Question on "wearing out" your Xenons

[jgt_zhp]

Looking through nine pages of posts in the Lighting forum has me convinced that every conceivable aspect of every lamp in the car has been analyzed and dissected, but I haven't found anything on this particular issue. Don't know what that says about me :dunno

This is my first car with xenons. Every time I start it up in the garage, I sit there like Pavlov's dog and watch the xenons strike and level themselves. Still enjoy it. I'm easily amused. BUT....in researching lighting, and thinking about yellow high beams and fogs, and all manner of atrocities, I see some discussion that the only real "wear" issue for the xenon is repeated striking/restriking. I saw this info in regards to why you don't want your xenons doing "flash to pass" duty.

But that got me thinking. I always garage my car at home, and frequently when I'm out. And I typically have auto lamp function enabled. So, just about every time I start my car, my xenons are firing off, and probably 75% of the time it's unnecessary. And every time I get home and pull in the garage, they again answer the call to duty, 100% for no productive purpose.

AmI the only one who would worry about something like this, or are there lots of mafiosi secretly practicing selective use of the auto lamp setting??

And I apologize in advance for the fact that now you're all going to worry about it :rofl

[alexandre]

This is why you buy a vintage, 2003 ZHP. :)

[Crestwood1001]

They say that functions such as flash to pass, where its a quick On-Off-On-Off function is not good for the bulb life, I have NO idea if there is evidence to back this up, but if you turn them on and leave them on for a period of time I think its commonly accepted that that's OK. Its more of the quick on of cycle that is supposedly not good for them.

[Crickett]

You're not alone; I haven't had my LCM switch on "auto" for years! Though my reason isn't out of concern for premature Xenon bulb wear, but just because I find that they automatically turn on way earlier than they need to (that, & I don't like not having complete control of my vehicle's functions; OCD, much?).

As for concerns of premature wear, I'd bet that the extra wear from the auto setting kicking on every dark, garaged start & end is shaving off hours, maaaaaybe days of your bulbs' lives. But that's just my completely-without-research-&-empirical-evidence guesstimation.

[nike001]

Quick and repeated firing will wear out xenon bulbs. But by how much 1x a day?.. who knows. I know I've goofed around with the loaner cars at work by doing it 2-3x and the bulbs clearly show their displeasure when doing so, but sometimes turning on with a quick flash or yellow or pink.

My step father has his 'auto' function enabled in his xenon equipped f10 535 and they go on every time he enters or leaves the garage. I'm sure over time it may diminish the life of the bulb, but I think the quicker firings does the most damage (like flash to pass or turning them on/off/on/off/on/off quickly)

OP, if you're worried about it that much.. only flip the 'auto' feature on after you leave your garage or let the bulbs warm up before you exit the garage or turn off your car when you arrive home.

[Hornung418]

Flashing to pass should only enable the inner bowls to fire. You can enable the bixenon shutters to actuate through coding but they only do so when you have the lights on.

From a GS3, this was sent.

[ryankokesh]

^that.

I do keep it off the auto setting if I know I'm turning the car on in a dark garage that I'm just going to pull out of. That's just me though, and I have little if any evidence to back up my practices! :)

[johnrando]

I keep my AUTO off just so it's not firing for no reason a couple of times a day going in/out of my dark garage - just to not induce any extra unneeded wear. No idea if that helps or not.

[nike001]

Flashing to pass should only enable the inner bowls to fire. You can enable the bixenon shutters to actuate through coding but they only do so when you have the lights on.

From a GS3, this was sent.

I only mentioned it because the newer bmw models utilize the xenon low beam bulb for the flash to pass. They have no other forward aiming light... The inner lights most people see are cornering lights and only come on when in reverse or when you have the wheel turned a certain degree.

[kayger12]

I've often wondered about this myself.

Mine are always on auto and go on every time I pull in the garage and every time I start the car in the garage.

I guess time will tell.

[Avetiso]

This is why you buy a vintage, 2003 ZHP. :)
Damn right. It makes things simple. 2003 FTW.

Coming from mostly American cars w/out auto-on, I don't find it hard or inconvenient to turn them on manually whenever need be.

[BavarianZHP]

Cycling on/off is "bad" for almost all light bulbs (exception are LEDs) - it's guaranteed to significantly shorten the life span, much more than leaving them burning. Xenons are particularly susceptible because of their relatively LONG ignition/arcing process. Even if I had the auto function, I wouldn't use it since I like being in control. For the garage or short trips through darkness I switch on my incandescent fog lights instead. With that said, Xenons should last the life span of the car if not overly cycled. Turning them on/off 4 times a day shouldn't matter that much and I'm sure everyone is fine. Just don't let your 6 yr old handle the switch... :)

[johnrando]

BTW, edited the title. No "newb" questions on here. All questions are OK.

[BimmerWill]

No need to worry about auto on with mine :) good old pre-face ;)

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[MrMaico]

Looking through nine pages of posts in the Lighting forum has me convinced that every conceivable aspect of every lamp in the car has been analyzed and dissected, but I haven't found anything on this particular issue. Don't know what that says about me :dunno

This is my first car with xenons. Every time I start it up in the garage, I sit there like Pavlov's dog and watch the xenons strike and level themselves. Still enjoy it. I'm easily amused. BUT....in researching lighting, and thinking about yellow high beams and fogs, and all manner of atrocities, I see some discussion that the only real "wear" issue for the xenon is repeated striking/restriking. I saw this info in regards to why you don't want your xenons doing "flash to pass" duty.

But that got me thinking. I always garage my car at home, and frequently when I'm out. And I typically have auto lamp function enabled. So, just about every time I start my car, my xenons are firing off, and probably 75% of the time it's unnecessary. And every time I get home and pull in the garage, they again answer the call to duty, 100% for no productive purpose.

AmI the only one who would worry about something like this, or are there lots of mafiosi secretly practicing selective use of the auto lamp setting??

And I apologize in advance for the fact that now you're all going to worry about it :rofl

If I were in your situation I'd have the same concern about them starting all the time for no reason too. I don't use Auto all that often either but for a different OCD reason.....using the non-auto headlight switch position disables the Adaptive (turning with the steering wheel) feature found on coupes and verts and I worry about the wear and tear on those servo motors that swivel the lights all the time. If I lived somewhere with a lot of curvy roads I'd use it more often but with the lack of curves around here I just usually use the non-auto setting.

Barry

[Washburn]

I VERY rarely have Auto setting on - perhaps 5% of the time. Wifey always has it on.
Whenever I can, whenever my car only needs to be seen, but I can see everything else without headlights on, I always have parking and fogs on. That's more than enough when others needs to see me. I do this as late as possible in the evening.
Only when I truly need light to see do I turn on the xenons.

That's my main way of 'saving' the xenons.

[johnrando]

One of the reasons i have angel eyes, helping my car be seen (as well as they look cool) :)

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[brettbimmer]

FWIW, I burn my Xenons just about every time I drive, both day and obviously night. I live in the land of old farts, so when they see the xenons, they tend not to pull out in front of me. :D. No problem with OEM xenon bulbs running them that way for 45,000 miles. I just replaced them when I did the burnt bowl replacement - following the "why I was in there anyway" phenomenon.

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[Washburn]

One of the reasons i have angel eyes, helping my car be seen (as well as they look cool) :)Well, I guess most people are scared to bake FL headlights :O :) But I do wish I had the courage OR an extra free pair of lenses :)

[johnrando]

Well, I guess most people are scared to bake FL headlights :O :) But I do wish I had the courage OR an extra free pair of lenses :)

I was totally scared, and had someone who'd done quite a few bake mine, and even then I was nervous about it. :biggrin

[az3579]

You have nothing to worry about leaving it in auto even if you park in the garage. The time between starting your car and leaving the garage doesn't qualify for a "quick on/off". The Xenons should be fully fired up by the time you leave the garage. Don't worry about it, IMO.

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD

[Daddyoh]

I VERY rarely have Auto setting on - perhaps 5% of the time. Wifey always has it on.
Whenever I can, whenever my car only needs to be seen, but I can see everything else without headlights on, I always have parking and fogs on. That's more than enough when others needs to see me. I do this as late as possible in the evening.
Only when I truly need light to see do I turn on the xenons.

That's my main way of 'saving' the xenons.

This, less the "wifey". (She has her own.)
HOWEVER, today I ordered Orion V2's, AND, I will run them daytime, cause I'm hoping they will be VERY cool too!