New xenon headlights question? burn in time?

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tim - 12 Oct 2007 04:17 GMT

A friend of mine was riding with me one night(in my 330i) and could not
believe how awesome the Xenons were in my car. So, he decided to do
allot of homework, and order a conversion kit for his car(a mustang). he
got them and they are better, but not what he was hoping for, as he had
bad night vision and there are lots of deer around these parts.

Ok, the question is. I read somewhere that there is a burn in time for
new Xenon's to reach their maximum output. I recall it being something
like a few months.... is this true? I spent lots of time tonight trying
to locate the info... but couldn't..

Thanks in advance
Rodney

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Dave Plowman (News) - 12 Oct 2007 08:32 GMT

> A friend of mine was riding with me one night(in my 330i) and could not
> believe how awesome the Xenons were in my car. So, he decided to do
> allot of homework, and order a conversion kit for his car(a mustang). he
> got them and they are better, but not what he was hoping for, as he had
> bad night vision and there are lots of deer around these parts.

> Ok, the question is. I read somewhere that there is a burn in time for
> new Xenon's to reach their maximum output. I recall it being something
> like a few months.... is this true? I spent lots of time tonight trying
> to locate the info... but couldn't..

HID lamps do 'burn in' but it's the colour temperature that changes rather
than the output level. But it's really only noticeable in photography
terms.

The actual light source from the HID lamp isn't identical to that of a
tungsten bulb so it could be the lamp optics aren't optimised for it. So
saying I've fitted a conversion to E36 angel eye aftermarket units made by
Hella and it works very well. I'd start by doing the usual checks - that
the units are getting full battery volts and have a good ground. Although
the actual load is less than normal tungsten headlights - at least in the
UK.

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*Half the people in the world are below average.

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
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Pete - 12 Oct 2007 20:57 GMT

>A friend of mine was riding with me one night(in my 330i) and could not
>believe how awesome the Xenons were in my car. So, he decided to do allot
>of homework, and order a conversion kit for his car(a mustang).

What did this conversion kit include? Did it include the whole new
headlight housings? You can't just stick in a xenon bulb into an old
housing designed for halogen bulb and expect it to work like a factory xenon
would.

> Ok, the question is. I read somewhere that there is a burn in time for new
> Xenon's to reach their maximum output. I recall it being something like a
> few months.... is this true? I spent lots of time tonight trying to locate
> the info... but couldn't..

Xenons burn out over time, but it's a matter of years really... they turn
more and more purple. I've never heard of burn-in though.

Pete

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