Hid bulb ?

[RDL]

Hi all
Having started work with restoration work on my sons E85 now he has moved up to his newer Z4 please can somebody advise me as to what hid bulbs I need to replace a non working main beam ?
I’m thinking that an H7 35 w 5000 might be correct but would value opinions before I purchase

Thankyou

Russ

 

[RDL]

Forgot to say that the car has been fitted with a HID kit

Russell

 

[t-tony]

If it's an after market HID kit, they are not allowed on the MOT test.

Tony.

 

[RDL]

Ok Tony cheers mate
Russell

 

[t-tony]

Ok Tony cheers mate
Russell

You will have to revert to the original lighting system Russell. I would advise fitting some Osram Night Breaker bulbs they're as good as you will get with standard headlights. There's a short video in my build thread showing them in use on lit and unlit roads.

Tony.

 

[RDL]

Hi Tony
Yep that’s what I shall do mate thanks for your help and advice
Regards buddy

R

 

[Road warrior]

I have been running hid 's for a couple of years now and expect to continue for a few reasons, if you take the letter of the law, as interpreded, by a blind eye then Tony is correct, but there are many factors not least the attitude and viewpoint of the examiner. I use a sensible garage that holds the viewpoint if it conforms to the beam pattern on the test it's fine. The law states it has to have the jet headlight washers. Which is a silly law as the washers are useless as an invention but somehow worked their way on the law books. Anyway, another rule is that the headlight must be designed for the type of bulb, which mine is.

 

[RDL]

Thankyou

Appreciate the input as it really is a what to do situation

Good to use the site to hear differing viewpoints

Thanks mate

Russell

 

[Road warrior]

this has been a huge grey area for years now so its good that the establishment is thinking about it. From what i can glean from the rulings below is that hid's are not taboo any more but must comply to standards and rulings. It also mentions led lights but they have a way to go in terms of light accuracy and only the likes of philips at 150 quid a pair seem to be able to do at the present, but i feel sure one day the price will come down and the situation will change.
section 4 is lighting.
https://assets.publishing.service.g...lasses-3-4-5-and-7-from-20-may-2018-draft.pdf

 

[Dino D]

this has been a huge grey area for years now so its good that the establishment is thinking about it. From what i can glean from the rulings below is that hid's are not taboo any more but must comply to standards and rulings. It also mentions led lights but they have a way to go in terms of light accuracy and only the likes of philips at 150 quid a pair seem to be able to do at the present, but i feel sure one day the price will come down and the situation will change.
section 4 is lighting.
https://assets.publishing.service.g...lasses-3-4-5-and-7-from-20-may-2018-draft.pdf

Interesting info.

Which HID bulbs are you running?
The z3 has terrible lights - I’ve done all the best normal bulbs but with the majority of cars round here running HID/LED on dark lanes it makes it hard to see anything when you rocking halogens.

It didn’t seem a problem when everyone was running halogens (or maybe I’m getting old..).

 

[Stevo7682]

The mot manual you posted is the draught version before release may last year this has been updated twice since .
So information is not up to date

 

[Road warrior]

ok fine, got a link to that upto date version then ?

 

[RDL]

Hi RW

I will be able to view once I get home from work
Really appreciate the reply and the link
I’ll keep you in the loop later this evening

Russell

 

[Road warrior]

[/QUOTE]

Which HID bulbs are you running?
The z3 has terrible lights - I’ve done all the best normal bulbs but with the majority of cars round here running HID/LED on dark lanes it makes it hard to see anything when you rocking halogens.

It didn’t seem a problem when everyone was running halogens (or maybe I’m getting old..).[/QUOTE]

who makes the HID matters less than "what" you buy, only buy 4300k - 5k never above as it just goes blue and higher up purple - which is crap and only alerts the rozzers and mot men.
2 flavours now - 35w and 50w, as you might guess 35w is less bright than 50w, no cheaper and no benefit either - so buy 50w

after 40 years of age we have lost 50% of night vision - ie we need twice as much light after 40 yrs to see what we saw at 20 years of age. which explains why we cant see at night as well. Makes you think, instead of the government chasing us for fitting better lights in our cars it should be compulsary

 

[Stevo7682]

ok fine, got a link to that upto date version then ?

Find that for you post later.
I would agree with a lot of what you are saying.
Definitely on the 4300k bulbs ( same light colour as a factory hid.
The problem is people put all sorts into their lights aftermarket hid work best in projectors style headlight ( the ones where it looks like a little crystal ball) they dont wont as well in reflector type lights.
It was touched on about headlight washers they are only tested if fitted not all factory fitted hid vehicles come with headlight washers .
There is one thing that they all do have and that is an automatic headlight levelling system (Cant think of a factory hid vehicle that doesn't) this is to comply with construction and use regulations.
The other way to get caught on an mot is it is actually stamped on the headlight lense or casing what type of light it is ie halogen/halogen or hid/halogen it is abbreviated on the lamp.

 

[Road warrior]

as you say Steve projectors only, trying to put a hid or led into a reflector lens would be an instant mot failure and obvious to plod as well for 3 points.. which brings up another point, as our lights are twin, having very different lights also draws attention.
My headlights are designed for hid, but the makers recommend 35w because of generated heat
regardless of all these points, having a sensible mot man is priceless, as its a grey area as i say and is completely open to the mot mans interpretation.
My cousin has my old zed and just passed his mot with the observation that it " has a noisy exhaust" prompting him to say " i should bloody well hope so" but gives an example of differing viewpoints of mot men.

 

[Sean d]

I just fit 80w high beam in my dipped beam, work a treat

 

[t-tony]

More info on different bulb types,

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ7nqrRv7Ww


Tony.

 

[Setch]

Osram Nightbreakers were mentioned earlier in the thread. That is what i have always used, not as bright as HID but much brighter than stock lights and no issues with legality/MOT. One word of caution though, they run very hot and the headlamp connector needs to be a tight fit on the blades so there is no risk of high resistance. If not they can cause the connector to over heat and melt (this happened on the H4s in my Mini). A solution to this is to make a short flylead with a ceramic connector onto the Osrams and male terminals into the vehicle wiring which can then be tucked away from the heat.

 

[Dino D]

I just fit 80w high beam in my dipped beam, work a treat

Did you do any mods to make it work?

Looked into getting higher wattage H4 bulbs for the dipped beam - there is quite a lot out there (on mine the high beam ones are not a straight fit into the dipped, there is some plastic tabs that don’t line up, I guess go prevent this).

Anyway saw lots of talk on the net about needing higher gauge wires if you run higher wattage bulb?
I’ve had an issue with wires frying in the past (boot light) so keen not have a repeat experience!