Bi-Xenons

[asuyak]

Ok so I thought I could live without getting the Bi-Xenons when I ordered my car. I was sooo wrong. So now I want 'em. The factory ones. Anyone know where the best price for them is?

[ieatvtec]

They are very expensive to have it put on. I ran into the same problem on my prevoius 99 323I. I want the dealership to install the bi-xenon for me and I thought it was a easy process. They pretty much have to put in a new special bracket in order to have the xenon fit correctly, in otherwords they can't just bolt on the lights and make it fit with your factor light bracket.(that what I thought before) With labor and everything it was going to cost around $3000.00. That is a ton of change when you considered its only a $700 option when ordered from the factory. Needless to say, I didn't make the same mistake with my new 330I. My best advice is to go with HID lights, they are pretty close to xenon but doesn't give the bluish color like xenon does. Good luck!!

[morcheeba]

hids4less (http://www.hids4less.com) has a retrofit for $1200-$1500. Ouch.

[E-Town BiMMeR]

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[asuyak]

ok anyone seen this site: http://www.bmwxenon.com
It looks like they sell just the bulbs. Anyone actually buy these or something similar? I figure an option like this is more do-able than the $1500ish option. Think it's worth it?

[morcheeba]

It's hard to tell from their website what they are selling... they are calling them "xenon halogens", but xenon and halogen are two very different types of bulbs.

halogen (http://www.howstuffworks.com/question151.htm) bulbs have the usual tungsten filament, but the halogen gas keeps the filament from evaporating. As a result, they last longer and/or can burn much brighter than usual incadecent bulbs.

xenon (http://www.howstuffworks.com/question387.htm) bulbs are very different. They are more like flourescent bulbs in that they have no filament and instead use one huge spark. The usually inert xenon gas has a trace of some other gas that makes the gas itself conductive (at very high voltage, only - just like a flash bulb in a camera). There is no filament to burn out, so you can run even higher temperatures. Since the light output is proportional to the size of area emitting it (either a 'tube' of gas or the tungsten filament), you can trade off some light and get a smaller area that the light is emmitted over. Real xenons do this, and as a result have a highly focused beam - Since it's better controlled, they can make it brighter and (usually) not blind oncoming drivers.

So, these look like they are probably just fancy halogens. They may be brighter, but they can't be focused so they'll probably blind oncoming traffic. Since they are advertised as just bulbs, they probably use your stock reflectors - the projector beams (with a lens) help a whole lot, even with halogens (which is what my E30 had), and you won't have that benefit. Lastly, they're probably not auto-leveling, which is handy to keep projector beams (E30 didn't, E46 does autolevel) pointed at the road.

The active ingredient in xenon bulbs isn't really the xenon; it's the mercury salt ions that actually conduct. Typically (AFAIK), xenon bulbs are mostly (like 99%) xenon; these are only 30%, which makes me think that the other 70% are halogens.

So, basic point: probably not that much better performance-wise than the blue "xenon look-alike" bulbs; they're missing the point-sourceness, and auto-leveling projecter-beam qualities of the OEM lights. But, they probably look cool, even if they do blind people.

[Ghetto2315]

ok anyone seen this site: http://www.bmwxenon.com
It looks like they sell just the bulbs. Anyone actually buy these or something similar? I figure an option like this is more do-able than the $1500ish option. Think it's worth it?

I bought these bulbs for my 330i and I absolutely love them!

[topazblue330i]

Anyone know if the Bi-xenon install with the OEM parts is doable by a DIYer? and if so got part numbers?

[david]

anything's possible...shouldn't be too hard either. it's not like you're changing your clutch or anything, it's just light housings.