BlackenedZ

I was looking at buying a new 55W HID kit from HIDWorld.com for my 06 xenon headlights. Supposedly they are much brighter than the 35W. Here's the question.. They have a single beam set-up that claims it is for the D2S and another Bi-Xenon kit that is not available for a D2S. I thought our 2006 Headlights were Bi-xenon? Can I buy the single beam kit?

Nic@CiNcity

iTrader: (93)

06 is indeed a Bi headlight. Single beam is a no go.

redlude97

iTrader: (11)

Do you guys even understand how bixenon works? Hint, it has nothing to do with the bulb/kit. You can use any d2s based bulb/kit

sry110

iTrader: (17)

Yeah the bi-xenon system moves a shield which allows the same bulb to project more light, to my knowledge. So there is only one bulb, and it's always putting out the same amount of light (the bulb itself), but the movable shield inside the projector assembly changes it from 'low' to 'high'.

BlackenedZ

Yeah that's what i thought but on the website they say that the bulb moves back and forth.. maybe in our headlights there is a sheild that moves and in other headlights the bulb moves to refocus? In that case i could get the single beam because the bulb isn't called upon to refocus.. it's just a moving shield..

Zivman

iTrader: (19)

do not waste your money on that setup.. what you have right now is the brightest setup you can get...
no oem setup that I know of moves the capsule like you are seeing. all oem bi-xenon setups use a cut-off shield that moves to open up the upper portion of the beam pattern

myspivey

iTrader: (5)

Im curious on this one as to how much brighter the 55w is over the 35w and if its the sort of trade thats even worth it? Seems like 1000mw+ increase but to what visual bump is that really? Any change in heat?

ryan_46307

iTrader: (1)

I just got some 55w put in with 8k bulbs and it is still about double what the original setup was (stock bulb and ballast)

gregom

iTrader: (3)

What ballasts did you get? Any chance of some comparrison pics?

Z04

iTrader: (15)

i seriously doubt that. an 8000k bulb is not brigher than an 4300k

gregom

iTrader: (3)

8000K isn't terribly dimmer... its not until you get to around 10000K and above where it starts to really go south. I've seen peoples 8000K setups myself and they werent bad, not my taste in color but they still put out light. A lot of the comparrison pics out there to show the differences are biased and were modified, where the 8000K shots were either darkened or were actually halogens.

Plus pushing more wattage into the HID capsule will make it burn brighter... so I could see a 55W 8000K HID setup being brighter than a 4300K. Twice as bright? I dunno about that... but a fair bit brighter.

One thing you guys should remember is the HID capsule isn't going to last as long when your pushing 55W, I'd expect useful life span to be 3-5 years tops.

Anyway i'm thinking of upgrading to a 55W 5000K setup at some point. My 4 year old HIDs are getting pretty dim, to the point most newer cars stock halogen system is putting more light on the road.

Duqx

iTrader: (2)

really interested to see some pics of someone who did this conversion

east1999bt

just do the off-road lights on the top of your roof like jeeps and hummers. that will brighten your output! (get the low profile ones )

Ivory

iTrader: (3)

You are lucky if your aftermarket set lasts a year...3-5 years? where you getting the figures from?

I suggest those have no clue about HIDs to keep their mouth shut, false information just keeps getting perpetuated through these forums.

For your stock HID replacement a 55 watt D2S kit (for 06+ lights) will work. However the stock projector is NOT designed to handle this kind of heat from the HIDs, the chrome inside the projector will burn off and ultimately you will have a set of ruined headlights.

There are ways to get proper bulbs that will burn at 50 watts and at a slightly higher temperature than a stock bulb that will allow you more use time, but since they are not a simple kit and it's hard to come by, I suggest most of you stick with stock bulbs for the brightest output.

t0mills

iTrader: (2)

The Philips DL50 is rated at 50w, and has a D2s base. It burns at a slightly higher temp than the OEM 85122+ that come stock, but not enought to damage any coatings.

If you want to go with an aftermarket 55w system, I'd suggest that you call them, and ask if their bulbs are specifically rated for 55w, and what the burn temp is, compared to the 35w bulbs.

If they are just 35w bulbs that are being overdriven to 55w, then yes, heat will be a problem.

-Tim

Ivory

iTrader: (3)

Yes I was referring to DL50 but they are hard to come by and at 150 a bulb.

Apexi350z

iTrader: (3)

from what I have been researching, all bulbs are 35w, it's just the ballast are different watt. either 35w or 55w. But can't find any spec on the heat output for each bulb. I'm sure 55w is hotter, but will it damange the housing? not sure..

Ivory

iTrader: (3)

All aftermarket bulbs are 35 watt. Philips specialty DL50 is 50watt

a overdriven 35watt runs much hotter than 50watt and it WILL ruin the chrome in your projector.

Agentman03

Philips " H7 bulbs at Advance Auto have 55 Watts written on the bulb Base ???

Ivory

iTrader: (3)

that's a Halogen bulb. they all run at 55/60 watts