Another Xenon bulbs questions

[Adam_A3_]

Hi All

So i have the D3S bulbs in my car - in my retrofitted 2010 headlights. I was quite happy with the brightness and the colour until i sat in my friends mercedes 61 plate E Class...the lights were brighter and whiter...

Now i know the OEM bulbs in the audi are 4300k, and some of you have used the 6000k? bulbs...but what do they have in the mercs? ive notice most new merc lights are fairly bright....

thanks

 

[blazedani]

All of them use 4300ºk from factory.
Probable your friend is using D1S or D2S bulbs and not D3S.

D3S & D4S are mercury free HID bulbs.
Which affects the color of the bulbs making them look a bit more yellow.
Also the projector lens & some times the different cut off makes the bulbs look more or less blue from far.

You can replace your D3S 4300k with D3S 6000ºk, you should see some improvement.

 

[Wahlstrom]

Depends on the projector installed.. What projector have you retrofitted??
Just swapped my oem projector to a Q5 projector.. Insanely more light on the road, and nice cutoff because of the clear lens... And I'm running 4300k d1s bulbs..
Next bulb I'm buying is either the xtreme vision HID or the CBI

 

[MrLapou]

Not sure vision will be improved...

AUDI A5 S5 (2007-) HID XENON REPLACEMENT BULBS D3S 4300K 6000K 8000K 10000K: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

 

[Artimus]

A couple of weeks ago I bought some 5000k D3S bulbs for mine! they're just a tad whiter than factory DRL's but they don't give out as much light as the original HID's. 6000k bulbs will give out even less light, as the higher the colour temperature the less light is projected. I wouldn't advise getting 6000k bulbs going by personal experience. That's a pic of them in my Avatar.

Newer Merc bulbs are brighter than any I've ever seen, but it's probably down to either a higher voltage system being used, or more powerful bulbs with a higher Lumen output than the D3S we're stuck with.

There's a discussion & pictures of mine & others' recent experiences in This Topic.

 

[c_w]

Some manufacturers, I'm sure are using 5000k equivalent, certainly no new Porsche or Mercedes look like 4300k (white/yellow) bulbs I have.

Also, the projector design make a massive difference (reflectivity of the bowl, lense design, cut off material/shape) some of them may be designed to add colour; Mercedes projectors are known to be good and you can clearly see that on the road, along with Porsche and others.

I thought my 8P S3 headlights were garbage for a factory HID setup, full beam was not impressive either for a bi-xenon setup.

 

[Wahlstrom]

Here's a pic of my newly installed projectors.. They're awesome..

That's about 80-100m away from the car.. And a close up so the cut off is more visible...
A clear lens will let through more light than the fresnel lens..
Here's some pics of my old burned reflector, and a renovated one, and the upgrade "Q5" projector I'm running now...

 

[t8ups]

i dont think a 3 year old reflector will be burnt out as the op has 2010 headlights.

as wahlstorm has said, you can open your headlights up and change the lense to a clear one which will improve the light output with the xenons you already have.

You cant compare mercs to Audi's im affraid, i read a newsletter i get and Osram designed a bulb just for the merc to give of a white light so its more light daylight, this is achieved with a matching projector so you will never get the same output unless you get some merc headlights and retro fit them into your car, changing to 6000; will only make the colour white, wont be brighter.

Also alot of new Mercs are using LED headlights which again are like the day light look, my mate has an E class and the colour is great, output is also great and better than xenons.

Trups

 

[hollows wife]

the 2010 headlights are a pain to open ,need a dremel to cut them open. the lenses are probably fogged up , cleaned mine yesterday massive visual improvement of the lens .

 

[Wahlstrom]

the 2010 headlights are a pain to open ,need a dremel to cut them open. the lenses are probably fogged up , cleaned mine yesterday massive visual improvement of the lens .

😉

 

[wxc]

How can one take out the projector to clean? Lots of dismantling I'm guessing ?!

 

[Adam_A3_]

oem BE lights are fitted - standard projector

 

[Adam_A3_]

seems to be alot of work involved in replacing the projectors. and i dont want to go to 6000k if i lose some range. im going to give the lens a good clean first i suppose and then live with the d3s - merc are a pain in the *** when theyr driving behind you with their big bright lights!!

 

[Artimus]

Anyone know where there's a guide for the dismantling\cleaning process?

 

[hollows wife]

Anyone know where there's a guide for the dismantling\cleaning process?

you have to cut the lenses away from the lights to clean or replace the projector . thin blade in a dremel and cut inbetween the thin track between the lens and the black plastic housing ,this is for the new facelift ones 2009 onwards ,not sure but i believe the older models come apart by heating them .View attachment 26317View attachment 26318

 

[Artimus]

Thanks for that! So I assume they need sealing up with silicone to complete the job?

 

[Wahlstrom]

What about heat?? What is it sealed with.. Sounds crazy that you have to cut in the front lens.. Sounds like something that would be hard to seal properly

 

[hollows wife]

they are sealed with a vulcanised rubber sealant looks like silicone but a damn site harder to cut or remove . heat has no effect on it only extreme heat but by that time the plastic is melting on the light itself
I re-sealed these with pu adhesive should be fine ,had to do this with bmw 530 lights and didnt have any problems .

 

[wxc]

they are sealed with a vulcanised rubber sealant looks like silicone but a damn site harder to cut or remove . heat has no effect on it only extreme heat but by that time the plastic is melting on the light itself
I re-sealed these with pu adhesive should be fine ,had to do this with bmw 530 lights and didnt have any problems .

Sounds like a LOT of work just to clean the projectors, but I'm sure it's worth it ..!

Since you have the lense off, some people might prefer to make further aesthetic improvements to the inside of the headlamp, such as spraying the silver to black (as an example) to suit the black edition theme

On a side note, when I look at my projectors with the lights on, there seems to some smudge marks, but it looks like the smudges are on the inside, NOT on the outside projector that face outwards... Just can't imagine how the smudge got there in the first place! I might even end up doing what you're doing to clean the projectors (just kidding )

 

[hollows wife]

Sounds like a LOT of work just to clean the projectors, but I'm sure it's worth it ..!

Since you have the lense off, some people might prefer to make further aesthetic improvements to the inside of the headlamp, such as spraying the silver to black (as an example) to suit the black edition theme

On a side note, when I look at my projectors with the lights on, there seems to some smudge marks, but it looks like the smudges are on the inside, NOT on the outside projector that face outwards... Just can't imagine how the smudge got there in the first place! I might even end up doing what you're doing to clean the projectors (just kidding )

You mean like I have painted the chrome parts black . Didn't do all of it , left the chrome ring around the projector lens chrome and the reflector behind the indicator bulb .
mine had water marks on the insides of the plastic front lens and dust sat in there as well . The chrome edge in the lower portion of the light had become faded and as soon as i touched it with a fine microfibre cloth the chrome just lifted off leaving the plastic clear.
I was going to change the indicators to led but the bulb is integral to the holder .
dint have time as the body shop wanted them back for re fitting .

 

[Wahlstrom]

Anyone tried the Alpha-light 5000k bulb??
It's either that or the CBI for me

http://bit.ly/1aNdnMN
http://bit.ly/1fi6foD