Is the Xenon HID's not a Bright as Previous Gen??

D&G · 11-10-2005, 01:34 AM

Is it me that I am seeing the E90's HID's don't seem as bright as the previous Gen???

lux.sh · 11-10-2005, 02:01 AM

^ have you driven both? I haven't, and I want to hear some thoughts on this.
bump bump!

Xens · 11-10-2005, 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D&G

Is it me that I am seeing the E90's HID's don't seem as bright as the previous Gen???

If you mean brighter by a whiter/bluer beam, it takes around 100 hours of use for HID bulbs to "burn-in" after which their color will get whiter, new bulbs are quite yellow.

Don't get it twisted though, whiter is dimmer, yellower is brighter.

Hompie · 11-10-2005, 07:35 AM

A recent test done by Autobild actually states that the quality of the E90 headlights is terrible. They compair it with other cars and on the pictures it does seem terrible. Unfortunately the article is not clear. It's not stated if they have xenons or not, allthough in the article the expert claims it's clear you need Xenons if you want quality.

Some links:

The bad E90 lights:
http://www.autobild.de/projektor/gal...tikel_id=10046

The great Porsche lights, notice the big difference!
http://www.autobild.de/projektor/gal...tikel_id=10046

They also say the E46 Lights were better!

So could be that the these are non-Xenons, but that would be weird. The other 30 pictures show pictires of the lights itself, and a description, instead of the resulting light cone, go figure!

I read this some weeks ago, was new here, didn't mention it cause was scared of being flamed for negative remarks (just try to say something bad about a Lexus IS

.

But it's a great forum, i stunned the sales guy when i explained what some features we're which he didn't know, it's Asia man, it's different here

E90Fleet · 11-10-2005, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hompie

A recent test done by Autobild actually states that the quality of the E90 headlights is terrible. They compair it with other cars and on the pictures it does seem terrible. Unfortunately the article is not clear. It's not stated if they have xenons or not, allthough in the article the expert claims it's clear you need Xenons if you want quality.

Some links:

The bad E90 lights:
http://www.autobild.de/projektor/gal...tikel_id=10046

The great Porsche lights, notice the big difference!
http://www.autobild.de/projektor/gal...tikel_id=10046

They also say the E46 Lights were better!

So could be that the these are non-Xenons, but that would be weird. The other 30 pictures show pictires of the lights itself, and a description, instead of the resulting light cone, go figure!

I read this some weeks ago, was new here, didn't mention it cause was scared of being flamed for negative remarks (just try to say something bad about a Lexus IS

.

But it's a great forum, i stunned the sales guy when i explained what some features we're which he didn't know, it's Asia man, it's different here

Look at picture 10, its the Halogen lights

F32Fleet · 11-10-2005, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hompie

A recent test done by Autobild actually states that the quality of the E90 headlights is terrible. They compair it with other cars and on the pictures it does seem terrible. Unfortunately the article is not clear. It's not stated if they have xenons or not, allthough in the article the expert claims it's clear you need Xenons if you want quality.

Some links:

The bad E90 lights:
http://www.autobild.de/projektor/gal...tikel_id=10046

The great Porsche lights, notice the big difference!
http://www.autobild.de/projektor/gal...tikel_id=10046

They also say the E46 Lights were better!

So could be that the these are non-Xenons, but that would be weird. The other 30 pictures show pictires of the lights itself, and a description, instead of the resulting light cone, go figure!

I read this some weeks ago, was new here, didn't mention it cause was scared of being flamed for negative remarks (just try to say something bad about a Lexus IS

.

But it's a great forum, i stunned the sales guy when i explained what some features we're which he didn't know, it's Asia man, it's different here

I've always felt non-xenon lights on the E46 were marginal.

And like another poster stated..whiter isn't always brighter.

longtran · 11-10-2005, 10:20 AM

yes, i notice that the e90 xenon is not bright as others too. i thought it was just me.

thd13 · 11-10-2005, 10:50 AM

Mine are pretty damn bright at night. I have terrible eyesight and it's even worse at night; but the xenons on my E90 are great at night for me. They project very well and light up the road very nicely.

mds82 · 11-10-2005, 11:03 AM

i just moved up from a 1991 jetta to my 325xi with xenons and its about at 200% increase. i cant say much for the e46 lights, but i still love my xenons

GTS_330 · 11-10-2005, 01:18 PM

That's what i used to think too.... after 4 months of driving and adjusted angle of the headlight, it seems more bluish like E46 and somewhat brighter... just give it some time.... better yet turn in on during the day so it will burn-in faster.... that's what i did!!!!

timzerofive · 11-10-2005, 01:53 PM

Actually I think the culprit to our inferior looking headlight is the projector lense. You can tell we do not have very clean cut off's like some of the other HID equipped cars. Let's not compare it to Japanese cars first, because they use higher kelvin lights, but it is slighly less "white" then other BMW's, probably because of the burn in period. The light beam pattern is pretty bad, you can tell the light scatters and stray light beam going all over the place when you look at the very edge of our beam. Next time you drive on the freeway, just look to the left at the center divider, you can tell the beams are not cut off cleanly at the very "left" side like projector's should. Perhaps someone want to pop a headlight open and switch out the projector lense to see if makes a difference. You can buy lenses on ebay for pretty cheap. Just get one from a porsche or mercedes and see what you get.

Has anyone actually accessed the headlight and confirm that our balast are from Hella? I think it should be a Hella/Osram combination or balast and bulb.

jlr · 11-10-2005, 01:58 PM

It is my understanding the projecorts are ZKW. They do have poor performace with little to no color.

D&G · 11-10-2005, 06:12 PM

No it is not the color I am talking about. Surely the brightness does not seem to be as bright as previous gen. I drove my brother in law's 2002 330i and it it pretty bright. I believe it uses the OEM 4300k HID's. THe current E90 uses 4300k I believe too. But it just don't seem as bright. The color is a bit more yellow compare to previous gen too I noticed. This is in result of where the lens cut off is. However all and all I think the previous gen is almost 2times brighter?? Kinda of disapointed since most of the Jap cars has really bright HID's compare to BMW. Have any of you notice the brightness too?? I guess you can only tell if you had a previous HID w/previous gen.

HRC · 11-10-2005, 06:25 PM

My E46 projectors didn't seem any brighter than my E90. In fact, my new car is more brighter because my E46's were pretty blue with age, cool for onlookers I guess, but not as bright as my new car. My E90 still hasn't reached even 30 hours yet. I try not to use them until it's dark to keep them nice and white as long as possible!

Danny

Wolf359 · 11-10-2005, 06:35 PM

Had halogens on my e46 so I can't tell for the old Xenons versus the new ones... However I went some pretty dark country roads with no city nearby to illuminate the sky, no road lighting either, it was extremely dark and the adaptive headlights were doing a fantastic job (Plus it looked very bright to me, almost like daylight in front of the car).

D&G · 11-10-2005, 08:25 PM

Everyone go check your HID's and do you think they are bright??? Obviously they will be alot brighter compare to the halogens but I am comparing it with previous GEN and other makes HID such as Lexus/Acura/Mercedez/Audi.

Xens · 11-10-2005, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HRC

My E46 projectors didn't seem any brighter than my E90. In fact, my new car is more brighter because my E46's were pretty blue with age, cool for onlookers I guess, but not as bright as my new car. My E90 still hasn't reached even 30 hours yet. I try not to use them until it's dark to keep them nice and white as long as possible!

Danny

There you go, HRC was a HID retrofitter so was I, you guys can have enough confidence to trust us. I've never personally owned an E46 but from what I've seen it's not better than E90. Most people relate whiter color to brighter output when it's in fact the other way around.

My S2000 projectors had much sharper cut-off than the ones on my E90, BUT, in terms of lighting I don't think E90 is ANY dimmer than S2000.

Sho · 11-10-2005, 08:49 PM

I think it is bright. In rain, I was riding in my friend's Audi, his blue/white HID was very dim. Then we ride in my E90; mine was way brighter than his.

Blue is just cool to look at, but not as bright as yellow/white.

RyBMW · 11-11-2005, 12:02 AM

It's funny. At the Japanese car forums, Acura/Infiniti, they all complain about their hids not being bright or blue enough like the Audi's, BMW's, and MB's. Over here and at other German car forums the members complain about their hids not being bright enough like the Japanese cars.

One thing I know is that when you're looking at your hids they don't look blue but far away they do. When you see other cars with hids on the road, you are seeing them from a distance. Try looking at your hids at a distance.

The hids on my E90 are better than the 04 TL I had. I think all manufacturers uses 4300K.

D&G · 11-11-2005, 12:27 AM

I think everyone has it wrong here. I am not saying that the bluer the HID the brighter it is. The reason why their is blue in the HID is not due to the HID bulb itself. It is all due to the sharper cut-off that creates the rainbow or blue hue it gives off in different angles. The previous Gen has a really sharp cut-off creating it to look blue at certain angles. But I am saying the HID brightness itself looks dimmer compare to the previous Gen. Let leave other car makes out of it and I am sure many of you would agree that the E90's HID's doesn't even come close to the brightness of the previoius gen. Maybe the car I took for a spin had a bad HID I don't know. That is why I want to ask others if they have the same experience.

Oh yeah I love the sharp cut-off from the S2000!!! It gives off a nice light show ahead of you.

Xens · 11-11-2005, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D&G

I think everyone has it wrong here. I am not saying that the bluer the HID the brighter it is. The reason why their is blue in the HID is not due to the HID bulb itself. It is all due to the sharper cut-off that creates the rainbow or blue hue it gives off in different angles. The previous Gen has a really sharp cut-off creating it to look blue at certain angles. But I am saying the HID brightness itself looks dimmer compare to the previous Gen. Let leave other car makes out of it and I am sure many of you would agree that the E90's HID's doesn't even come close to the brightness of the previoius gen. Maybe the car I took for a spin had a bad HID I don't know. That is why I want to ask others if they have the same experience.

Oh yeah I love the sharp cut-off from the S2000!!! It gives off a nice light show ahead of you.

Again, other previous E46 owners should chime in. I don't have enough experience to make further comments.

As for S2000 projectors, yup I love them. Nice flood of light in front of the car. The lighting range is wide, and I mean WIDE.

lux.sh · 11-11-2005, 03:38 AM

These are the cut-offs I want! (my e90 is not even close to this)

S2K projectors

TSX projectors

TL projectors

11-10-2005, 01:34 AM	#1
D&G Second Lieutenant 7 Rep 293 Posts Drives: BMW 335i Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Coquitlam BC iTrader: (0)	Is the Xenon HID's not a Bright as Previous Gen?? Is it me that I am seeing the E90's HID's don't seem as bright as the previous Gen???
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11-10-2005, 02:01 AM	#2
lux.sh missing two turbos. 577 Rep 4,859 Posts Drives: fast around corners. Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Curves iTrader: (12) Garage List 2006 BMW E90 330i [0.00]	^ have you driven both? I haven't, and I want to hear some thoughts on this. bump bump! __________________ 06 AW E90 330i ZPP/ZSP/Step/Expired Warranty : Prior Design Front : ACS Rear : ACS Roof : BlackLines : Simota Intake : Carbon Fiber Interior Trim : : MTEC V3 : 24% Charcoal : V1 Hardwired : Solaris Invisibulbs/LED interior :
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11-10-2005, 07:35 AM	#4
Hompie Enlisted Member 5 Rep 39 Posts Drives: Bmw 320i SG Beige leather Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Malaysia iTrader: (0)	A recent test done by Autobild actually states that the quality of the E90 headlights is terrible. They compair it with other cars and on the pictures it does seem terrible. Unfortunately the article is not clear. It's not stated if they have xenons or not, allthough in the article the expert claims it's clear you need Xenons if you want quality. Some links: The bad E90 lights: http://www.autobild.de/projektor/gal...tikel_id=10046 The great Porsche lights, notice the big difference! http://www.autobild.de/projektor/gal...tikel_id=10046 They also say the E46 Lights were better! So could be that the these are non-Xenons, but that would be weird. The other 30 pictures show pictires of the lights itself, and a description, instead of the resulting light cone, go figure! I read this some weeks ago, was new here, didn't mention it cause was scared of being flamed for negative remarks (just try to say something bad about a Lexus IS . But it's a great forum, i stunned the sales guy when i explained what some features we're which he didn't know, it's Asia man, it's different here
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11-10-2005, 10:20 AM	#7
longtran Lieutenant General 1431 Rep 16,628 Posts Drives: E90 M3 Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: CA iTrader: (105) Garage List 2006 325i [0.00]	yes, i notice that the e90 xenon is not bright as others too. i thought it was just me.
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11-10-2005, 10:50 AM	#8
thd13 Major 46 Rep 1,445 Posts Drives: A07 330i Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Murrland iTrader: (4) Garage List 2006 330i [0.00]	Mine are pretty damn bright at night. I have terrible eyesight and it's even worse at night; but the xenons on my E90 are great at night for me. They project very well and light up the road very nicely. __________________ My other ride is your mom.
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11-10-2005, 11:03 AM	#9
mds82 Major General 364 Rep 5,842 Posts Drives: 2006 325xi Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: South Central Connecticut iTrader: (40) Garage List 2006 325xi Snow Pics [0.00] 2006 BMW 325xi [0.00]	i just moved up from a 1991 jetta to my 325xi with xenons and its about at 200% increase. i cant say much for the e46 lights, but i still love my xenons
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11-10-2005, 01:18 PM	#10
GTS_330 Private 0 Rep 68 Posts Drives: Sapphire Black 330 Join Date: May 2005 Location: Long Beach, CA iTrader: (0)	That's what i used to think too.... after 4 months of driving and adjusted angle of the headlight, it seems more bluish like E46 and somewhat brighter... just give it some time.... better yet turn in on during the day so it will burn-in faster.... that's what i did!!!!
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11-10-2005, 01:53 PM	#11
timzerofive there is no spoon 243 Rep 867 Posts Drives: 330i manual Join Date: May 2005 Location: Irvine iTrader: (0) Garage List 2006 330i [0.00]	Actually I think the culprit to our inferior looking headlight is the projector lense. You can tell we do not have very clean cut off's like some of the other HID equipped cars. Let's not compare it to Japanese cars first, because they use higher kelvin lights, but it is slighly less "white" then other BMW's, probably because of the burn in period. The light beam pattern is pretty bad, you can tell the light scatters and stray light beam going all over the place when you look at the very edge of our beam. Next time you drive on the freeway, just look to the left at the center divider, you can tell the beams are not cut off cleanly at the very "left" side like projector's should. Perhaps someone want to pop a headlight open and switch out the projector lense to see if makes a difference. You can buy lenses on ebay for pretty cheap. Just get one from a porsche or mercedes and see what you get. Has anyone actually accessed the headlight and confirm that our balast are from Hella? I think it should be a Hella/Osram combination or balast and bulb.
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11-10-2005, 01:58 PM	#12
jlr Enlisted Member 1 Rep 35 Posts Drives: 2006 33i Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta iTrader: (0)	E90 has ZKW It is my understanding the projecorts are ZKW. They do have poor performace with little to no color.
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11-10-2005, 06:12 PM	#13
D&G Second Lieutenant 7 Rep 293 Posts Drives: BMW 335i Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Coquitlam BC iTrader: (0)	No it is not the color I am talking about. Surely the brightness does not seem to be as bright as previous gen. I drove my brother in law's 2002 330i and it it pretty bright. I believe it uses the OEM 4300k HID's. THe current E90 uses 4300k I believe too. But it just don't seem as bright. The color is a bit more yellow compare to previous gen too I noticed. This is in result of where the lens cut off is. However all and all I think the previous gen is almost 2times brighter?? Kinda of disapointed since most of the Jap cars has really bright HID's compare to BMW. Have any of you notice the brightness too?? I guess you can only tell if you had a previous HID w/previous gen.
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11-10-2005, 06:25 PM	#14
HRC MAUI BUILT 485 Rep 7,781 Posts Drives: 2006 330i MT Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: NORCAL iTrader: (10) Garage List 2002 E46 325i [0.00] 2012 E70 35i [0.00]	My E46 projectors didn't seem any brighter than my E90. In fact, my new car is more brighter because my E46's were pretty blue with age, cool for onlookers I guess, but not as bright as my new car. My E90 still hasn't reached even 30 hours yet. I try not to use them until it's dark to keep them nice and white as long as possible! Danny __________________ Arctic/Blk Leather/Alum.Trim/MT/ZSP/Sunshades/Blk Lines/M3 Illuminated Knob/Alcantara Performance Wheel/M-E-Brake Handle/Euro Fog Switch/Koni Yellows/H&R Sport Springs/19" VMR V718's w/PS2 Tires/M-Tech Body Kit/Carbon Fiber Spoiler/Bimmian Interior Bulbs/OEM Eye Glass Tray/SSK/Alcantara Boot/Split Armrest/OEM Dual Rear Power Outlets/Rear Ashtray Delete/OEM Alum. Pedals/Osram 6000K/Brex Rings/LED Side Markers/BMS Power Box
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11-10-2005, 06:35 PM	#15
Wolf359 Captain 12 Rep 942 Posts Drives: 2006 BMW 325i Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Canada iTrader: (0)	Had halogens on my e46 so I can't tell for the old Xenons versus the new ones... However I went some pretty dark country roads with no city nearby to illuminate the sky, no road lighting either, it was extremely dark and the adaptive headlights were doing a fantastic job (Plus it looked very bright to me, almost like daylight in front of the car).
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11-10-2005, 08:25 PM	#16
D&G Second Lieutenant 7 Rep 293 Posts Drives: BMW 335i Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Coquitlam BC iTrader: (0)	Everyone go check your HID's and do you think they are bright??? Obviously they will be alot brighter compare to the halogens but I am comparing it with previous GEN and other makes HID such as Lexus/Acura/Mercedez/Audi.
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11-10-2005, 08:49 PM	#18
Sho Lieutenant 35 Rep 574 Posts Drives: E90 325i 6-speed Join Date: May 2005 Location: WA iTrader: (0)	I think it is bright. In rain, I was riding in my friend's Audi, his blue/white HID was very dim. Then we ride in my E90; mine was way brighter than his. Blue is just cool to look at, but not as bright as yellow/white.
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11-11-2005, 12:02 AM	#19
RyBMW Major 78 Rep 1,038 Posts Drives: X5 Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: NYC iTrader: (1) Garage List 2012 BMW X5 [0.00] 2008 335i [0.00]	It's funny. At the Japanese car forums, Acura/Infiniti, they all complain about their hids not being bright or blue enough like the Audi's, BMW's, and MB's. Over here and at other German car forums the members complain about their hids not being bright enough like the Japanese cars. One thing I know is that when you're looking at your hids they don't look blue but far away they do. When you see other cars with hids on the road, you are seeing them from a distance. Try looking at your hids at a distance. The hids on my E90 are better than the 04 TL I had. I think all manufacturers uses 4300K. __________________ New: 12 X5 xDrive35i Premium Alpine White/Cinn Brown Old: 08 E92 335i\|Space Gray/Coral Red/Gray Poplar Old: 06 E90 330i\|Black Sapphire/Black /Burl
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11-11-2005, 12:27 AM	#20
D&G Second Lieutenant 7 Rep 293 Posts Drives: BMW 335i Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Coquitlam BC iTrader: (0)	I think everyone has it wrong here. I am not saying that the bluer the HID the brighter it is. The reason why their is blue in the HID is not due to the HID bulb itself. It is all due to the sharper cut-off that creates the rainbow or blue hue it gives off in different angles. The previous Gen has a really sharp cut-off creating it to look blue at certain angles. But I am saying the HID brightness itself looks dimmer compare to the previous Gen. Let leave other car makes out of it and I am sure many of you would agree that the E90's HID's doesn't even come close to the brightness of the previoius gen. Maybe the car I took for a spin had a bad HID I don't know. That is why I want to ask others if they have the same experience. Oh yeah I love the sharp cut-off from the S2000!!! It gives off a nice light show ahead of you.
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11-11-2005, 03:38 AM	#22
lux.sh missing two turbos. 577 Rep 4,859 Posts Drives: fast around corners. Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Curves iTrader: (12) Garage List 2006 BMW E90 330i [0.00]	These are the cut-offs I want! (my e90 is not even close to this) S2K projectors TSX projectors TL projectors __________________ 06 AW E90 330i ZPP/ZSP/Step/Expired Warranty : Prior Design Front : ACS Rear : ACS Roof : BlackLines : Simota Intake : Carbon Fiber Interior Trim : : MTEC V3 : 24% Charcoal : V1 Hardwired : Solaris Invisibulbs/LED interior :
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