Colour temp of an OEM xenon

[cj10jeeper]

Does anyone know the approx colour temp of the Z4 OEM xenon bulb?

I'd like to swap out the standard flash to pass to a similar colour, rather than the disgusting yellow of H7's. Not really worried about light output as the xenon deal with that all too well, nor do I want anything blue.

Thinking of around 6,000k range

 

[DannyBoy]

BMW OEM is 4300 kelvin.

The bulbs are hella/phillips. Probably best to change them in pairs. The colour shifts over time, so although one bulb is fine, should you fit a new one there will be a difference in colour temperature.

As well as colour temperature, there are also two different types of bulb D2S and D2R. One is for preojector based lights the other reflector based lights. If you have a look on the exterior of the Z4s glass headlamp the required type is etched.

 

[davidch]

What Danny Boy just said ^

 

[cj10jeeper]

OK guys, perhaps perhaps I wasn't clear. I'm not changing the xenon's they are just fine (and I'm not that wealthy...lol), rather the H7 single filament halogens that sit in the inner reflector.

Can I just confirm then that thet OEM xenon is around 4,300k as it sounds a little low given the whiteness of them?

Cheers

 

[mmm-five]

The lower the kelvin rating (to a point of course) the closer to daylight it becomes. 4300k is supposed to be the same as daylight. Go above this and you get into blues and purples, go below and it becomes yellow.

Are the HIDs not bi-xenon like on the Z4MC then?

I used to use Philips Vision Blue on the e34 to make the 'yellow' bulbs appear more 'white' - http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=25, but then I got HIDs instead although I still got the 'blue' sidelight bulbs (http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=31) to match the 4300k HIDs.

 

[Street]

I just looked up perfectionist in the dictionary..

Noun 1. perfectionist
- a person who is displeased by anything that does not meet very high standards

Thesaurus:
noun: stickler, purist, cj10jeeper, formalist, precisionist, precisian

:lol:

 

[cj10jeeper]

I just looked up perfectionist in the dictionary..

Noun 1. perfectionist
- a person who is displeased by anything that does not meet very high standards

Thesaurus:
noun: stickler, purist, cj10jeeper, formalist, precisionist, precisian

:lol:

Comedian/Street - is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy. :rofl:


Cheers mmm-five. that clears that up on temperature then . For sure the xenon are bi-xenon, however the prefacelift retained it's inner halogen H7's as flash to pass, so just fancied swapping them out for consistency. The old H7's will find a home in my daughters KA that seems to eat them..

 

[EdButler]

Daylight is usually referred to as 5600K as the Sun's surface temp is ~5780K and this accounts for atmospheres affect on the photons (notably at the Blue end of the range, hence it looks redder, especially when setting).

6000K Lights will look a little blue because of this (less atmosphere to absorb the blue wavelengths) and more so due to the projector lens at the edge of the light beam, where you will see violet/purple hues.

Either way, they both give off comparable light, both look cool and are both illegal if you retrofit :roll: :lol: One thing that may sway you is that lower colour temperature HID's (down to around 3500K) are more thermally efficient, hence giving off more light (Lumens). 4300K compared to 6000K probably gives off ~20% more light so this is a likely reason why many manufacturers opt for it.

 

[DannyBoy]

^^^Thats probably one of the best explanations of xenon kelvin colour range I've read on a forum! Good work.

 

[mmm-five]

They're only illegal to retrofit if you don't have a headlight levelling and headlight wash system.

We did 2 completely unscientific tests with a couple of owners on an e34 M5 with retrofit HIDs (without automatic levelling) and an e46 M3 with OEM HIDs (with automatic levelling).

The first test was on a normal country A/B road with crests, dips, bumps and twisty bits. We started both cars at the same position down the hill so we could see them start, and then lost them for a bit before the long uphill section.

The second test was a smooth-ish dual carriageway where the observers stood on a pedestrian bridge over the carriageway and watched both cars cover the same mile in adjacent lanes.

In the first test, the e46 M3 was the one that was seen to have the headlights bouncing all over the place.

In the second test, the e46 was still bouncing its lights around more than the M5, but nowhere near as much as in the first test.

We believe the reason for this is that the M5 lights only moved as much as the car did, whereas the M3 lights moved with the car and also moved when the self-levelling tried to adjust for the bumps, often over-correcting. We did take into account the M5 had EDC suspension and self-levelling rear suspension, but it's not fast enough to smooth out the little/frequent bumps on a country road so discounted that.

 

[EdButler]

Cheers DannyBoy

I don't think the levellers are supposed to really counter the act of bumps etc. I personally thought they had tilt sensors on the axle (or equivalent!) to determine the pitch angle of the vehicle. This is so that heavily laden vehicles don't dazzle oncomers. I also notice this when going up a steep hill (especially when accelerating!) the light beam is significantly shortened as not to dazzle people on the brow of said hill.

 

[mmm-five]

Cheers DannyBoy

I don't think the levellers are supposed to really counter the act of bumps etc. I personally thought they had tilt sensors on the axle (or equivalent!) to determine the pitch angle of the vehicle. This is so that heavily laden vehicles don't dazzle oncomers. I also notice this when going up a steep hill (especially when accelerating!) the light beam is significantly shortened as not to dazzle people on the brow of said hill.

Yes, that's what I believe they're for too. It's just that the system doesn't know the difference between a long dip/crest and short dip/crest and thus on choppy roads it gets confused and ends up bouncing up and down.

Also some people just adjust them too high in the first place.

 

[cj10jeeper]

Ed, That's an interesting explanation of temperature rating I fall firmly into the camp of not wanting to end up with blue 'ricer' lights I re-iterate the OEM xenons are untouched, these are just the supplemental halogens.

mmm-five interesting experiment on the HID's. As far as I know it is illegal in the UK to retrofit any HID's even if you add headlamp washers and the auto adjustment system, other than if done by a specialist professional, not that I think anyone pays any attention to it.

Even this seller (pulled at random) considers his HID kit illegal, or at least so borderline that they are for exhibition and off road only... :rofl:

Are Xenon HID light systems street legal?
Every country and jurisdiction has its own rules and regulations governing the use of automotive lighting. Xenon HID lighting systems that are supplied with the vehicles from the factory are DOT approved. The same OEM manufacturers that supply all the major car companies of the world also make our kits. NO AFTERMARKET XENON HID lighting system from any source is DOT approved if installed unprofessionally. These kits are DOT approved as long as they are professionally installed. As a result, we officially endorse the kit for exhibition and off-road use and will always sell the kit to be used for these purposes. We are not responsible for customers who violate the terms of sale in which they will assume all responsibilities for any unauthorized or unintended use other than exhibition or off-road use.

 

[mmm-five]

I wasn't trying to say that every installation is legal, just that the claim that all installations are illegal is incorrect. BTW, we don't have a DOT, we have a DFT, thus that info must be for US/Canada

However the info I got last time came from http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/drs/hidheadlamps - and the summary line at the bottom says "In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs. The entire headlamp unit must be replaced with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs and it must be installed in accordance with the rules stated above."

However, the rules it refers to above says:

1. The headlamp unit (outer lens, reflector, bulb) shall be type approved to ECE 98 and be "e-marked" to demonstrate this. That can only be done by the headlamp supplier - Hella, Valeo etc. who must test the headlamp in an independent laboratory.

2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam.

3. The headlamp must be maintained in good working order, kept clean, and aligned/adjusted correctly like any other headlamp.

So, retrofitting can be both legal & illegal, it just depends how you go about upgrading the system.

Although I've had HIDs on both my M5s and I'd guess they've seen 8 MOTs between them, a few VOSA stops and a few police stops without comment.

 

[cj10jeeper]

Yep - I remember this UK gov info from a previous thread when we explored retrofitting. All a bit of a grey area. Actually I retrofitted complete Xenon units in my X5 and that's seen at least 3 MOT's since and no questions.

My gut feeling is that anyone who fits OEM units and adjusters, with washers will be just fine. Anyone who drops a HID into a halogen unit is asking for trouble, if they are ever spotted.