Upgrade 2005 z4 non xenon lights
- Thread starter pauld2012
- Start date
123BillyB said:
Just found a UK seller of LED's on ebay and he has 2 LED 501 bulbs (just one LED on either side) that is only 9mm wide so will fit in the center light as the diamiter of a 501 bulb is 10mm.
His listing is for 6 of them with a starting bid of 99p + £1.00 p&p and no bids as yet. I asked if he would be willing to seel just a single one and he wanted £3.99... Bloody cheek!!!
I am going to bid for all of them and if I win, as I only need one of them I'll PM the guys who have changed the interior bulbs an if they haven't found a really slim LED for the interior center light as yet, I'll send them one if they send me a self addressed envelope.
Listing has jut over a day to go so I'll let you know if I win.
Really no need for a 50w kit as from all the research I did, if it's 35w or 50w that is just the voltage output to the bulb but the light output will still lbe based on the output capacity of the bulb.
That's my take on it from my research I did but I could be wrong.
Also others have used the same kit I recommend with no issues so we know the 35w kit works withoutany pproblems.
That's my take on it from my research I did but I could be wrong.
Also others have used the same kit I recommend with no issues so we know the 35w kit works withoutany pproblems.
And you are.
Watts are the measure of energy usage of electrical and mechanical devices in operation in unit time. Watts are derived by multiplying Volts (the potential) by Amps (the current). So a 12V car circuit with a 35W bulb means the bulb resistance is around 3A. There is a power factor to apply for AC circuits but cars are DC so no need.
None of these units of measure relate directly to light output. Light intensity is measured in lumens or lux.
Higher power consumption does not automatically mean a brighter bulb.
God I'm a science bore.
But HIDs are measured in Kelvin (normally something I would associate with temperature, not 'colour temperature' as I think they refer to it) not lux or lumens, so the number is irrelevant to how much the light output is, it is entirely relative to the colour of the light.
It would make logical sense that, on a similar system, a 35W would output less light than a 50W on the same temperature rating kit, would it not?
I've been told that a 35W kit outputs around 3000 lumen, whereas a 50W kit is more like 4200 lumen.
Edit: I should say that actually, as you get 'higher' in the K spectrum for HID's, there is actually less usable light. I remember having 6000K in a 35W kit and it wasn't any better than nightbreakers.
It would make logical sense that, on a similar system, a 35W would output less light than a 50W on the same temperature rating kit, would it not?
I've been told that a 35W kit outputs around 3000 lumen, whereas a 50W kit is more like 4200 lumen.
Edit: I should say that actually, as you get 'higher' in the K spectrum for HID's, there is actually less usable light. I remember having 6000K in a 35W kit and it wasn't any better than nightbreakers.
GreyZed said:
And you are.
Watts are the measure of energy usage of electrical and mechanical devices in operation in unit time. Watts are derived by multiplying Volts (the potential) by Amps (the current). So a 12V car circuit with a 35W bulb means the bulb resistance is around 3A. There is a power factor to apply for AC circuits but cars are DC so no need.
None of these units of measure relate directly to light output. Light intensity is measured in lumens or lux.
Higher power consumption does not automatically mean a brighter bulb.
God I'm a science bore.
So I stand corrected on the science part of all this
but having said that, the 35w kit I have recommended works so the restis up to you 
Seb.F said:
Kelvin scale does measure temperature but in the context of HID kits it's colour temperature of light. The higher up the scale you go the more the light moves away from the yellow of halogen to white then to blue to purple.
Remember there are always several different ways of measuring the same physical object. In this instance we are talking about lighting units whether they be Halogen bulbs, LEDs or HID kits. You can measure their weight in grammes, their size in centimetres, their energy consumption in watts, their light intensity in lumens their colour temp in Kelvin.
HID kits attempt to emulate the cool tone of daylight conditions which is around 4100K (most OEM HIDs are likely to be around this value). Some kits go above this into the 5000 or 6000K arena but this makes the light blue and chavvy and actual less effective on the road.
Stay around the 4000 to 4500K area and your lights should be whiter and brighter than the 6000K blue ones.
One final word of caution - there are so many suppliers out there knocking out HID kits and/or Xenon/LED replacements for cars, choose carefully - you get what you pay for and I for one would rather pay a reasonable price for proven good quality than take a chance on a bargain.
123BillyB was right not to be drawn into thinking that the 50W version would be brighter than the 35W he chose. The 50W jobby would probably have just been more blue.
I've had and fitted many HID kits over the years, from 4000k upto 8000k and also 35w and 50w. I would say from the kits I've had that 50w is brighter than 35w and no bluer (I've had 6000k 35w & 50w) if my car didn't have OEM xenons I would def be buying a 50w kit. Just my 2pence
iPad TapaTalking
iPad TapaTalking
123BillyB said:GreyZed said:
And you are.
Watts are the measure of energy usage of electrical and mechanical devices in operation in unit time. Watts are derived by multiplying Volts (the potential) by Amps (the current). So a 12V car circuit with a 35W bulb means the bulb resistance is around 3A. There is a power factor to apply for AC circuits but cars are DC so no need.
None of these units of measure relate directly to light output. Light intensity is measured in lumens or lux.
Higher power consumption does not automatically mean a brighter bulb.
God I'm a science bore.
So I stand corrected on the science part of all this
Ditto - I've got exactly the same kit and can actually see now...! Thoroughly recommend it.
123BillyB said:123BillyB said:
Just found a UK seller of LED's on ebay and he has 2 LED 501 bulbs (just one LED on either side) that is only 9mm wide so will fit in the center light as the diamiter of a 501 bulb is 10mm.
His listing is for 6 of them with a starting bid of 99p + £1.00 p&p and no bids as yet. I asked if he would be willing to seel just a single one and he wanted £3.99... Bloody cheek!!!
I am going to bid for all of them and if I win, as I only need one of them I'll PM the guys who have changed the interior bulbs an if they haven't found a really slim LED for the interior center light as yet, I'll send them one if they send me a self addressed envelope.
Listing has jut over a day to go so I'll let you know if I win.
£3.99 for one bulb my backside!!!
Just won all 6 for a total of £8.50 so I'll PM the guys who have changed the interior bulbs when i get them and if you send me a couple of quid via PayPal, I'll post one out to you
The wiring loom would not be the problem, it will likely be a good thickness so there is no loss (resistance) you could prob go 100w and the loom wouldn't even get warm to the touch, the problem would be the LCM's transistors and the inrush current to the HID ballast when first switched on. If i went higher than 35w HID I would definitely use a separate relay and have the LCM switch that. There should be enough resistance in the relays coil to keep the bulb out light off too.
I would say some of these newer cars like the mercedes c class are throwing the same brightness as 75w HID light onto the road... not sure how though as it cant be higher than 35w HID either through better optics or that new LED technology they have, it certainly makes the 35w stock Z4 HID lights dim in comparison. I recently renewed the bulbs in mine with good improvement to the the brightness. If you have old HID bulbs (mine were 8 years old original) then thats an option for a bit more light output.
I would say some of these newer cars like the mercedes c class are throwing the same brightness as 75w HID light onto the road... not sure how though as it cant be higher than 35w HID either through better optics or that new LED technology they have, it certainly makes the 35w stock Z4 HID lights dim in comparison. I recently renewed the bulbs in mine with good improvement to the the brightness. If you have old HID bulbs (mine were 8 years old original) then thats an option for a bit more light output.
I used to blow the fuse on my old E36 which i think was 7A with 35w HID Phillips ballasts on start up, once running though it held i think i ended up putting 10A fuses in there... 10 years on it is still fine as is the wiring loom. That HID kit cost me 500 quid in 2001!
This site above seems to suggest http://xrayvision.net/headlight-upgrades/35w-hid-kits/
35W HID kit current draw: run 3A@12V, start-up 6A@12V with 55w ballasts you would likely be running the risk of damaging the LCM
i also once had a monster 2500w HID pro lighting projector that danced on the clouds for a venue opening (you had to notify local airports) it was supplied on a 13A Plug (Some joker on ebay) it popped every breaker up to 40A upon startup but once running used about 3kw, i guess the previous owner used to cycle the breaker quickly on start up until it held on 13A. The fuse had tin foil in the plug! nice!
This site above seems to suggest http://xrayvision.net/headlight-upgrades/35w-hid-kits/
35W HID kit current draw: run 3A@12V, start-up 6A@12V with 55w ballasts you would likely be running the risk of damaging the LCM
i also once had a monster 2500w HID pro lighting projector that danced on the clouds for a venue opening (you had to notify local airports) it was supplied on a 13A Plug (Some joker on ebay) it popped every breaker up to 40A upon startup but once running used about 3kw, i guess the previous owner used to cycle the breaker quickly on start up until it held on 13A. The fuse had tin foil in the plug! nice!