Z4 OEM Xenon Colour

B

Boogle

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I'm going to feed my inner andysat ( :lol: ) and question the colour of my OEM Xenons. They seem distinctly yellow like standard H7s rather than the tasty blue of a Xenon light:

xenon.jpg


Washers would imply Xenon. Are BMW using dimmer bulbs with a diff colour temp so I don't blind everyone on the road like those 4x4s do?
 
I had 4.3k in mine. Had a very slight blue tint and believe they're the standard.

However, one went last week, just bought a set of cheap 8k ones (£12.50 off Ebay). I'll post some pics on Monday, when they're changed.


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Mine are 5000k and are white with no chav blue

PS also change your side / parking light to led

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When I bought my previous Zed it was advertised with Xexons, but sadly they were not , as it had washers I "assumed" they were. Anyway cut a long story short I did not have stickers under the bonnet and I had the adjustable thinghy on the light switch was gutted!, The xexons I have are quite blue so sorry not much help. Hopefully you do not have the same situation I had :)

Ps she's looking good :thumbsup:
 
Ranski - do you know what bulbs are needed for the side lights?

Is that your spoiler I've spotted on eBay?


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Paza3 said:
When I bought my previous Zed it was advertised with Xexons, but sadly they were not , as it had washers I "assumed" they were. Anyway cut a long story short I did not have stickers under the bonnet and I had the adjustable thinghy on the light switch was gutted!, The xexons I have are quite blue so sorry not much help. Hopefully you do not have the same situation I had :)

Ps she's looking good :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I just had a look and long story short I fell to my knees and shouted 'noooooooooooo!' at the sky. Well actually I just opened the driver door, saw the height adjuster... played with it a bit to make sure it really was there and went 'hmphf'. Looks like basic H7s with a washer. Ah well!

ranski: Have you got more info on which LED bulbs work best with the stock unit for the angel eye effect without replacing the whole unit?

Thanks all on the comments, she's a fantastic car. Admittedly with 'normal' bulbs and a worrying metal on metal sound just as the engine starts. Otherwise, all golden! :driving:
 
I'm pretty certain you don't have xenons. Your headlights are the wrong shape inside.

xenon:
headlight.jpg


standard:
X8hYj.png


Notice the extra rings for the angel eyes?

*edit* too slow :)
 
Dude I know your pain.... I ran in and told the other half when I found out ... just got strange look and a O well response :D
 
Height adjustment will do more than brighter bulbs. I ran my old Z4 with two complete turns on the adjusters, lik lots of other on here do.
 
Did previous owner damage the bumper and replace with a bumper inc washer jets?

Would agree they dont look like xenons... :(
 
RichIbizaSport - are yours bi-xenon?

Mine are single Xenon for the main beam and Halogen for the high beam - standard on the Alpinas - pic attached

xenon.jpg


btw - mine have been 'upgraded' with angel eyes, de-chrome and de-ginger.
 
Adamski said:
Did previous owner damage the bumper and replace with a bumper inc washer jets?

Would agree they dont look like xenons... :(
Click to expand...

Headlamp wash was an option of various models even if Xenon wasn't specified.
 
To the best of my knowledge, which is only my zed with xenons, OEM xenons auto height adjust when you turn them on and therefore there is no headlight height adjust on the dash...

They don't look quite right to me... This is mine

09092009298.jpg
 
Scrub01 said:
To the best of my knowledge, which is only my zed with xenons, OEM xenons auto height adjust when you turn them on and therefore there is no headlight height adjust on the dash...
Click to expand...

All front lights adjust when turning on, with or without xenons.
 
Standard HID's can still look a bit yellowy, but they can yellow over time. My dad put genuine HID headlights on his S-Type, but they looked yellowy, so he bought a pair of 8000k bulbs off ebay for 12 quid :) I dont agree with the 'chav' blue comment but I do agree that you shouldnt go too blue as it takes away the factory look imo.
 
I believe most manufacturers agreed on 4300k as the standard. So they all should look the same in color. Higher values are mostly aftermarket bulbs. The color does change over time. Thats why you should replace both if one fails. I personaly don't like the blue look of >4300k as they are often used by cheap aftermarket kits on shabby golfs/astra's/etc you get my point ;).
 
On older cars you'll also have to contend with yellowing of the lenses/reflectors.

When I did a HID upgrade on my first M5 I was a initially a bit disappointed, but it was pointed out that my (glass) lenses where almost opaque due to the sandblasted effect of age & stone-chips.

I replaced those and the housings with OEM Hella parts from ECP and there was a dramatic difference. I'd go as far as to say that the older kit I had gave more/better output than the OEM ones on my Z4MC. Although I realise the height & aim of the Z4 lights go some way to their relative 'ineffectiveness' - and to raise them would just blind other road users.
 
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