Do I have xenon's?

[Ducklakeview]

The headlight adjuster is a good indicator, washers and levelling noise on both.

All of this aside the one thing nobody has pointed out yet is that halogens have a reflector type light on the inside but xenons are projector type on both. Reflector is the shiny multi-faceted light and projector is the cloudy looking dome shaped one. So yes 100% halogens.

Both halogen and xenon have a reflector and both are "projector" lamps.

Mike

 

[Steve84N]

This is a car with xenons and you can see that the inner light (main beam I think) is shaped like the outer dipped beam. The OP has a different one more like the older style of headlight.



http://www.headlightreviews.com/projector-vs-reflector-headlight-housing-2/

 

[Ducklakeview]

This is a car with xenons and you can see that the inner light (main beam I think) is shaped like the outer dipped beam. The OP has a different one more like the older style of headlight.



http://www.headlightreviews.com/projector-vs-reflector-headlight-housing-2/

Irrelevant, on a Z like the OP's, the exterior photos will be identical for Halogen/Xenon.

Mike

 

[Scooba_Steve]

shiuld have no adjustment wheel inside, should have water jets and when ya turn on the lights aim at a wall if you hear them go "vrrr errrr" and they move up and down self adjusting then yes

bixenons means use one bulb for both the normal dipped beam, and fullbeam with a shutter that kicks in to engage it, none facelifts don't have it no idea if facelifts or later models do

This is weird

I DO have an adjustment wheel
I DO have washer jets
I DO see them go up/down with the the vrrr
I DONT see any yellow stickers

What the hells going on lol?

Well the bulbs blown what ever bulb it is, so I'm gonna actually take apart the wheel arch cover and try remove the bulb and find out

You have halogens. A bulb change is easiest with the wheel off. If you're thinking of putting uprated bulbs in I'd suggest not wasting your money and get a HID kit. They are not technically legal but with washers I've not been failed come MOT time and can actually see where im going at night. Around £50 for the set and mine have lasted 2 years/30k plus despite me using them all most all the time including during the day. £12.50 for replacement pairs, compared to £25+ for upgrade bulbs that output less than half the HIDs.

 

[RickyG512]

You have halogens. A bulb change is easiest with the wheel off. If you're thinking of putting uprated bulbs in I'd suggest not wasting your money and get a HID kit. They are not technically legal but with washers I've not been failed come MOT time and can actually see where im going at night. Around £50 for the set and mine have lasted 2 years/30k plus despite me using them all most all the time including during the day. £12.50 for replacement pairs, compared to £25+ for upgrade bulbs that output less than half the HIDs.

Hi there,

with the HID conversion kit, do you still get the strait edge, sharp cut-off point at the top of the beam pattern as you would do with OEM HID? and would it then need D2S bulbs?

or is the light pattern softly/evenly spread out, similar to a H7 Halogen pattern?

Thanks

 

[mr wilks]

shiuld have no adjustment wheel inside, should have water jets and when ya turn on the lights aim at a wall if you hear them go "vrrr errrr" and they move up and down self adjusting then yes

bixenons means use one bulb for both the normal dipped beam, and fullbeam with a shutter that kicks in to engage it, none facelifts don't have it no idea if facelifts or later models do

This is weird

I DO have an adjustment wheel
I DO have washer jets
I DO see them go up/down with the the vrrr
I DONT see any yellow stickers

What the hells going on lol?

Well the bulbs blown what ever bulb it is, so I'm gonna actually take apart the wheel arch cover and try remove the bulb and find out

That's why i would look for the yellow warning sticker first .
Seen so many cars advertised with Xenon's ( not just BMWs) that are actually halogens it can be difficult to tell just from pictures

Ps , hope a under bonnet detail is on your list of to do's

 

[Scooba_Steve]

You have halogens. A bulb change is easiest with the wheel off. If you're thinking of putting uprated bulbs in I'd suggest not wasting your money and get a HID kit. They are not technically legal but with washers I've not been failed come MOT time and can actually see where im going at night. Around £50 for the set and mine have lasted 2 years/30k plus despite me using them all most all the time including during the day. £12.50 for replacement pairs, compared to £25+ for upgrade bulbs that output less than half the HIDs.

Hi there,

with the HID conversion kit, do you still get the strait edge, sharp cut-off point at the top of the beam pattern as you would do with OEM HID? and would it then need D2S bulbs?

or is the light pattern softly/evenly spread out, similar to a H7 Halogen pattern?

Thanks

Yes you still get a sharp cut-off and the burners are a H7 HID type not D2S. PM me your email and I'll send over some pics of mine.

 

[Ducklakeview]

You have halogens. A bulb change is easiest with the wheel off. If you're thinking of putting uprated bulbs in I'd suggest not wasting your money and get a HID kit. They are not technically legal but with washers I've not been failed come MOT time and can actually see where im going at night. Around £50 for the set and mine have lasted 2 years/30k plus despite me using them all most all the time including during the day. £12.50 for replacement pairs, compared to £25+ for upgrade bulbs that output less than half the HIDs.

Hi there,

with the HID conversion kit, do you still get the strait edge, sharp cut-off point at the top of the beam pattern as you would do with OEM HID? and would it then need D2S bulbs?

or is the light pattern softly/evenly spread out, similar to a H7 Halogen pattern?

Thanks

Yes you still get a sharp cut-off and the burners are a H7 HID type not D2S. PM me your email and I'll send over some pics of mine.

I've also retrofitted HID's, good improvement for minimum outlay. BUT subsequently got an even bigger improvement by cleaning the glass lenses inside the headlamps. Detailed in this thread; http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=82010&p=1303834&hilit=lenses#p1303834

WELL worth doing!

Mike

 

[Steve84N]

This is a car with xenons and you can see that the inner light (main beam I think) is shaped like the outer dipped beam. The OP has a different one more like the older style of headlight.

Irrelevant, on a Z like the OP's, the exterior photos will be identical for Halogen/Xenon.

Mike

If you compared the picture I posted and the OPs picture you'd see the difference. Here's a direct comparison. :wink:

Halogen with main beam reflector type

Xenon with projector type main beam

 

[Scooba_Steve]

Those are facelift lights - I believe pre-facelift are identical Halogen and Xenon, i.e. are not Bi-Xenon like facelifts with the inner dummy lens.

 

[Steve84N]

Fair enough, it works for telling on facelift then as mine have the reflector main beam.

 

[RickyG512]

Hi All,

Sorry for taking ages, so I finally managed to get to the rear of my headlights and unfortunately I have Halogens

Anyway I changed the H7 bulb with a cheap £2 ebay replacement, started her up and back to normal now, although the lights didn't go up and down this time with the VRR VRR noise strangely.

I think from my experience, with all the signs everyone's given me, the only way to really be sure is it open up the headlight and see for yourself maybe, but you guys are right, i cant see anything in a country road!

Question is, do I get a HID conversion kit or try and find a HID headlamp uni from a breakers?

 

[Scooba_Steve]

HID kit over the conversion - to do it properly you'll need the lamps, ballasts, levelling sensors, new LCM (light switch) and coding. Very expensive even without new parts.

HID kit is essentially plug and play and is reversible.

 

[Roundozo]

Agreed with the above post. I had halogen and couldn't see anything while driving at night. I've since fitted an HID kit and it's a massive improvement and a relatively simple job to do.

Fitting oem or even aftermarket xenon just isn't worth the cost outlay if you ask me due to all of the additional bits you will need to make it work properly.

 

[Magicarcher]

I too am confused if i have zenons. If I type my last 7 digits into the site which gives specs/accessories, no mention is made of my car having zenons. However My car is fitted with headlamp wash, and the lights say on them D2S H7. One light has a traditional parabolic reflector the other has a semi-spherical condenser lens.

Could anyone unriddle this for me, as I am confused.

 

[k31ron]

Which HID kits are you all fitting? Had enough of my halogen candles.

 

[mr wilks]

I too am confused if i have zenons. If I type my last 7 digits into the site which gives specs/accessories, no mention is made of my car having zenons. However My car is fitted with headlamp wash, and the lights say on them D2S H7. One light has a traditional parabolic reflector the other has a semi-spherical condenser lens.

Could anyone unriddle this for me, as I am confused.

Have you yellow hazard warning stickers under bonnet on the panel above each headlamp ? This is usually the giveaway for Xenon,s

 

[Mr Tidy]

From what I have read the clincher is whether you have the thumbwheel to adjust the angle of the headlights next to the dimmer for the dash lights - if you do they aren't Xenons as they self-level, hence the up/down sweep if they are Xenons!

Headlight washers aren't at all conclusive - certain models (including all facelift 3 litre IIRC) have washers - the difference is if they are Xenons non-working headlight washers are an MOT fail, whereas on Halogens they are just an advisory AFAIK.

One thing is for sure, if you ever own one with them and one without you will know for sure! Sadly my current one is in the dark. :lol:

 

[Magicarcher]

Have you yellow hazard warning stickers under bonnet on the panel above each headlamp ? This is usually the giveaway for Xenon,s

No

From what I have read the clincher is whether you have the thumbwheel to adjust the angle of the headlights next to the dimmer for the dash lights - if you do they aren't Xenons as they self-level, hence the up/down sweep if they are Xenons!

Have thumbwheels.

Guess I don't have Xenons

 

[Roundozo]

Have you yellow hazard warning stickers under bonnet on the panel above each headlamp ? This is usually the giveaway for Xenon,s

No

From what I have read the clincher is whether you have the thumbwheel to adjust the angle of the headlights next to the dimmer for the dash lights - if you do they aren't Xenons as they self-level, hence the up/down sweep if they are Xenons!

Have thumbwheels.

Guess I don't have Xenons

Not the end of the world. Not as expensive when they go wrong (some of the xenon's will be getting on in their years now) and you can modify them (Hid kit) so you get a lot better light output.