Looking for foglight lenses...

Either Bav Auto or BMP Design is closing them out. Looks like they didn't catch on very well.

For the low mounted fogs, the acrylic is actually better. No more broken lenses every time you splash in a puddle and the water hits the hot glass lens. Not that it's at all likely that there would be precipitation when you're running your foglights... ;-)

Who is your source for the acrylic lenses, if ya don't mind me asking. The fog lenses on my '95 318is are cracked and in need of replacing.

Thank you very much. Did a Google search for acrylic lens and that site didn't pop up. They are exactly what I needed and at a price I can afford.

Thanks again.

James

You're screwing yourself if you put in Sylvania Silverstars or other bulbs like them. They produce *less* light, not more, and the light is

*bluer*, not "whiter".

Here's manufacturer data, from internal engineering databases, for output and lifespan at 13.2v for H1 bulbs. The numbers here are a composite of values applicable to the products of the big three makers (Osram-Sylvania, Philips-Narva, Tungsram-GE). Each manufacturer's product in each category is slightly different but not significantly so. I picked H1-type bulbs for this comparison, and while the absolute numbers differ with different bulb types (9006, H7, H3, etc.), the relative comparison patterns hold good for whatever bulb type you consider. Lifespan is given as Tc, the hour figure at which

63.2 percent of the bulbs have failed.

H1 (regular normal):

1550 lumens, 650 hours

Long Life (or "HalogenPlus+")

1460 lumens, 1200 hours

Plus-30 High Efficacy (Osram Super, Sylvania Xtravision, Narva Rangepower, Candlepower Bright Light, Tungsram High Output, Philips Premium):

1700 lumens, 350 hours

Plus-50 Ultra High Efficacy (Philips VisionPlus, Osram Silverstar, Narva Rangepower+50, Tungsram Megalicht, but not Sylvania Silverstar):

1750 lumens, 350 hours

Blue coated 'extra white' (Osram CoolBlue, Narva Rangepower Blue, Philips BlueVision, Tungsram Super Blue or EuroBlue, Sylvania Silverstar):

1380 lumens, 250 hours

Now, looking over these results, which one would you rather:

(a) Buy and drive with? (b) Sell?

The answer to (a) depends on how well you want to see versus how often to change the bulb. If you want the best possible seeing, you pick the Plus-50. If you don't care as long as it works and you don't want to hassle with it, you pick the long life.

The answer to (b) is determined by how rich your company's shareholders want you to be, and is obvious: You want to sell the bulb with the shortest lifespan, highest promotability and highest price. That'd be the blue unit, e.g. Sylvania Silverstar.

Those lamps weren't designed with replaceable lenses. There's a company in South Africa(!), Mr. Lens (

) thatmakes the lenses you're thinking about. They're OK for a get-bysolution (or if you're selling the car and need it to look intact) butthey're definitely not a long-term fix. In the first place, acrylic isa grossly inadequate material for this service. Even high-gradepolycarbonate headlamp lenses with the legally-mandatoryanti-UV/anti-scratch hardcoat applied deteriorate with discouragingrapidity (ask any North American-market E36 owner...!). Acrylic withanti-UV/anti-scratch hardcoating deteriorates *MUCH* faster, andwithout coating (as I am fairly sure is the case with these lenses)will degrade practically before your very eyes. In addition, the company's installation instructions call for the use of silicone sealant to install the lenses. Bzzzt! Silicone offgases acetic acid and other chemicals that are highly injurious to the shiny stuff that makes up the reflector inside the lamp. You *will* fog it up and the damage will be cumulative and permanent.

So, yeah. Short-term OK, but it's a band-aid, not a fix.

DS

I know we have been through this a million times, but...

You do not want white (or bluish) color lighting for foglights especially. There is more scatter of the shorter wavelengths which results in poorer viability in bad weather. That's when you use fog lights, right?

If you want top make a fashion statement and also prove that you are more intelligent that the ricers, get *yellow* bulbs for your fogs. ;-)

Quite correct.

Almost! The scatter occurs not at the interaction of the light with the fog, but at the interaction of the light with our eyes. See

Right again. Or French-market yellow lenses for them, scarce now that France no longer requires selective-yellow light from all forward-facing lights, as they did from 1936-1994.

DS