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Hello all,

Saturday I was visiting a local motors dealer (not BMW) and I saw a promotion campaign for Xenon light going on. I translate some of what is written in the folder. Any comment will be appreciated.

Quote

XtraVision® Xenon light

The advantages are:

-- 3x as high light output.

-- Significantly better sight / contrast, especially in bad weather.

-- A Xenon lamp has 6 to 10 time’s longer life time.

-- Shocks and vibrations have no influence.

-- Higher white light yield (color temperature).

-- The Xenon lamp consumes 40% less energy.

-- The solution against night blindness.

You can get quick and proper installation of this Xenon lighting.

There is a conversion kit for H1, H3, H4 and H7 lamps.

Unquote

Regards,

Robert

I don't know what they mean by "conversion kit", but you can buy the bulbs here:

http://www.suvlights.com/index.php?cPath=35

I just bought the Phillips Vision Plus. These are not real expensive and give you quite a bit more light.

This fellow seems to talk a bit of sense about so-called "xenon conversions":
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... d/HID.html
Cheers,
Ivars

IBN wrote:This fellow seems to talk a bit of sense about so-called "xenon conversions":
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... d/HID.html
Cheers,
Ivars

I believe this guy is talking about HIDs, not Xenon. He does have good articles on the HID though. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't Xenon just the type of gas they fill the bulb with ?

Airman wrote:

IBN wrote:This fellow seems to talk a bit of sense about so-called "xenon conversions":
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... d/HID.html
Cheers,
Ivars

I believe this guy is talking about HIDs, not Xenon. He does have good articles on the HID though. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't Xenon just the type of gas they fill the bulb with ?

Correct...... Xenon in place of Argon.. ( i believe !)

and yes HID are a different kettle of fish altogether..

Umm...
Yes, no, maybe..........

I believe in this context HID and Xenon lights can be used interchangeably. As I understand it, the the HID light source is an electric arc in a quartz glass bulb filled with xenon gas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenon_arc_lamp .
As these lights appear to be quite effective (I have them as a factory fitment on my car and they work well), clever marketers are trying to get in on the act with either suspect HID conversions or with overpriced halogen bulbs that try to give your vehicle that HID look.
As has been mentioned before on these pages, if you want better light go wiyh a halogen bulb from one of the reputable manufacturers such as Osram, Bosch, Philips, etc. Traffic coming in the opposite direction will thank you.
Cheers,
Ivars

IBN wrote:Umm...
Yes, no, maybe..........

I believe in this context HID and Xenon lights can be used interchangeably. As I understand it, the the HID light source is an electric arc in a quartz glass bulb filled with xenon gas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenon_arc_lamp .
As these lights appear to be quite effective (I have them as a factory fitment on my car and they work well), clever marketers are trying to get in on the act with either suspect HID conversions or with overpriced halogen bulbs that try to give your vehicle that HID look.
As has been mentioned before on these pages, if you want better light go wiyh a halogen bulb from one of the reputable manufacturers such as Osram, Bosch, Philips, etc. Traffic coming in the opposite direction will thank you.
Cheers,
Ivars

I think you're confusing the fact that some HID systems use Xenon bulbs. The HID system itself has additional hardware. I found a good example of this in the Hella DE-Xenon driving lights. If they weren't so danged expensive I'd consider them for the bike. But HID systems are expensive.
http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/hel ... _xenon.jsp
Your suggestion that some are selling suspect HID systems is something that I had not considered, but I have seen what I consider to be overpriced halogen bulbs. In the standard 55watt headlight bulb I fail to see how a dealer justifies charging $30-40. I do understand this if you're selling a premium 110/135 watt bulb. I will also expect those bulbs to give me better lighting. I'm using the Phillips Vision Plus 50 bulb, and I am pretty impressed with it. It's noticably better and my cost was only about $15. My real road lighting is going to come from the PIAA 910's I'm about to get around to installing.
Your advice on using Osram, Bosch and Phillips is good. Looking back on Robert Winter's oringinal post, I wonder if that dealer was simply offering the Sylvania Xtravision bulb upgrades. He did not mention the price of this conversion.