Xenon Headlight Bulb Question!!!
 

Guys i need some help answering a question. My X5 has xenons from the factory and I want brighter bulbs. I understand that the OEM bulbs are 4100k-4300k D2S xenon bulbs, but i want to know if i can just buy some 10000k D2S xenon bulbs and throw them on without any modifications.

1.
As I said in previous posts: brightness setup is stock HIDs which is 4100K-4500K.
For comparison:

Stock OEM Philips (or Osram) 4100K D2S Bulb is 3200lm bright (+/-450lm)

vs.

Philips Ultinon 5800K D2S Bulb is only 2400lm bright.

So don't even bother with any higher temp. than stock 4300K, IT WILL BE DIMMER.

2.
Some newer ballast (D4S and D4R) setups claim to be brighter:
4800K D4S Philips 42402 - 3800 lm bright
5800K D4S Philips 42402 V269 – 3300lm bright
4800K D4R Philips 42406 – 3800lm bright.

3.
If you need something brighter I have new2 50W D2S Philips 4100K bulbs for sale. Those bulbs are top of the line, Made in Germany. They design for 50W HID ballasts but will work perfectly with your stock 35W ballasts, giving you 3800Lm which is 20% brighter compared to your stock. Also you can replace stock 35W ballasts with 50W ballasts, that will give you 5300Lm.

50W D2S Philips 4100K bulbs = $88 each.

:iagree: Read the misconception section of this article. In fact, read the whole thing, you'll understand the concepts behind HID lighting much more. http://www.intellexual.net/hid.html

What...? What did I say wrong?

HAHA, Sorry, I was agreeing with you while telling the original poster to read the misconceptions about HID bulb ratings, etc in the link to the article I posted.

Oh :rofl:. No problem.

interesting article :thumbup:

...i knew i thought that the lower the temperature was the brighter it was...right?

Correct, the higher the temp, the lower the lumens (brightness)

The brightness doesn't bother me. I only want a bluer tint on my xenons so i wanted to upgrade to a 10000k bulb. So i can do it without changing any parts or wiring in the headlight? Can i just plug the new bulbs in and then I'm done?

if you just want blue tint, then 6000K will do the job. 10000K will give you purple tint effect. which will be too much and personally I think it is kind ugly.

but serioiusly, I think with projector lens, 4300K does the job nicely.

PS, yes, you can just replace the bulb with 10000K D2S bulb.