that probably doesn’t help. but please, please don’t do it.
They throw out a huge amount of glare to oncoming drivers, often worse than if you had your full beam on.
The reason for this is the location of the light output from the bulbs.
Stock halogen bulbs, in a stock housing are precisely set up not to glare on coming drivers.
HID bulbs have an arc of light producing the white light. This is in a different location in the bulb to the halogen filament. If you move the light source in the stock housing, it throws light everywhere.
The Light out put from a HID (high intensity discharge) bulb is much brighter than a halogen bulb, but this kind of light needs to be applied in a controlled and safe manner.
The VAST majority of cars with xenon’s that are factory fitted have numerous features to stop that intense light blinding oncoming driver:
- Projector lenses, normally a round glass lenses in front of the bulb to create a clean cut-off in the light
- Self levelling sensors. these use info from the suspension, the brakes etc to ensure the light is not too high to blind on coming drivers and not to low so the driver of the car cannot see enough. The lenses move as necessary.
- Headlight washers. These clean grit off the headlight. if there is excessive grit on the headlight, it can produce glare and increase the risk of blinding other drivers.
However, this doesn’t mean you can’t retrofit xenon lights to your car. Many, many people do it, some regard all the above and fit projector lenses, headlight washers and self levelling kits. Some disregard any of the above and consequently, disregard any other drivers on the road. I.E just throwing a HID kit into a stock headlight.
I would recommend the very least you do is use a HID kit with projector lenses.
It’s also worth noting that you would fail an MOT with a HID kit in a stock headlight.
Hope this Helps
Jay
