New xenon headlights question? burn in time?

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- tim
  
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posted
16 years ago

Fri, Oct 12, 2007 3:17 AM

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)
  
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posted
16 years ago

Fri, Oct 12, 2007 7:32 AM

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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- Pete
  
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posted
16 years ago

Fri, Oct 12, 2007 7:57 PM

"tim" wrote

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.

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