XSeries-forum

Hi,

I've recently bought my 04 plate X5 and I have a few minor issues, one being that the xenon lights to me seen crappy! I've never had a car with xenons before but our Corsa's standard lights seem brighter! The lighting housing (if that's what its called) seems a bit dull but the lights are good when on full beam.

Also, can I upgrade the angel eyes easily to something brighter?

Many thanks in advance

Are they OEM Xenons?  Should be much better than filament.  Is the colour correct?  Not yellowing at all - HID bulbs yellow and dim as they age.

Angel eyes can be changed to LED but these will not be as bright as the current BMW cars.

You could upgrade the HID bulbs to 55w but you will have to upgrade the ballasts too.  Not difficult if you're handy with tools etc.

Richard

Are you sure its got xenons

Forgot to add......

What is the condition of the front lenses?  Some get badly scratched or go foggy and need polishing back to a clear state.

Yes you can replace the angel eye bulbs with white led hobbies.

As for xenons……….YES they really are SH!T.

Nearly all of my cars have had xenons and the E53's are by far the worst I have had. My 5th BMW with xenons and the others have always been superb. Not sure what the issue with the E53 headlights is but they don't light the road up very well, and my headlight lenses are nice and clear.

I've gone to 55w ballasts and that has improved things a bit...

[quote="X5Sport"]
Forgot to add......

What is the condition of the front lenses?  Some get badly scratched or go foggy and need polishing back to a clear state.
[/quote]

Hmmm yes thank you, I think this could be part of the issue. How do I polish them back to life? I think i'll upgrade to.

Have a look at this recent thread regarding polishing.

Richard

Bear in mind the D2S HID bulbs are at their best for about 3 yrs typical UK motoring - then decline slowly to ~ 5yrs  - then rapidly thereafter. If your 2004 has the original bulbs they will be well past there useful life. Good bulbs should appear brilliant white (4300k) not blue!

As stated above, they go more yellowish as well when they are getting tired. I thought I had xenon headlights when I bought mine , but read in a thread that if you have a wheel to adjust the headlight aim, and it didn't have high voltage warning stickers under the bonnet above the headlights it had halogen bulbs fitted.
I therefore got some 55w slim line HIDS from HIDS direct, they were easy to fit and outperform the standard halogens by a mile, also miles better than the OEM Xenons too.

Mine where poorly adjusted when I first got mine, pointing right down and one of the self levelrs was disconeected at the headlight. Worth checking.
I upgraded to 55 watt a while back and the difference is quite literly night and day

They are bluey I would say, I think i'm going to replace, upgrade and polish the lenses when I get around to it.