Using headlights with Xenon bulbs?

[cometboy]

Has anyone recently fitted replacement head light housing and used one of the Xenon setups that are being sold currently? If so any details??

Thanks

Bruce

[mini_kompressor]

They are bloody brilliant

[gadj]

Are we talking H.I.D. or the 'fancy' halogen type that claim xenon or equivalent?

I converted to semi sealed beam (crystal type)& fitted high quality +50% halogen bulbs - I am hugely impressed.

[cometboy]

I was looking at this sort of Xenon arrangement:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/55W-H4-BI-XENON- ... 1c1711776a

But not sure about them as price seems all over the place when you start looking. Basically I want max light (legal) and least current draw. But the current MB lights are hopeless. What size globe does yours take? H4?? Also what make are the aftermarket semi seal units and are they a standard size???
Thanks

[Brayden]

The quality of the light has a lot to do with the quality of the housing/reflector. (No surprise there!)

I'm using Hella glass housings with Narva +50 H4 globes and they're fantastic, especially on high beam. I couldn't justify HID for the small improvement.

You will find that some of the cheaper plastic H4 headlight housings offer very poor reflectors and equally poor light diffusion. In fact some have no diffuser at all!

[gadj]

I'm with Brayden on this one. My H4 semi seals in Altezza style (chrystal or dichroic)which looks similar to most post '96 production Nissan & Suzuki in reflector style with Plus50 halogen bulbs cost me sub $100.00 yet give better than expected light - they're brilliant. NOTE: I have not yet fitted a relay (the original lamps will perform sufficiently if enough power is getting to them). I will be working a relay in just to improve safety as I can set it up so that there is a split circuit where if one lamp shorts & blows a fuse, the other is protected & I still have one to drive on.

[lackner12]

What is the right watt bulb that I should use, as not to melt my plastic headlight housing? What is the OEM bulb watt?

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[gadj]

The standard sealed beam & semi-seal headlamp by law are to be 55/60W, that is 55 Watt low beam & 60 Watt high beam as a maximum. The more recent developments in lighting technology make this hard to police as increased light output from the same or less power input has been achieved.
From what I have seen, you need to look at colour spectrum in HID, as the closer you go to the extremeties the less useful the light is for driving ie. to red - too violet. I would have to dig up the 4WD Action magazine article to get figures on voltage/wattage/colour intensity but I am sure it is available online.

EDIT:05/06/2011 to correct STD wattage figures

[Brayden]

Standard MB sealed lights are 55/60w, as are most standard H4 semi-sealed lights. I wouldn't attempt anything more than that with standard wiring and plastic housing.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I find Narva +50 globes are a decent improvement on standard globes without needing higher wattage.

[gadj]

Thanks for jogging the memory there Brayden. This idea of having to sit around doing zip, at the whim of an insurance company isn't keeping the brain active enough. I have edited my post to reflect the proper figures.
I did the same (+50's) in my MB with Chrystal type simi seals - no need for auxilliary lights. I get fantastic night visibility