330D Sport review for Dev

Indeed, I take all your points, and I'm sure they're better for drivers, but they're still a bally nuisance for oncoming traffic. I'd rather not have to turn my eyes away from the road because someone's headlights are too bright. Maybe if we all drove just a bit slower we wouldn't need them (that is if we need them at the moment?) I've driven around those moors for 17 years nearly without overly bright headlights and as yet haven't hit a suicidal sheep: )

 

Isaac, I live out in the country and I drive on totally unlit roads all the time. Since the curse of xenon came upon us, I find I have to drive much of the time with the mirror dipped. Often you can see the shadow of your head on the roof lining. It clearly isn't all badly-adjusted headlamps; it's that the lights are far too bright - and perhaps deliberately aimed higher to take advantage of the greater range?

 

That doesn't sound so safe to me - you've seen the signs 'TIREDNESS CAN KILL TAKE A BREAK'

Anyway guys - remember I bought this car used so didn't specify the xenons myself (and wouldn't have done so if it were a new purchase given that they are a £550 option).

As to whether they dazzle other road users that remains to be seen - I hope not as I would hate to do this - hell, I even always use my hand-brake rather than dazzle the car behind with my rear brake lights!

When I took it out in the dark the other evening, yes I was struck by the brightness but also by how low the beam seemed to be when dipped.

I also can't say that I've noticed being dazzled myself by xenons (not any more than normal lights anyway) - they look a bit strange - that sort of blueish-white light but that's about it.

Matt.

 

I'd urge him and anyone else to think again. I bought my 320D new as the 150bhp model had only just come out but this time used made a lot more sense.

Basically, it cost me about £10K less than the new list price (so the biggest part of the depreciation has already happened) but it only has 21K miles on the clock and is 18 months old. Looks, feels and drives like a brand new one - seriously, not a mark on it.

Matt.

 

Buying new = madness*



*Except all those customers who bought their new cars from me, in this instance I can confidently say they were very sensible, intelligent people who know the value of a brand new product. I must also thank them for my 10%.

 

Xenon lights

Interesting article from an odd source:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2001-06-07-xenon.htm#more

 

I quite agree, unless I was mega rich I'd think long and hard about buying a new car. My dad doesn't seem that bothered though, happy enough to buy a new Subaru Legacy 2.0 when for the same money he could have got a better specced nearly new 2.5.

 

Very interesting - it seems that whilst I might dazzle oncoming drivers just a little, I'm far less likely to hit a pedestrian walking the wrong way along a unlit road in dark clothes. Perhaps that's a price worth paying.

Matt.

 

That is interesting Tones. Worth mentioning that the bulbs I have in my car are NOT the blue-tinted ones (which actually verge on the illegal), but the normal tungsten/halogen colour with a higher output.

I wonder how people would react to HID lamps in a reflector (rather than projector) housing? The only car I can think of with such a setup from the factory was the Lexus LS400 mkIV.

 

Nice car Matt. I'm going for a petrol one. For some reason smell of Diesel gives me a headache, so I can't see myself owning one. I have driven several, the best one being the current 535D (I think!) and really liked it.

 

OK, I'm something of a car headlight/xenon geek :shame: so here goes:

A number of Lexus' have factory xenon in freeform reflector housings (the ones with clear "lenses") as do several Volvos and the Renault Laguna. Some older Mercs and BMWs have factory xenon in parabolic reflectors (the ones with etched lenses) but most xenon installs these days use projectors simply because with projectors it's far easier to control the beam cutoff and to get a very sharp, clean cutoff which helps to reduce glare to oncoming drivers.

All factory xenons are required by law (throughout Europe) to be fitted in conjunction with headlamp auto-levelling (to ensure the beam cutoff is always below the eyeline of oncoming drivers) and headlamp washers (dirt on the lenses can cause glare through refraction). Xenon lights are, after ABS and airbags one of THE most important recent safety innovations in the auto industry. Studies in Germany have shown dramatic reductions in night time road deaths as a result of using xenon headlights. They don't blind/cause glare to oncoming drivers any more than halogen lights do. However, because of their colour spectrum and relative rarity some people do seem to be drawn to look right at them in a way they would never do with halogens and this can be a problem. As xenons become ever more popular and people get used to them the "they blind me" reaction will subside. Most of it is just complaining about something new, perhaps not helped by the fact they were first only available on the most expensive cars (rich bastards blinding the poor ).

I have (retrofitted) xenon lights on my car and I would never buy another car without xenons. The difference is literally night and day. It's not just the extra distance you can see but also the much wider spread of light to the sides which gives you a much better picture of your immediate surroundings. Properly adjusted they shouldn't cause a problem to oncoming drivers - I certainly have never had an issue with xenons coming towards me.

As for bulb cost - yes, they're expensive but they will generally last the life of the vehicle unless they are damaged in an accident. Even so they have come down a lot recently. A Philips D2S xenon bulb (the most commonly used) costs about £100 (inc VAT) on the net.

If you're interested there are whole forums on the net devoted to discussing automotive lighting and xenon lights :cry:

Michael.

 

I think I've realised part of the problem...

The projectors give a sharp cut-off to the high intensity, whereas there's more of a fade with reflectors. Consequently there's a moment's warning and build-up of intensity when see a tungsten/halogen light, so your eye has a moment longer to react to the light level. With the HID projector light the sharper cut-off means that when you are at an angle whereby it will dazzle you it cuts in and out suddenly, so you don't have that moment longer to react.

Am I making sense?

 

Unfortunately both of you geeks made sense

Michael, I can't believe there are forums dedicated to xenon lights

FWIW, I think they are still far too expensive. I think BMW dealer quoted from £250 to £550 depending on model. I think they should be standard.

 

Wow, this thread has gone a bit wrong since I last looked!! I feel the point for me has got a little diluted, unfortunately no-one seems to be clear (including me) as to what headlights are the offenders, but clearly they exist - more than one person can count for that.

Bottom line is that they need rooting out, and banning as they are dangerous and they should be illegal regardless of the opinion of the driver as to how much it improves their driving experience, because one things for sure, when they've (yet again) blinded the on coming driver and are involved in an 80MPH head on collision that certainly wont have improved their driving experience!!

 

my problem is with the boy racer set who fit 10,000 watt bulbs into normal headlamps in an effort to appear to have xenons. my other pet peeve is the proliferation of blue led's in headlams.
bmw angel eyes are pretty cool though.
cheers


julian.

 

The blue LEDs are illegal, as are blue bulbs beyond a certain colour temperature. There's no point in them anyway because they throw less light than a similar untinted bulb.

 

There are many problem headlights but factory xenons are unlikely to be among them. Here are a few culprits:

- poorly adjusted halogen headlights that a pointing way too high.
- boy racers with overwattage superbright (illegal) halogens
- boy racers with various colours of "blue" tinted halogens

...but the worst offender is likely to be boy racers who have retrofitted xenon lights to their halogen housings without the remotest clue about beam patterns and headlight alignment. There are many suppliers of Xenon D2S bulbs which have had their bases modified to fit halogen mounts along with the modified ballast (electronic control module) wiring to go with them. People just shove these into their H1, H4 or H7 halogen housings to get the xenon look without realising that they're creating dangerous glare for oncoming drivers (not to mention that it's totally illegal).

The only halogen housings which are likely to provide remotely acceptable results with a quality "re-based" xenon bulb are H1 or H7 projectors as the beam pattern is much easier to control. The xenon retrofits in my M3 are a full dedicated xenon headlight housing with auto-levelling etc from Hella.

The police are however unlikely to crack down on "rogue" illegal xenons any time soon. They'll fail an MOT but in most cases the offenders simply swap back the halogen bulbs for the MOT and then switch back .

Dev, here are some forums for you:

Philips Automotive Lighting forum:
http://forums.lighting.philips.com/viewforum.php?f=5

...used to be extremely active but then more or less fizzled away and the most active participants started up something else:

Automotive Lighting FAQ:
http://faqlight.carpassion.info/

I'm now only a very rare visitor...

Michael.

 

Aha, he's starting to mellow, any day now he'll crave a 3 series with Xenon lights. Only 2 days to go Ju, if you want mine (no Xenons though).

 

dev,
unfortunately a 3 series - even an estate just wouldn;t be practical. the closest practical beemer for me would be the x5 but i don;t wear white stilletoes, hail from essex nor have married a footballist so it's not really my thing. even then i doubt i'd be able to fit all my kit in one.
just as an asside my daughter thinks the alhambra is 'cooler' than my lexus as we can fit more of her friends in it. kids eh?
cheers


julian.

 

Not during the week anyway

Matt.