Thread: D3 headlight clarity & Bi-Xenon globes

Of course it would have been a different story if the D3 light lenses where bad enough to be binned anyway - but they are not at that stage just yet

40 minute job this morning to replace old D2S globes with new ones.
Globes were $181 from Powerbulbs UK and arrived in 5 days.
Old ones looked OK until put next to the new ones so we will see how they go.
And to avoid confusion next time, I put the date on the cover (and did the same with the high beam).
new d2s.jpgnew vs old.jpgd2s fitted.jpgd2s lock.jpgfitted date.jpg

Bi-Xeons?

keen to learn how the new ones compare. I'm about to place an order with power bulbs for a bunch of stuff, once I save some $$$

Originally Posted by Aussie Jeepster

40 minute job this morning to replace old D2S globes with new ones.
Globes were $181 from Powerbulbs UK and arrived in 5 days.
Old ones looked OK until put next to the new ones so we will see how they go.
And to avoid confusion next time, I put the date on the cover (and did the same with the high beam).
new d2s.jpgnew vs old.jpgd2s fitted.jpgd2s lock.jpgfitted date.jpg

I did a decent night drive last night, and even my wife asked what I'd done to the headlights.
Distinct improvement after the change.
I suspect the globes were the originals from 2006.

Originally Posted by Aussie Jeepster

I did a decent night drive last night, and even my wife asked what I'd done to the headlights.
Distinct improvement after the change.
I suspect the globes were the originals from 2006.

Good to know. Curious to find out if it is the same D2S xenon globe for the normal xenon headlights compared to bi-xenons.

Originally Posted by Aussie Jeepster

I did a decent night drive last night, and even my wife asked what I'd done to the headlights.
Distinct improvement after the change.
I suspect the globes were the originals from 2006.

Any HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamp will start degrading the moment you first strike it. Each strike will degrade it and it degrades progressively as it runs. That dark colour on the glass is electrode material. That gradually migrates as the lamp ages leaving less electrode available to excite the gas. A bit like a halogen that is under-run (dimmed) deposits filament on the inside of the glass making it look silver.

I did the figures years ago for HID lamps in stage lighting fixtures and power usage aside it was better for the lamps to leave them on for 4 hours between shows than it was to cool & re-strike them (not better for power, but at over a grand a lamp it was better on the figures). Not particularly relevant to headlamps, but an illustration of the peculiarities of the way discharge lamps degrade.

It's easy not to notice the degradation of HID headlamps as it is an incredibly gradual process. That makes it blindingly (excuse the pun) obvious when you replace the lamps as suddenly your light output ~doubles. Of course when you replace them with souped up lamps and the immediate reaction is "wow these Philips blind-o-matic 4000 lamps are awesome!", but in reality compared to what you just took out a new set of original lamps would be pretty much just as amazing.

Halogens dim over time also, but it's fractions of a fraction compared to the ageing process a HID lamp goes through.

Well I bit the bullet and placed order for new xenon globes, LED high beam, cornering and fog as well as LED side lights plus all th canbus gadgets to suit.
$969 worth from powerbulbs.

They were a bit painful to deal with but got there with them in the end.

Originally Posted by Aussie Jeepster

40 minute job this morning to replace old D2S globes with new ones.
Globes were $181 from Powerbulbs UK and arrived in 5 days.
Old ones looked OK until put next to the new ones so we will see how they go.
And to avoid confusion next time, I put the date on the cover (and did the same with the high beam).

Wish I'd ordered new globes when you did. They are $234 for a pair now . I wonder why these can't be purchased locally?