factory Xenons - Can anything be done with them?

[Cavey1638]

Hi All,

I have a 2004 3.0L zed which has the factory fitted xenon headlamps. Even these do not seem very bright. Can the bulbs be upgraded using the original ballasts? Is it a case of a new ballast and bulbs... say a 55w HID kit? Can these be installed without the canbus getting upset ? This is my second year of ownership. Love the car ...just s*it light output from even the factory xenons.

Cavey

 

[Scooba_Steve]

You think those are bad, you should try the Halogens! Old burners? Dirty lens?

 

[Cavey1638]

The lens are fine and the covers are not milky. I had a Volvo S60 T5 and the lights on that were cr*p as well so fitted HID's. I cannot believe that such poor lights were fitted to a German car.

Cavey

 

[cj10jeeper]

You'd struggle to get an aftermarket HIH kit into an oem xenon as kits are designed to fit in place of a halogen bulb and not an ignitor unit. In theory you could fit halogen projectors on the back if you can find a sacrificial set, but a counter intuitive mod.

Xenon bulbs can fade, but mine are original and light the road like day so no idea why you consider them so poor. as above try halogens on a low sports car..

Check the lights are cycling correctly and aimed high enough. If the suspension sensors are damaged the lights drop low.

Perhaps a half to one more turn to raise the static setting without dazzling. Aside that you're done

 

[dhobbs]

Seems the xenons are a known issue on the z4.
I've upped mine by one and a half turns and it's better but I'm still not convinced.
Maybe need to spend £75 on a new set of bulbs just to prove it one way or the other!

 

[mj2k]

I find mine poor, but had a mini between the coupe and the roadster which probably spoiled me.

Will try the few turns to tweak the height

 

[domsz4]

i think one of the issues with the lights on a z if you come from a more normal car is a combo of the seating position being low and the simple fact the lights are low.

 

[PerryGunn]

i think one of the issues with the lights on a z if you come from a more normal car is a combo of the seating position being low and the simple fact the lights are low.

Yep, I agree with this - the lights on our X3 seem to give better visibility when driving even though they're standard lamps, from outside I can see that they're not as bright but the higher seating position combined with the lights themselves being higher just gives much better visibility

 

[Tommy_hf]

HID desings just got better, lighting on my R58 Mini and F30 3-series are just so much better than the E85 ones. The E85 ones are very similar in output as the E46 which I had a few of, already better than the E39 I used to have. Let's call it progress

 

[Raj_UK]

If the suspension sensors are damaged the lights drop low.

How would you know if the suspension sensors are damaged. I've had a few cars with xenon's now and to put it bluntly the xenons on my coupe are cack!

 

[cj10jeeper]

Couple of visible checks:
Switch the lights on towards a eall or garage and ensure they cycle and end up pointing approx horizontal, not downward.
Check the sensors one at front and one at rear to ensure lever arms are not broken - common prob when people change springs, shocks, etc

 

[Beetlegav]

I have removed my sensors entirely off the car and my lights still cycle.
The box in the wheel arch was in the way of the wishbone :lol:

 

[cj10jeeper]

I have removed my sensors entirely off the car and my lights still cycle.
The box in the wheel arch was in the way of the wishbone :lol:

That's because 2 different things are happening. The basic cycling you see is the step motors resetting to the correct static position. The sensors adjust from that position to correct the level to the static setting based on changing loads.

Guess if totally disconnected then you can just wind them up to a manual set level.

 

[Beetlegav]

I have removed my sensors entirely off the car and my lights still cycle.
The box in the wheel arch was in the way of the wishbone :lol:

That's because 2 different things are happening. The basic cycling you see is the step motors resetting to the correct static position. The sensors adjust from that position to correct the level to the static setting based on changing loads.

Guess if totally disconnected then you can just wind them up to a manual set level.

Fairenough yeah I've just manually set the level myself anyway, broke the lever off mine a long time ago so they didn't adjust while the suspension loads up etc

 

[JINGLE]

is there any kind of self leveling on the halogens? when i start my car the lights go through a up/down cycle then set themselves... and im sure that they point downwards slightly as they only light up the road in front of me by a few meters (ok maybe a bit more but certainly seems like its shorter than other cars) even with the adjuster wheel near steering wheel turned up to the max

 

[cj10jeeper]

is there any kind of self leveling on the halogens? when i start my car the lights go through a up/down cycle then set themselves... and im sure that they point downwards slightly as they only light up the road in front of me by a few meters (ok maybe a bit more but certainly seems like its shorter than other cars) even with the adjuster wheel near steering wheel turned up to the max

Halogens go though the same self levelling process as xenons to reset the step motors to the correct preset static position (only prefacelift iirc), hence the cycling you see. Difference is from that point you manually adjust using the knurled adjusted on the LCM (light switch)

 

[JINGLE]

is there any kind of self leveling on the halogens? when i start my car the lights go through a up/down cycle then set themselves... and im sure that they point downwards slightly as they only light up the road in front of me by a few meters (ok maybe a bit more but certainly seems like its shorter than other cars) even with the adjuster wheel near steering wheel turned up to the max

Halogens go though the same self levelling process as xenons to reset the step motors to the correct preset static position (only prefacelift iirc), hence the cycling you see. Difference is from that point you manually adjust using the knurled adjusted on the LCM (light switch)

hmmm well mines a 2008 facelift ?

is there a manual adjustment separate to the wheel inside as even with that at max its really low.... im pretty sure that when i 1st got the car i used to get flashed as i had the wheel adjusted high(when driving down country lanes i could aim it up and shine on the bushes either side.... sort of slightly up from horizontal) but now they dont even get close to aiming horizontal... is it possible ive knocked something or reset something when disconnecting the battery?

 

[cj10jeeper]

You should have the knurled wheel at the highest setting allowing you to lower the beam if you have a heavy load (hardly important on a low zed and not carrying passengers and heavy luggage)

You can simply adjust the knurled adjusters on each light to get the correct setting. You can do it yourself on a garage door/vertical wall (I prefer big underground car parks with flat floor and clean vertical walls)
Use some tape and a measure, or easier just go to a friendly MOT station and they'll do it in 5 minutes on their beam setter.

 

[Cavey1638]

Well final option is a pair of quality bulbs and tweak the height without blinding of course.

Regards

Cavey