XSeries-forum

So after upgrading my lights, thought I would go for a bulb change and had a bit of a nightmare!! First I ordered some 6000k 35W of eBay for about a tenner. Came through they work well but one of the little clips snapped on one of them so had to remove and put the stock one back in.

So got to eBay again this time I thought I might as well go a bit brighter so went for 35W 8000K ones instead. Just fitted them and nada... They flicker and wont light up, put the stock ones back in and there fine. Pretty certain these are just faulty to be honest, going to order some new ones.. But it got me thinking is their a maximum output you can legally drive with? Eg Can you use the 12000k ones? Also what is the difference in the Wattages?

I have a 4.6 IS Pre-facelift with the stock xenon's... Added the SMD angel eyes to them with the guide on here and look great will post some pictures as soon as I get chance.

The wattage is the brightness.  Approved standard is 35W but you can get away with 55W.  Up rating the wattage will require new ballasts as well as the starting and control voltages are different. 

The ballast must be matched to the bulb type so you need to know the starting and running voltages and the power rating (Watts)  Some bulbs are 12V, some 35V and some 85V and there are other variations.  The starting voltage can be anywhere between 15kV and 25kV (or more).

The 'K' rating is just the colour temperature in degrees Kelvin.  The standard is 4,600 to 5,300K.  Above 6,000 is not recommended as the colour will go too 'blue' and the human eye loses sensitivity at higher colour temps so they will appear to be dimmer.

You can also get problems with the higher 'blue' level generating high ultraviolet output which may affect the lenses.

Wattage = Brightness
K = Colour temperature.  Higher = Bluer (cooler), Lower = Yellower (warmer).

It isn't always just a case of swapping the bulbs - as it is with conventional filament lights - as these HIDs are arc lights.

Richard

Ol cool.. not sure I can be bothered to change the ballasts out for the sake of it being a bit brighter. I do genuinely prefer the bluer colours though.

I take it there is no reason why those bulbs on eBay shouldn't work though. Exactly the same as the others I bought that did work, ratings wise I mean.

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It could be they start and run on different control voltages.  If the ballast doesn't give enough 'kick' to generate the arc then the bulb won't ignite.

Richard

My advice is to buy decent bulbs - you get what you pay for & tbh I wouldn't be confident spending a tenner  unless I trusted the seller. I would personally go for philips or osram

Assuming you want legal bulbs with visibility performance priority over aesthetics then osram nightreakers are probably as good as you will get.

Cheapest blue look bulbs wouldn't be my choice as reliability, visibility, legality, not getting unwanted attention and finally cost are what I would factor in any purchase decision.

click here to link to a supplier and and here to another

Depending how fussed the owner is there is lots of reading online re specs performance reviews and UK legalities.

Beware poor quality and also fakes of major brand bulbs.........buy from reputable stockist to avoid risk of this issue.