thats why they are seperated in lows and highs.

No. Just....no. Where did you get this? Highs are highs not because they're a hotter bulb (incidentally, Halogens are not the oldest tech, standard incandescent bulbs are older), they're the "high beams" because those bulbs are in a housing designed to throw light everywhere, not just at the ground in front of your car.

E30s 9005/9006 combo does have a difference in most manufacturers by 10watts, but a great number of vehicles nowadays run an h7 or something similar in both high and low housings.

[stamar]

a 55 watt high beam will not last very long if it has regular use

its not just the housing the bulb is also much brighter ( brights.... concentrate)

please look up the wattage of your low beams and your high beams.

i dont think there is such a thing as a regular incadescent headlight for a 9006 9005.

I dont really know how far back your car would be but Im pretty sure ive never owned one.

Although I did own a 68 vw bus when I was in my 20s. And I have no idea what kind of headlights it used at this point.

halogen means the cheapies.

Although technically, hids also use a halogen gas they arent called halogen lights.

Nobody is talking about incadescent regular headlights ever. They are talking about the cheapie halogen disposables HIDs or leds at this point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halogen_lamp

if you read this thoroughly you will even see the formula that shows the lifespan difference between your 35w low beams and your 55w high beams.

The 55w high beams ( or brights) will have a much lower lifespan particularly if left on for longer periods of time.

no offense to anyone but I am amazed at how many people do not even know car basics on the bmw forums. Ive never seen anything like it anywhere else.