Xenon Interior Light kit

[SMAnsari]

Anyone own these on their E46?...I am considering purchasing them and I wanted some feedback on how good they look...Thanks

[MarvelPhx]

Technically, they can't be Xenon...

Xenon-like color maybe...

[SMAnsari]

Yeah, see that's what I thought...How on earth could it be Xenon, right?...Anyway, that's what they are advertised on but I am guessing that they are Xenon-like in brilliance/color...Anyone have them or have thoughts on them?

[Grey Street]

^ BUMP ^

[Crazy Philll]

I put them on my car, what they are is brighter lightbulp with blue glass, therefore they seem supperwhite, yet a very very little blue, not ricy !! i like them a lot, i got all the options wich include trunk and back license plate. I noticed though that the back licence plate ones kindoff melt the plastic, not to the extent of deformation, but very little bubles in the "look through" (cant think of the word) plastic. till now i like them a lot, looks really cool when I unlock the car at night, especially because i have grey interrior !!

[Darius]

I think they are higher wattage rating that's why they run hotter. This way they can still be bright even when the glas is painted blue.

[Crazy Philll]

thats what i meant with brighter, with making the bulp brighter (higher wattage), they make the blue light (blue glass) seem hyperwhite, cheap little trick some rice owners use to get "xenon" headlights for $60

[WOSBY]

You guys need to be educated!

If you remember your chemisty class, Xenon is a gas. The Xenon gas atom is larger than a Halogen (also a gas) or Krypton atom. Bulbs are filled with these gases to increase their longevity.

When a current is passed through a bulb filament and experiences resistance, this resistance creates heat, and this heat energy produces light. (The same way nuclear fusion in the Sun produces heat and light) A side effect of this heat, is that atoms of the bulb filament escape the suface of the filament. If the interior of the bulb were simply a vacuum, the filament molecules would all simply escape the filament surface, until the filament became too thin and broke, and all the molecules stick to the interior suface of the bulb glass.

To solve, or slow down this process, gas is placed in the bulb. As the filament atom escapes the filament surface and comes in contact with the gas atom, and loses some if its energy to the gas atom and no longer has enough energy to fully escape the suface of the filament. The filament remains whole.

As manufacturers create bulbs which produce whiter and brighter light, the process is speeded up. Halogen gas is insufficient to do the job, and so they use Xenon gas.

HID (High Intensity Discharge, which dont use a filament) bulbs, which most european car manufacturers now have as an opton on their vehicles, use Xenon gas in their bulbs. Unfortunately EVERYONE now uses the term Xenon as a generic term for bulbs that produce "white" light. When in fact all you have to do to make a bulb produce "white-like" light, is to put a blue coating over it. The blue coating absorbs the yellowish tint and the light appears white.

So when searching for Xenon bulbs because you want whiter light in the interior of your car ............ know what you're talking about.

WOSBY

[morcheeba]

excellent post, wosby! well said, thanks.