E86 headlights - Xenons essential?

[tee.gilding]

Hi all,

I'm looking for an E86 at the moment and it's a minefield out there. This will be my first zed, so I'm wanting to tick all the right boxes on this purchase. My question is basically this:

Are xenon headlights essential, or a nice-to-have?

I've heard the standard halogens are pretty poor - is a bulb upgrade any relief to this or is xenon the only way? What is the difference between the xenon and bi-xenon option?

Thanks guys!

 

[adam1985]

My understanding is that the halogens are poor, a bulb upgrade will improve this but not sure how much, i guess you will need to wait for someone with halogens to come along. IIRC the difference between xenon and bi-xenon is if the full beam is xenon or not. I think xenon is just the dipped beam and bi-xenon is both dipped and full. Out of the two xenon options i wouldnt worry too much as i very rarely use full beam.

 

[mjennings23]

All Xenons on the Z4 are the bixenon variety, but the pre-facelift used halogen bulbs as "flash to pass" bulbs, the facelift cars simply use the xenon bulb for this purpose too.

It is possible to fit HID kits to the halogen lights, if the right car is there but missing Xenons, assuming you have headlight washers I forsee no issues.

 

[philbo909]

Imo xenon are the biggest must have if its your daily.
Decent speakers and msport seats are too

 

[adam1985]

All Xenons on the Z4 are the bixenon variety, but the pre-facelift used halogen bulbs as "flash to pass" bulbs, the facelift cars simply use the xenon bulb for this purpose too.

It is possible to fit HID kits to the halogen lights, if the right car is there but missing Xenons, assuming you have headlight washers I forsee no issues.

Only issue with HID kits is the new MOT rules, best check them before considering aftermarket HID

 

[bmwaddict]

Imo xenon are the biggest must have if its your daily.

I agree, was top of the options list for me with both z4s I've had.

 

[andyf1140]

I've driven with both halogen and HID bulbs and while the HIDs are better the newer halogen bulbs are a lot better than they used to be and I have no problem driving with them. My biggest problem is the SUVs that have HIDs fitted and auto-leveling... they are blinding!

 

[ben g]

I always hated the halogen headlights on my Z4. But recently, I swapped the cheap eBay bulbs for some proper branded items and raised the headlight aim using the adjustment screws under the bonnet. Now I can see much more down a dark country lane.

I think doing this is a must if you have halogens. I only wish I had done it sooner.

 

[Tcochrane92]

Factory xenons in the E86 are pretty terrible. Better than halogen, but not good.
I've changed mine to Osram Xenarc Night breaker Unlimited (great super hero name BTW) and it's noticeably better than stock, but still not as good as modern xenons or LEDs.

If I were to buy another Z4, I'd get xenons and fit aftermarket bulbs (D2S size)

 

[tee.gilding]

A few mixed opinions then. Would it be worthwhile grabbing a car which might not have the xenons but all the other options I'm after, then up-rating the bulbs to some Osram Nightbreaker (or something similar), or would that just be a minor upgrade? I'm not sure I'm really willing to spend an extra £1k to get a car with xenons...

 

[Tcochrane92]

A few mixed opinions then. Would it be worthwhile grabbing a car which might not have the xenons but all the other options I'm after, then up-rating the bulbs to some Osram Nightbreaker (or something similar), or would that just be a minor upgrade? I'm not sure I'm really willing to spend an extra £1k to get a car with xenons...

Upgrading a halogen car to Hid or LED will likely give you better results than stock xenon anyway

 

[wonkydonkey]

I'd never buy a daily car that didn't have xenons. My Z4 is only equipped with halogens but I can tolerate it. The difference between halogens and xenons does fall into the "safety" category for me. The difference is sizeable in terms of how much warning of danger (i.e. range and clarity of visibility) the two systems give you.

 

[tee.gilding]

I should probably add this won't be my daily driver...

 

[ben g]

A few mixed opinions then. Would it be worthwhile grabbing a car which might not have the xenons but all the other options I'm after, then up-rating the bulbs to some Osram Nightbreaker (or something similar), or would that just be a minor upgrade? I'm not sure I'm really willing to spend an extra £1k to get a car with xenons...

Yes, definitely.

I installed GE sport light ultra bulbs in mine recently. Massive improvement over the old Philips Crystal Vision bulbs I had previously.

 

[andyf1140]

I put some Halfords +150% bulbs in my Focus recently and they are pretty good too, much better than OEM quality bulbs. You could always go for some 80W rally bulbs

 

[earthdweller]

My zed is a weekend toy that hibernates in bad weather/winter

It rarely gets driven in the dark .. the standard lights are perfectly good for its use ( and hugely cheaper to replace )

My daily driver had adaptive zenons and the wife’s has LED headlights however .. they are miles better than the optional Zenons

It’s entirely upto you .. some say a 20 year old satnav is essential though !

 

[Mr Tidy]

My 1st one had standard bi-xenons but my current one has halogens - and the bi-xenons were much better.

But mine isn't a daily driver either and when I do use it at night most of the time it's on lit roads so works fine for me!

On unlit roads it's not great, but not so bad I have to slow down! If I ever need a new bulb I will upgrade to Osram Nightbreakers or similar.

When I got this one it was exactly the colour combination I wanted and apart from having halogen lights it ticked all the boxes, so I bought it! If I had held out for one with bi-xenons I'd probably still be looking now, 2 years later - and I'm not that patient. :lol: