Xenon Headlights

They are much brighter. MUCH brighter. I got a chance to play with them at a dealer when looking into an XC70. The 70 series, and presumably the others as well, don't use a separate lamp for high beams: the lights are so bright that they just "tilt" the beams upward. I don't know the exact mechanism there, but it looks like they just move the reflectors up and down somehow to change the aim point. Hopefully, there isn't a reliability issue here with moving parts. :)

Whether they are worth the extra $ is a matter of opinion. They are awfully bright, which is grat for visibility, but some people find the slightly bluish-purpleish tint to be ugly, and they can be a bit obnoxious for other drivers on the road. That being said, Volvo's Xenon lamp design is actually pretty tame color-wise and I don't think they look bad at all. Most peoples' experiences with Xenons are the pimp treatments that are given to Honda Civics with oversized spoilers and low-profile tires on the aftermarket. ;) Volvo has done a good job in avoiding this look.

The lamps are expensive and in demand, which always translates to an attractive target. I have not heard much about how susceptible Volvo's design is to theft, but I was told by the dealer that they were designed with this concern in mind.

Cheers,

-+JLS

I would guess that this mainly applies to aftermarket setups which are easily ripped off and installed in another vehicle. Most factory installs are customized to the vehicle and convoluted enough that it'd be very difficult to yank them quickly and install them in something else.

Perhaps it was Volvo, perhaps another OEM. Anyway - somebody had a small drawing that showed a slotted shutter arrangement that moved up and/or down to use the same reflector for the two functions, low and high beams. The mechanism was so simple that reliability ought not to be a concern. The "bulb" was actually a tube that produces a relatively lengthy source of light, so exposing one part or another should work just fine.

bob noble Reno, NV, USA

Even with a standard light setup you can turn on the high beams and both will generally work even when one low beam filament has burned out, still there's no excuse to drive like that, it's unsafe and blinds other drivers.

The bulb is a small arc tube, but the actual arc is only a few mm long, the rest of the quartz tube is for holding the electrodes and wire feed ins. "Xenon" headlights are actually a small metal halide lamp that uses a xenon gas fill with halide salts to produce the desired color of light. It's actually possible to make them a much more natural white, but people seem to like the rice boy blue.

I meant since I have two seperate bulbs (both work in conjunction to give me high beam) I can swap my high beam bulb into my low beam, if needed... as

Are they the same bulb? I have the four lamp setup on my 240, and it uses an H4 bulb in the outer low/high lamps and I think H7 in the inner high only lamps. The old sealed beams used a high/low for the outer and high only for the inner.

Both are 55W H7, checked in the Canadian Tire light guide. The high beam lamps are very specifically aimed to cover exactly where the low beams leave off... Clever design.

I wish my families 93' 960 had something similar... When I switch the high beam on, the low beams kick off (as they should) but at only 65W they just don't seem powerful compared to those in mine and my dad's Golfs (99.5 and a

So I guess here in the New York City area I'm at risk of having my lights pilfered.....

My friend's wife got rid of her Acura after someone tore up her hood and fender attempting to grab the lights. They didn't get the lights, but the car spent time in a body shop replacing the damage, and they figured it wasn't worth a couple of times with that.

As far as I understand it, the same tube is used for hi and lo beams, with the light being diverted by a shutter. A second tube is used only for flashing the headlights. I think this is wht the "bi" refers to.

The (non xenon) headlights on our 2002.5 S80 are decent, but I'd certainly prefer HID's. Are they not a standard equipment item by now?

How much extra do they cost? Seems to me they ought to be standard at the prices Volvo is asking for the cars, especially considering how many other brands give them to you standard.

Xenon came standard on our 02 Nissan Maxima SE, and they are much, much better than the halogens on the Volvo.

Xenons can cost upwards of $2000 for elements, wiring harness and power pack. This is why they are so much in demand by car thieves. They are whiter and brighter than halogen but the entire system has to be installed, you cant just buy bulbs. And they look good coming at you :-).

steve