HID lights - burnt bowls
 

My OE HID lights are pitiful.

Compared to a pre-facelift with OE HID, mine are dim candles in comparison.

I see the E46 guys talk about burnt bowls, does that happen to E53's as well?

Same here. The headlights are useless, I was wondering if they can "wear out". :)
Mine is pre-facelift though.

The E55 bi-xenon's on the facelift have weaker bowls than the pre-facelift E39 low beam xenon projectors.

The E55's have more of a matte chrome bowl while the E39 has a chromed bowl. It's common with low beam only projectors to have stronger bowls.

Have you replaced your xenon bulbs with fresh OEM bulbs (Philips 85122's or Osram 66240's?), at the age of your vehicle if your bulbs are original they are going to be pitifully dim.

I see, thanks for the insight RB!

Nope, havent touched the bulbs, have replaced a ballast though. Guess I will start with these.

What's the latest tech for these? 85122's still the best?

RB suggested I go with HIDBulbsRUs when I replaced mine last year.

Best price on genuine Philips HID bulbs.

Follow "Ricky's" advice on this one. I could not believe the difference in output new Osrams provided after 270,000 miles on my originals.

2002 X5 3.0 274,400 miles
2004 325i 119,000 miles

Then by far replace your bulbs.

HIDbulbsRus | Home - Best pricing for genuine Philips/Osram.

85122's are great bulbs he sells at $87 shipped, as well he now stocks the Osram 66240's for $10 cheaper.

Both are great bulbs, go with whichever is your preference. But you WILL notice a difference with a fresh set if yours are original.

I'll do that guys, thanks for the input!

get the plus edition as they are 200 lumens brighter, BUT the colour (Color, for your US peeps) is 4,200K instead of 4,300K (as on the non PLUS edition, but they are sold out of these non PLUS edition bulbs).

I have a long trip planned today so I bought Philips Ultinons locally yesterday.

I installed the passenger side bulb and turned the lights on to check. New bulb seemed whiter and more intense. Old bulb seemed bluer and dimmer.

Put on the drivers side and they seem improved.

Come evening I went for a drive and though a bit improved, they're still weak sauce.

Doing some research I am looking at a few things.

Maybe they need a break in? I see online some people comment they get brighter after a few hours.

Also, I may have gotten a fake. I wanted to order from hidbulbzrus but wanting to have lights for my trip made me buy local.

I will be using these bulbs to see if they break in, while waiting for 85122+'s from hidbulbzrus. I want to totally eliminate the bulbs are the problem before i consider more extreme measures like retrofits.

Having permasealed active headlights makes me hesitant to mess with them ($$$). I'm looking at maybe retrofitting mini H1 projectors in OE projector fogs, or even light bars or light pods lol! I'm thinking of a bar/pod that can use the tow hook mounts for a quick on/off just for long drives.