Upgrading Xenon bulbs to brighter ones?

mrk

mrk

mrk

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I've been putting this off each time but I think it's time to upgrade my Xenon bulbs to something a bit brighter (unless there's a way to light slightly more of the road ahead?).

Scenario:
I'm driving at night on the motorway. All signs and all reflective objects are nicely illuminated well ahead (as expected) but the road surface is only illuminated a short distance ahead. I'd like to be able to light a bit more of the road ahead.

Yes the lights do do the auto level sweep when you turn the key twice so the levelling is working. The lit surface distance has always been like this and I thought it was just the bulbs themselves not being bright enough. I notice other E46 coupes with Xenons who pass on the same stretch of motorway (when they do) and theirs seem to light the same distance as mine too but newer cars light a lot more of the road ahead and are obviously brighter too.

I've only ever upgraded Halogen bulbs with Nightbreakers and Philips so no idea on Xenon bulbs other than them being a bit of the expensive side.

What replacement bulbs would people recommend?

Thanks!
 
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I have Philips in D2S form for my Omega, seem to work well and illuminate a good area (even when only 1 worked!).
 
Aha excellent!

Do you happen to have a pic of those running at all? The site says they will look more yellow than the ones already on the car, I want to keep the whiteness as they are now!
 
They're exactly the same as my OEM ones, same brand etc..

No pictures, but they still look just as white to me. Site just recommends to change in pairs, which I have.
 
What was/is your experience with the replacement, a brighter light I take it? Some sites say a Xenon bulb should last the lifetime of the car but I imagine the gas inside will age and the brightness will weaken over time (which may be the case in my bulbs) so a direct replacement would brighten it up like new again?

I did search on e46 fanatics and a lot of recommendations for the Xenoflow 6000k bulbs too (http://www.bimmian.com/HIU/90) but they're import @ $99 a pair + shipping so wasn't sure about the risk of damage during transit hence this thread for more local replacements/upgrades.
 
Just a quick point - if this is because you can't see in snow then there's little brighter bulbs are going to do. It's just going to reflect right back at you. I have heard of people wearing yellow tinted glasses to get around this, at least partially...
 
Strange considering the places I've driven the past 2 months and not driven in snow once :p Driven in fallen snow just not during snow fall!

It's to light the road better ahead, as per Op :p
 
Didn't really notice any difference, apparently some HID's go from 4300K to 5000K over time. According to dave's link my bulbs (85122 +) stay at 4300K, which I have no reason to argue with. But then again, I've never had problems with insufficient light.

With regards to lifetime, I believe my light bulb that failed was the original and my car is nearly 10 years old. So I'd say lasting the 'lifetime' of the car might be stretching the truth but is not unreasonable.
 
Hmm so it could be a chance buy I guess if they do end up being the same brightness. It's possible my bulbs have shifted toward 5000k and thus lost some brightness too though.
 
I would be suprised if upgrading factory fit Xenons is required.

I wonder if its more to do with the fact your headlight lenses are beginning to age and pit. I gained a considerable improvement in light output when I replaced both of my headlights for brand new examples when the car was about 5-6 years old. IIRC your car is more than 7 years old now so I wouldnt expect the lenses to be factory fresh still.
 
[TW]Fox;18090414 said:
I wouldnt expect the lenses to be factory fresh still.
Click to expand...

TCUT on the lenses is meant to help a bit and even things out.

I can't say i noticed much improvement myself but some people swear by it.
 
The lenses on the E39 are polycarbonate - not sure the E46 Coupe is any different - nothing short of wet sanding will sort them.

So I just got new ones and flogged the old ones on Ebay. Made a huge difference :)
 
[TW]Fox;18090504 said:
The lenses on the E39 are polycarbonate - not sure the E46 Coupe is any different - nothing short of wet sanding will sort them.
Click to expand...

And then you remove the anti-scratch coating, so whilst you get a nice shiny surface after polishing it, it won't last long at all as polycarbonate is as soft as butter.

The actual HID lamp is not responsible for light distribution anyway, this is the job of the lens/mask/reflector assembly so changing the lamp is not going to divert more of the available light down onto road.
 
The lenses are perfectly fine, they're clear and not marred or anything that would other point daily in their direction.

It's definitely a case of not lighting enough of the road as I would like and maybe it's normal as seen on ither e46 coupes and it's just that I'd like more but the quickest way is to change the bulbs, cheapest too.
 
You are never going to light up the entire road for miles around. If factory xenon is not enough for you and yet are convinced your 7 year old lenses are as new then some expectation management is probably the way forward.
 
I don't want to light miles ahead....

I just want to light a bit more of the road than currently is lit which isn't very far ahead. Ill get a picture when its dark I guess.

The lenses are clear as mentioned, it would be pretty obvious if they were not.
 
Khaaan! said:
Yes the lights do do the auto level sweep when you turn the key twice so the levelling is working.
Click to expand...

Do you also have a control inside the car to move adjust the lights depending on load of the car? The reason I ask is the lights on my 330 seem to adjust themselves when you start up the car but I only have normal bulbs and I have a dial for adjusting the level of the lights inside the car.
 
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