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NJSS
Member Since: 06 May 2009
Location: Catherington, Hampshire.
Posts: 10501
  
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| Changing HID bulbs from time to time |
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I claim no credit for what follows, it was gleaned from another marque's forum, but would appreciate comments as the lights on SWMBO's car, not JLR, and those on my D4 seem to be loosing power.
Quote:One may think that HID bulbs have an infinite life, or are difficult to replace so best left to main dealer’s technicians. Not so !.
Although HID bulbs generally last longer than Halogen bulbs, but over time, rather than just fail like traditional filament bulbs, HIDs tend to fade, it's a gradual process that you probably wouldn't notice, until you drive a newer car and suddenly realise "my headlights are not up to scratch”
So, when to change?
I would suggest every 5 years, particularly if you notice that the light doesn't seem to have much "reach" and maybe has a purplish tinge.
A visual inspection should confirm it.
Bulbs are not cheap, usually expect to pay £35-£55 and as a general rule, avoid Amazon and Ebay, there are a lot of fake Osrams and Philips out there.
A final note. Main dealers never routinely change these bulbs at service time, and may pretend it's a huge job to do (5 minutes?). Plus cars will pass their MOTs even when the bulbs are knackered, so it really depends on us.
And, the plastic dust covers tend to stick, particularly if they've never been off since the car left the factory, a little spray silicone just on the plastic thread (not the electrics) makes fitting and removal so much easier next time.
Comments most welcome.
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 30th Jan 2024 9:04 am |
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Martin
Site Admin and Owner
Member Since: 06 Nov 2004
Location: Hook Norton
Posts: 18455
 
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This has been mentioned on here too, the HID bulbs age and dim over time.
Buying from Amazon is fine, if you make sure Amazon themselves are the seller, not a third party. 06 D3 SE / 15 LR D90 XS SW / 88 LR 90 Td5 / 68 BMW 2000 ti
Any issues with the site let me know!
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| 30th Jan 2024 9:35 am |
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Brian Considine
Member Since: 05 Dec 2022
Location: Nr Margate
Posts: 281
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| Re: Changing HID bulbs from time to time |
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NJSS wrote:
Comments most welcome.
I would agree.
One of my professions is an electrical engineer and I spent a lot of time looking after retail display lighting that used a lot of HID's. I also attended a few seminars/courses run by Phillips who demonstrated the light beam differences between "branded" lamps/bulbs/globes & "unbranded" - the differnce was noticeable with mains lighting so I imagine that it would be more so in automotive use.
The output of the HID's would deteriorate in time until they would take on a blueish tint shortly before failure. One of the storechains we looked after would routinely replace all the lamps at intervals even if they all looked OK by eye - after relamping the difference was noticeable by the naked eye & IIRC often more than 10% more using a light meter.
So, if you think your headlamps are not very good then check the glass, reflectors, dustshields and then change the bulbs/lamps/globes with verified branded ones & stop messing about with unbranded ones or silly LED "conversions".
Also, make sure that the mkI eyeballs are up to spec' & that any glasses perfect with no tiny scratches, don't forget the windscreen inside & out - check for scratches too.
There is still the option of driving withing the limits of whatever lights you do have.
Just think how good the lights of today would be if the lighting engineers had been allowed to keep the lights round & a decent size instead of being contrained to the whimms of stylists.
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| 30th Jan 2024 1:30 pm |
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Gary_P
Member Since: 03 May 2016
Location: Kent
Posts: 1523
 
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Must admit I get confused between Halogen, HID, Xenon and combinations, Xenon HID for instance. It’s my understanding that I have Xenon in the D4 (MY2016). Any clarifications very welcome so I can get my knowledge straightened out and improved. Thanks in advance. Gary
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Discovery 4 HSE 2016MY
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| 30th Jan 2024 5:22 pm |
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pwheeldon
Member Since: 15 Jan 2020
Location: West Yorks
Posts: 1449
 
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HID stands for High Intensity Discharge, it works in a sort simikar way to a fluorescdnt and thats why it has tge high voltage warning, which is the type of lamp. Xenon relates to the gas used in the lamps. I would imagine your D4 has Xenon, but mist sites, like Halfords, will tell you which lamp you need from your reg.
Hope that helps. Discovery 4 GS 2009 Auto Stornoway Grey
Discovery 3 s 2005 Auto Bonatti Grey Gone
Discovery 3 SE 2005 Manual Zambezi Silver Gone
Range Rover Sport HSE 2006 Black
Aston Martin DB7 VV
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| 30th Jan 2024 5:35 pm |
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Hardware
Member Since: 28 Jun 2016
Location: Hiding under the M60
Posts: 12709
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I fitted HID units last year and, naturally, as MoT is due, 1 lamp died.
As I'm not expecting the disco to pass first time and hoping it's just expensive and not VERY expensive, I looked at budget replacement lamps.
I've previously used an outfit called HIDS-Direct, albeit not for HIDs, as they were literally just around the corner so had a look at what they had. (they've moved now and don't seem to offer counter service)
They were offering "D-Lumina D3S 6000K Xenon bulbs 12v 35w OEM HID Bulb Set +50% More Light, Pack of 2" but delivery of 3-5 days didn't suit so I found them on Amazon for the same cost - £25 delivered next day.
Bit wary of fitting them - "danger - high voltage" etc. - but when I read on here that DSL had managed it without losing fingers, had a go and it wasn't really any harder than swapping my old Halogen H7s ... apart from the cable being awkwardly short and space around the connector not being great.
Light-wise they seem ok so far ... and at £120 cheaper than Osram Nightbreakers, I think, they were worth a punt.
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| 30th Jan 2024 5:42 pm |
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HairyFool
Member Since: 04 Jan 2023
Location: Essex
Posts: 526
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The only reason why it could be risky is if you tried to replace it when on.
The laws of natural selection then apply  A visitor from the dark side, my other vehicle is an MG5 EV
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| 30th Jan 2024 5:57 pm |
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Brian Considine
Member Since: 05 Dec 2022
Location: Nr Margate
Posts: 281
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I don't know what the ignitor (start up) voltage on automotive HID's is but the mains ones is around 4kv - little current but enough to make you take notice.
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| 30th Jan 2024 6:04 pm |
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HairyFool
Member Since: 04 Jan 2023
Location: Essex
Posts: 526
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Any particular thoughts about the colour temperature?
The one time I was able to sit behind 6000k bulbs there was absolutely no doubt they were brighter but also thought the contrast was a bit extreme, a bit like setting a TV too bright.
They were however (illegal) LED bulbs so that might have been the issue.
I do however also have slightly better than average night vision so struggle with high contrasts at night. A visitor from the dark side, my other vehicle is an MG5 EV
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| 12th Mar 2024 11:20 pm |
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Hardware
Member Since: 28 Jun 2016
Location: Hiding under the M60
Posts: 12709
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update on the budget Xenons ...
they must be a similar colour temp to the LED street lighting round these parts and as a result, it seems like they don't have as good a throw as previous halogens. But if you stand in front of the car, they are very bright and a good match to the LED sidelights (and the DRLs, which are meant to go off when headlamps are on but don't do that anymore - suspect water ingress) ... so look great and everyone will see me coming, so no issues.
If there are no streetlights, range seems better (but not phenomenal) but I just chuck the main-beams on then.
May look at LEDs instead in the future.
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| 13th Mar 2024 11:53 am |
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