halogen to zenon/led conversion?
04-01-2009, 02:04 PM
#1
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halogen to zenon/led conversion?
I just got a B8 A4 but i did not get the led/zenon headlights, i was wondering where i could buy a replacement for them and if their easy to install?
04-01-2009, 06:04 PM
#2
You can put a V8 in your car about as easily as converting the lighting system. Beyond the lamps, you'll need a self leveling system, an automatic headlight washer, and a computer to allow you change some CAN settings.
The greatest torture will be to your wallet. Your best bet would be to sell your car. Order one ED (European Delivery) and put the 5% discount toward the xenon lamps. Nothing better than to hit the autobahn at 200 clicks in a new Audi. I take that back, a new Porsche at 260 clicks is more fun.
Resist the temptation to get a "xenon kit" as they are a waste of money, and can be dangerous. The reflector in a xenon system is quite different from that used by halogen cycle incandescent lamps.
Xenon lamps for autos will not help you see more, or better. Conventional lamps are 55 watts, but xenon lamps are limited to 35 watts so that the light output is almost equal. Xenon lamps are closer to sunlight with a color temperature of 4300K, but at night your eyes are dark adapted, and color sensitivity of your eye is reduced. Yes, I know sellers claim temperatures of 12K, but that is mostly from the north end of a south-bound bull.
Xenon lamps only use that gas to start the lamp. A 35,000 volt pulse is shot into the capsule to ionize the gas. This makes the metallic salts in the capsule support an arc on about 80 volts for the rest of the operation. These high voltages require people with special training to work around them. The capsules themselves are under very high pressure, and can explode causing terrible wounds. Training and protective clothing is required to handle these little devils.
The greatest torture will be to your wallet. Your best bet would be to sell your car. Order one ED (European Delivery) and put the 5% discount toward the xenon lamps. Nothing better than to hit the autobahn at 200 clicks in a new Audi. I take that back, a new Porsche at 260 clicks is more fun.
Resist the temptation to get a "xenon kit" as they are a waste of money, and can be dangerous. The reflector in a xenon system is quite different from that used by halogen cycle incandescent lamps.
Xenon lamps for autos will not help you see more, or better. Conventional lamps are 55 watts, but xenon lamps are limited to 35 watts so that the light output is almost equal. Xenon lamps are closer to sunlight with a color temperature of 4300K, but at night your eyes are dark adapted, and color sensitivity of your eye is reduced. Yes, I know sellers claim temperatures of 12K, but that is mostly from the north end of a south-bound bull.
Xenon lamps only use that gas to start the lamp. A 35,000 volt pulse is shot into the capsule to ionize the gas. This makes the metallic salts in the capsule support an arc on about 80 volts for the rest of the operation. These high voltages require people with special training to work around them. The capsules themselves are under very high pressure, and can explode causing terrible wounds. Training and protective clothing is required to handle these little devils.
04-01-2009, 11:40 PM
#5
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No, that guy's right
. to have it work properly you need the leveling sensor on the suspension. and probably some programming. total damage easily over 2K. Should have just gotten xenon from the beginning.
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04-05-2009, 10:47 AM
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You can get halogen bulbs that are higher wattage than the standard 55 watt bulbs, but make sure the car's wiring can handle the extra current.
They will definitely result in more light than the standard halogen bulbs and a much better quality light than produced by HID (incorrectly called Xenon) lighting systems. And by that I mean that color rendition will be superior to HID lights as will the contrast and depth of field of objects illuminated by your headlights.
Just make sure that the bulbs have no (as in zero) blue tinting on them. Some bulb makers falsely advertise blue tinted halogens as HID or Xenon and others as HID-like bulbs. They are all over eBay. Also, lower temperature means less blue/violet light in the beam. This is why the best fog lights have a slight yellow tint.
Remember that the blue end of the light spectrum causes more glare for you and oncoming drivers. Blue light is poor quality light because the human light cannot focus blue/violet light. Its shorter wave length causes it to focus in front of the retina which means that your brain will lose its depth perception (unless you are horribly far-sighted) if there is a high level of blue light in the spectrum. For many drivers (especially the female of the species whose night eyes are not as good as the nominal male) this can result in headaches, and you know what that means.
I've owned and driven a lot of cars in my day and by far the best lighting was on a 1987 XJ6 that I used in Europe where a lot of night driving was involved. It had four super high quality Cibie head lamps putting out 100 watts each on high, substantially less on low beam but a beautifully engineered cutoff so as to not blind oncoming traffic. This arrangement was far better for extended driving than the present factory HID system on my present Audi.
They will definitely result in more light than the standard halogen bulbs and a much better quality light than produced by HID (incorrectly called Xenon) lighting systems. And by that I mean that color rendition will be superior to HID lights as will the contrast and depth of field of objects illuminated by your headlights.
Just make sure that the bulbs have no (as in zero) blue tinting on them. Some bulb makers falsely advertise blue tinted halogens as HID or Xenon and others as HID-like bulbs. They are all over eBay. Also, lower temperature means less blue/violet light in the beam. This is why the best fog lights have a slight yellow tint.
Remember that the blue end of the light spectrum causes more glare for you and oncoming drivers. Blue light is poor quality light because the human light cannot focus blue/violet light. Its shorter wave length causes it to focus in front of the retina which means that your brain will lose its depth perception (unless you are horribly far-sighted) if there is a high level of blue light in the spectrum. For many drivers (especially the female of the species whose night eyes are not as good as the nominal male) this can result in headaches, and you know what that means.
I've owned and driven a lot of cars in my day and by far the best lighting was on a 1987 XJ6 that I used in Europe where a lot of night driving was involved. It had four super high quality Cibie head lamps putting out 100 watts each on high, substantially less on low beam but a beautifully engineered cutoff so as to not blind oncoming traffic. This arrangement was far better for extended driving than the present factory HID system on my present Audi.
04-05-2009, 04:09 PM
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I don't understand why not to just get the LED/xenon lights in the 1st place upon purchase. I think he got sold on a lot purchase that he regrets. And also tired of everyone going white/xenon with their fogs, got amber on those H11's that's what you're suppose to do.