Z4 HID colour

Don't forget that the higher the colour temp the less visible light you'll get out of them.
 
mmm-five said:
Don't forget that the higher the colour temp the less visible light you'll get out of them.

Not always, but OTT color will decrease it.
 
Z4 KiD said:
mmm-five said:
Don't forget that the higher the colour temp the less visible light you'll get out of them.

Not always, but OTT color will decrease it.

The difference in light output between 4300k and 6000k is not a lot, but there is still a degredation in light output, go above 6000k (or all the way up to 12000k) and it will be markedly worse. Personally I'd prefer 5000k over 4300k, but that's just for looks and to remove the slight yellow that 4000-4500k produce (but 4300k is about the colour that the sun gives us, so can be classed as 'daylight').

The fact that the 'bluer' light looks brighter does not mean it is lighting up the road better - and adding a bit of a blue tint to a white is a graphic designer's way of making photos look brighter.

A 4300k bulb produces about 10% more lumens than a 6000k bulb.

However, go too low (i.e. a 'yellow' 3000k bulb in a headlight, meant for a foglight) and the human eye does not pick up all the reflected light and the extra lumens that are output are wasted.
 
imo i think there is a huge degree of variability with oem hid lights.

The xenons in my A5 light my garage door much more blue then my Z4, but the bulbs in both are 4.3k. The A5 also lights up the road better, even though the lights physically are within a few cm higher off the ground.

Then my mates cayman, which is also meant to be 4.3k looks more like 6k.
 
mmm-five said:
Don't forget that the higher the colour temp the less visible light you'll get out of them.
Which is why I went for a 50w 4300k HID kit 8)

Brightest option possible to try and compensate for the shite Z4 halogens...
 
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