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Dec 21, 2017 22:50:52 GMT
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Quite a few people that come into the shop have remarked on how they want brighter lights because they are being dazzled by oncoming traffic and cannot see where they are going. The answer appears to be, for most people, to escalate the issue by fitting brighter bulbs. In my experience the trick is not brighter bulbs but better quality bulbs and cleaner headlights. One incident, chap comes in, normal 'can't see at night' chat ensues and he has no idea what bulbs are in his car so I offer to go and take a look. I've seen more transparency in a maccy D's milk shake than those lenses, absolutely sand blasted into opacity so bad I can't even tell if it has a bulb... popped the bulb out and its a 100W/80W blue rally bulb, not legal for road use, melted plastic bulb holder and crispy wiring, when turned on its like the proverbial candle probably because it's not getting enough current. If you feel the urge to upgrade please be sure to check the full system first, maybe fit relays as someone further up suggested, make sure the original wiring is good enough and above all clean the headlamp lenses. Dirty lenses throw more light away from your drive path than on it, blinding oncoming drivers. Fitting more focused, better quality bulbs will give you a better view than HID's or LED's from fleabay and be much kinder to other drivers who hopefully, in turn, will pay you the same respect. Stick with a reputable named brand like Ring, Philips or Osram. Go for the 130% or 150% brighter bulbs but don't expect them to last as long. They burn brighter because the filament gets hotter, because it's thinner and therefore more fragile. Spend a few quid on a headlamp restoration kit before you have to spend a fortune on body repairs. Just my 2p's worth as a retailer of car parts.
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1988 DUTTON LEGERRA MK1 - SPARES DONOR 1989 DUTTON LEGERRA MK2 - CURRENT PROJECT 1990 DUTTON LEGERRA ZS MK2 1990 DUTTON LEGERRA ZS MK2 DUTTON PHAETON S2 - Resting DUTTON PHAETON S4 - Resting DUTTON PHAETON S4 - PROJECT X DUTTON SIERRA S2 - Resting
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Early E39 were twin reflector, facelift 2001-onwards got projector/reflector. Bang in a pair of 22000lm eBay leds like me and be amazed
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Early E39 were twin reflector, facelift 2001-onwards got projector/reflector. Bang in a pair of 22000lm eBay leds like me and be amazed 22000 lumen LED ... Dip or Main beams?
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1988 DUTTON LEGERRA MK1 - SPARES DONOR 1989 DUTTON LEGERRA MK2 - CURRENT PROJECT 1990 DUTTON LEGERRA ZS MK2 1990 DUTTON LEGERRA ZS MK2 DUTTON PHAETON S2 - Resting DUTTON PHAETON S4 - Resting DUTTON PHAETON S4 - PROJECT X DUTTON SIERRA S2 - Resting
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I have them in both. Akin to daylight at night!
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tristanh
Part of things
Routinely bewildered
Posts: 990
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22000 lumens??? Any link to the ones you got?
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Whether you believe you can, or you cannot, you're probably right.
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Dec 22, 2017 10:03:43 GMT
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Dec 22, 2017 11:27:47 GMT
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What's the beam pattern look like as they look scattered everywhere from the photo.
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Dec 22, 2017 13:59:30 GMT
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They have a good beam pattern, quite wide on dip but the main is very spread almost like a search light, the pattern control is pressed into the rear reflector.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Dec 22, 2017 14:50:12 GMT
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From what I recall I think the later cars had projectors. Do you have angel eyes in your headlights?
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tristanh
Part of things
Routinely bewildered
Posts: 990
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Dec 22, 2017 15:22:03 GMT
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Later cars definitely have projectors if they are oem lamps.
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Whether you believe you can, or you cannot, you're probably right.
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Dec 22, 2017 15:28:05 GMT
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,191
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Dec 22, 2017 19:50:27 GMT
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@pete1969 , are you OK to take a pic against a wall showing the beam pattern? It will give us all a better idea :
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Dec 22, 2017 23:34:40 GMT
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Last Edit: Dec 22, 2017 23:37:05 GMT by peteh1969
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pow
Part of things
Posts: 110
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Dec 23, 2017 22:23:47 GMT
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My e39 has woeful headlights as well, highlighted by the fact that the wife's new SLK has factory demons which are 10000000 times better! I was just going to try a 4300k kit to see if that improves matters.
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njw
Part of things
Posts: 226
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Dec 24, 2017 13:53:32 GMT
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Well, I gave my lenses a polish the yesterday. They weren't terrible but they look better now... I also found that I have projectors and HB4 bulbs. I think these were fitted from a later car although there seems to be conflicting information on what lights early e39s came with. (I know, I should have looked closer and not relied on the internet!) Anyway, it does mean I can fit Xenons or LEDs without risking blinding oncoming traffic, which is a plus. HB4's are correct for pre-facelift e39's, facelift cars used H7's and cars that were factory fitted with xenons use exactly the same reflectors and lenses as halogen equipped cars so, as you say, there is no issue with retro fitting. I fitted an aftermarket kit from ebay into one of my e39's and the light output was as good as oem xenons but I had a failed ballast within a few weeks, that said, they are cheap enough to buy one to use and one for for spares! It was a nice surprise to find my current e39 has oem xenons because, as you say, the factory halogens are like driving round with candles on the bonnet.
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Dec 26, 2017 21:01:24 GMT
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Well, I gave my lenses a polish the yesterday. They weren't terrible but they look better now... I also found that I have projectors and HB4 bulbs. I think these were fitted from a later car although there seems to be conflicting information on what lights early e39s came with. (I know, I should have looked closer and not relied on the internet!) Anyway, it does mean I can fit Xenons or LEDs without risking blinding oncoming traffic, which is a plus. HB4's are correct for pre-facelift e39's, facelift cars used H7's and cars that were factory fitted with xenons use exactly the same reflectors and lenses as halogen equipped cars so, as you say, there is no issue with retro fitting. I fitted an aftermarket kit from ebay into one of my e39's and the light output was as good as oem xenons but I had a failed ballast within a few weeks, that said, they are cheap enough to buy one to use and one for for spares! It was a nice surprise to find my current e39 has oem xenons because, as you say, the factory halogens are like driving round with candles on the bonnet. Thanks for clarifying that. I've seen pre-facelift non-projector headlights on the internet but maybe they were certain markets like USA or something. I'm going to give a set of HIDs a go. Apparently the ballasts go pop with the cheap ones on ebay but I'll give them a whirl and see if they improve things.
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gostin
Part of things
Posts: 84
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I used a 4300k hid kit at 35w on the l300 and the difference was staggering. If buying hid don't go above the 4300 or it goes blue and starts to negate the light factor and above the 35w just dazzles everyone else on the road and gets you a pull from plod.
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L300 and wrangler yj.
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Small update on this: I fitted a very cheap 55W 4300k HID kit last night and the difference is unbelievable. I can actually see where I'm going! The light is a bit more blue than I expected but it was a really cheap kit so maybe its not really 4300k... for this price I don't care. The projector headlights keep the beam well focused and not dazzling. When this kit expires I'll buy a better quality one. Thanks for all the advice everyone
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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I fitted HIDs into my old (new) RX-7. They were bloody awful. Made no difference to the depth and penetration of the light beam (as that's pretty much determined by the shape of the reflector bowl) but bled random light out all over the place in different directions, made passing roadsigns light up like it were daylight in the side window while everything ahead was dark and generally peed off other road users. Then the ballast box fried itself from water ingress and I tore all that curse word out and put in Osram Nightbreakers. Which were much better
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I fitted HIDs into my old (new) RX-7. They were bloody awful. Made no difference to the depth and penetration of the light beam (as that's pretty much determined by the shape of the reflector bowl) but bled random light out all over the place in different directions, made passing roadsigns light up like it were daylight in the side window while everything ahead was dark and generally peed off other road users. Then the ballast box fried itself from water ingress and I tore all that curse word out and put in Osram Nightbreakers. Which were much better I could have written nearly that exact paragraph, except I bought it that way and didn't wait for anything to go pop. The difference with the Osrams was immediate, even before I cleaned the lenses inside. Much, much better. I likened the HIDs (on mine) to fluorescent tubes, bright but scattered. To be fair, it's unlikely that anyone bothered to try to match lamp type with reflector - which I didn't know about until this thread. It was probably the cheapest available and just bunged in there. Besides, getting rid of all the stuff saved weight and that's good on a 2 tonne vehicle, right?
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