Help, which bulb for my headlight?

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Originally Posted by Simon D

If you have xenons the lens casing will say so.

Explanation [I](I know it works for pre-facelift. Someone else will have to confirm if this works for the newer style headlamps or not...):

I can't see any wording on my facelift lens casing, but the following info is given in the handbook.

Replacement Bulbs for Headlamps
Dipped beam H7 55 watts
Main beam (with Halogen dipped beam) H1 55
Main beam (with Halogen Projector blue vision
or Xenon dipped beam) H9 65

The handbook says 'some cars in the range are fitted with Xenon dipped headlight units' and warns of the high voltage system used in the Xenon (HID) dipped beam system. It recommends that the maintenance of Xenon light units be carried out by a 'qualified' person.

The Haynes manual is equally vague about the Xenon HID units. After the warnings about high voltages, high temperature, etc. it tells you to remove the headlamp unit before opening up the lamp by removing three Torx screws.
There is an igniter module attached to the 'bulb'. The inverted commas are Haynes'. Whatever this HID 'bulb' is I don't think it's an H7 bulb as I know them.

So, what isn't clear to me is whether the H7 quoted in the handbook is the bulb used for the HID system or whether it's just a 'Xenon' bulb. There seem to be many Xenon bulbs available but they aren't necessarily HID bulbs, which cost an arm and a leg.

My own car (2004 facelift) has the yellow label stating it has Xenon lights.



The label on the headlamp casing says the bulbs are H7 and H9.



So I assume the H7 are indeed the Xenon bulbs and not HID units. H7 bulbs are sold for their 'HID look', which suggests they are not what I thought they were.

Anyone any wiser, 'cos I ain't!

TC

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Just to add to my confusion, I read that Xenon HID headlamps must have integrated lens cleaning and self leveling systems. My facelift 'Xenon' lamps have the motorised beam adjuster system (they often rise as I switch on the headlights). So does this indicate I have HID lights or is this another niaive assumption? I don't have any headlamp cleaning device.

It would be very informative if someone with known Xenon HIDs would post a picture or two because I haven't yet read an unambiguous description of them.

TC

[JohnDotCom]

The Part Numbers Stated on your Light Assembly T Cut are for:
Headlamp Assembly-Front Lighting - RH RHD Halogen Lamps - Blue Light Projector.

Don't know if that helps you?

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Originally Posted by JohnDotCom

The Part Numbers Stated on your Light Assembly T Cut are for:
Headlamp Assembly-Front Lighting - RH RHD Halogen Lamps - Blue Light Projector.

So I didn't get the Xenons (HID or otherwise) I was specified for the car?
Was the yellow label on the slam panel fitted irrespective of the system in place?
Maybe the label on the lamps is as meaningless as the yellow one?
Does anybody have any idea what it all means?

Don't know if that helps you?

Not really, but thanks for the info.

TC

[JohnDotCom]

Yes, the Yellow label is fitted the Same regardless it seems to cover a multitude of Sins! As you can see it mentions the Different size engines for different fill Quantanties.

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Originally Posted by tealandsilver

How do I tell the difference between xenon and halogen bulbs? I've tried to attach a photo of the H7 fitted to my car for the dipped beam. I don't see "xenon technology" or any other marks to indicate, other than that yellow label on the slam panel!

You can't, because the Halogen H7 is identical to the Xenon H7. It might be stamped on the bulb body, but other than that they look alike and can be interchanged.

From what I've gleened so far, the 'Xenon Technology' to which you refer has nothing to do with Xenon bulbs like the H7. It refers to the high voltage HID system fitted to some cars (as an option it seems). The yellow label warning of 'Xenon only' and high voltages is a red herring for most people.

The way to determine what system you have is by the part numbers label on the outer lamp cases (see my photos above). The 'Xenon Technology' 'bulbs' are not bulbs as we know them but discharge tubes fired up by the attached igniter which initiates the burn at 20,000 volts then drops back to less than 100 volts to maintain the arc discharge. By law, a 'Xenon Technology' system requires a headlamp cleaning and self-levelling system to by incorporated into the build. If you had all this I'm pretty sure you'd know about it.

The options for most people with the facelift, appears to be a choice between Halogen Blue type bulbs and Xenon (HID Look) bulbs, both in H7 format.

TC

[Simon]

I can see where the confusion arises from too. I have the projector-type units with the blue-tinge of xenon but without the 20,00Volt ballasts, just the regular type bulbs.

As JDC suggests, the slam pannel warning label will be a "one size fits all" excersise to negate the need for numerous label configurations.

The motorised system is (either automatic or manual level adjustment) designed to move about on start up to find it's upper and lower limits and then set itself to either the setting on the dashboard switch or according to the sensors on the rear shocks (self-levelling lights only).

Both Xenon and Projector lights feature the same "giant eye" appearance of the mainbeam lens as per picture below:

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Originally Posted by Simon D

Both Xenon and Projector lights feature the same "giant eye" appearance of the mainbeam lens as per picture below:

The projector lens system is for the Dipped Beam. It seems an awfully complicated set up just to get a nice upper cutoff to the beam. Projector lens systems are fitted for both dipped and main beams to some vehicles (not 75/ZT though).

See this for more on the projector system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenon_H...oidal.29_lamps

TC

[Kandyman]

My Xenon

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Originally Posted by Kandyman

My Xenon

Is that Xenon HID or Xenon bulb?
If it's the HID, could you post some pics of the rear casing?
Cheers,

TC