OK I just have to ask why?

[SandyEggoE30Girl]

When I fist bought my 87is a few years ago, I did notice that the sealed beams were rather well................. not very bright.
So I upgraded to H1, H4s and thought that was pretty cool. Well living in the city I rarely use my high beams, but tonight I was coming home in Point Loma Down Canon Road and used them. I could not believe how bright they were, and they only cost 200 brand new.
So my question is why spend all that money on the elipsoidal headlights? I mean I agree that they look cool, but me............ well I would rather spend my money on mods that make my car go faster around corners and such?
So I just had to ask why I guess?

[mattdk318i]

Looks, As well as somewhat "rare"

[JasonC]

Thats why i got my euro ellips used. I couldn't see spending alot of $$$$$ on a light that may get broke by a rock or animal. Although i'm going to keep the sealed beams in my 87 for now, i can see with them just fine.

[smonkbmw]

there is no better light than a elipsoid/hid setup. im not sure what youre using, you listed h1,h4. im assuming your speaking of using h1s for your lows with a non focused housing. using elipsoids projects a focused beam pattern on the road which is hard to beat, add a good 5k hid kit and you have the best.

oh btw if youre worried about cracking get some lamin-x

[StereoInstaller1]

I have not driven with the H1/H4 combo...but I just returned from 150 miles of twisty mountain roads, totally unlit, deer warnings everywhere (Oregon Hwy 38 from Reedsport to Springfield) at 75 to 90 MPH...ellipsoids, even with 9005/9006 just ROCK!

Can't wait for HIDs.

Luke

[tjts1]

So my question is why spend all that money on the elipsoidal headlights? I mean I agree that they look cool, but me............ well I would rather spend my money on mods that make my car go faster around corners and such?
So I just had to ask why I guess?

I'm with you. I picked a set of ebay ecodes with 90/100w H4s and 100w H1 bulbs for $80 shipped to my door. Say what you will about smiley ellipsoids but they'll never have 4 high beams.

[mikeedler]

if you people would just look at the lenses you would maybe understand something.

the lenses on the H1 lights (main beams) are focused lights. A bright light is non focused and not used to drive in traffic- hence why it is so "bright"
look at the pic above my post- you can see the difference in the 2 lenses-- and an ellip. set has the same brights as the non ellip reg. H1

An ellips. light is brighter, and focuses the light in the area that it allowed/ needed - to not blind oncoming drivers.

You can get a used set of ellips for 200 dollars too. Mods to go fast are great, but it would be even better to be able to see the kids playing on the side of the street at dusk-- I think anyway
or even to be able to see where the corner is.

[rede30]

what Mike said, its also a quality thing. Ellips are built very well and are a piece of art to look at.

[tjts1]

Face it, elipsoids are 20 year old technolongy. The world has moved on. And who said anything about blinding oncoming drivers? H4 90w low beam with a modern reflector.

[Van Westervelt]

Face it, elipsoids are 20 year old technolongy. The world has moved on.

That has to be one of the dumbest statements I have ever seen. Ellipsoids/projectors are the highest end focused light for cars. Funny how you say its an old technology, yet any lighting "upgrade" even on new cars, includes projectors/ellipsoids. One of the biggest reasons that all cars dont have them, is meeting codes, and keeping costs down. Pull up Hella's website and look at the "old" and "new" technologies.

And to the original post, yes, it will be brighter, you had your highbeams on, which flood the road with light instead of blocking and focusing it like your dipped beams.

-edit-
The best lighting setup for visibility and safety, is Euro ellipsoids, with a 4300k or 5000k HID kit. Your highbeams will only light up the area that the lowbeams dont touch. You will barely notice high to lowbeams with this setup other than people flashing you when you leave your brights on.

And in other news... H4 units are still reflecting the light, and then the glass lense tries to refocus it. The light output is hindered by such a setup. Where as ellips, do not reflect at all, they concentrate all the light and project it, hence the nickname, projectors.

[smonkbmw]

Face it, elipsoids are 20 year old technolongy. The world has moved on.

yup thats why the majority of brand new cars comes with xenon projectors, cause they are all stuck in the past.

[StereoInstaller1]

I would bet that anyone who has ellipsoids would never switch back.

Especially US ellipsoids with HIDs. Worth every penny.

So, face it...projectors are still the absolute best available. And if that is a 90W low beam, your reflectors blow in both brightness and pattern.

[StereoInstaller1]

yup thats why the majority of brand new cars comes with xenon projectors, cause they are all stuck in the past.

Not quite true. The majority of UPPER END new cars come with projectors...

[Van Westervelt]

Exactly Luke and Jeff. That is why, most people "upgrade" their lights with cheapo ebay crap cus they dont know their ass from their face. And ellips are expensive to produce.

And Euro ellips are better than US ellips. You get a higher cutoff on the right side, and with smilies, you get more illumination within 10ft of your car. A lot of people run foglights all day, smilies somewhat emulate that effect.

[tjts1]

If you need to knock all H4 headlights in order to make yourself feel better about spending way too much money on smilies for the bling factor or to show off to your friends, thats fine. As far as I'm concerned its an antique projector. Theres nothing wrong with that. Just don't claim that its somehow superior to H4 headlight. The fact that projectors cut down your high beam output in half makes it twice as hard to justify. I've gone through 6 Ecode conversions thus far: 3 volvos (2 were done twice over with different housings), 1 Mercedes, 1 Neon (jigga what?) and 1 BMW. 5.75" and 7" H4 (Cibie, Hella and Autopal) stood head and shoulders above the rest especially when connected through relays and heavy gauge wires. Even some of today's H7 and H9 DOT headlights put smilies to shame. But to each is own.
:up:

That has to be one of the dumbest statements I have ever seen. Ellipsoids/projectors are the highest end focused light for cars. Funny how you say its an old technology, yet any lighting "upgrade" even on new cars, includes projectors/ellipsoids.

Not to burst your bubble or anything but all projectors are not created equal. The optics inside E30 projectors (DOT or ecode) have very little in common with projectors designed and built today.

Hella H9 projector.








Doesn't look that different on the outside.


H9 low beam + Hella 500 (130w H3) driving light in custom fiberglass housing I built for a volvo about a year ago before paint.

Modern projectors have their place and are superior to most forms of reflector headlights including H4, but they are very different from 20 year old factory units from an E30. Don't get me wrong. Smilies are pretty good headlights, especially compared to any DOT headlight pre 1997. But today there are better cheaper options out there.