What are the hottest bulbs I can burn in oem xenon's?

[Johnmadd]

I drove through a bad storm last night and could barely see the lines on the road. Options? I have demons, I think they are the good ones.

[Johnmadd]

Nobody? Az?DW? Nothing?

[mimalmo]

Are you talking about 4300k versus 6500k or higher?

[Rovert]

The lower Kelvin your bulbs are, the better you'll see in adverse conditions. The high the Kelvin, the cooler you'll look to a point.

When it's pouring rain my Philips Ultinon 6000K's are difficult to see compared to my stock OEM Philips 4300K. But in the dry my 6000K look awesome on the ground and give a different color oncoming. 4300K on dry just look like more intense whiter halogen bulbs x 5.

I also have 2500K yellow halogen bulbs in my inner beam. In the rain if I turn those on they reflect very far and penetrate the dark compared to regular 6000K bi-xenon which I find is overrated.

I have 6000K HID fogs in the stock reflector units which project a more blue/purple hue on the ground but are super bright to light up the area in front of the car. Aimed 2" from the ground at 25 feet away, noone has ever flashed me and standing far away looking at it isn't that bad.

Both HID headlights and fogs run at 35 watt. You can install 55 watt but I have heard that the increased power needed to start the bulbs put a strain one the light control module if wired straight. My friend's LCM started to smoke and burn after a few months of switching from 35 to 55 watt. To fix that, wire your 55 watt system to a relay. Increased temperature may not be healthy for your system especially if you have a sedan ZKW OEM projector system.

If you have just a halogen system. I recommend staying stock on the headlights for the best reliable light output. For more light there are expensive Silverstars but they don't last very long for their price. And for the highbeams, Nokya 2500K bulbs. They're very pleasurable to use at highspeed on a dark interstate.

[danewilson77]

In short, the answer to your question is 12000K.....but you don't want those. I am not positive I know what you mean by hot. It is my opinion (as stated previously) that you would not want to go any higher that 6000k, or less than 4300k....

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af278/nicee46/Maintenance%20and%20Misc/MXRZ_HID_COLOR_INDEX.jpg

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af278/nicee46/Maintenance%20and%20Misc/b8ca1778.jpg

[Rovert]

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/2180/animatedlights.gif

[Johnmadd]

All very helpful. Thanks rover and dw. I looking for better visibility, so lower is better?
Or is it brand that make more difference?

[az3579]

4.3-5k is best for visibility, agreed with the chart DW posted.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

4.3-5k is best for visibility, agreed with the chart DW posted.

Yep. Spot on. I'll be going with 4300K.

[spencers]

All very helpful. Thanks rover and dw. I looking for better visibility, so lower is better?
Or is it brand that make more difference?

Lower kelvin=better. Brand is also of great importance.
Xenon bulbs gradually decrease in lumens over their lifetime.
The lifetime of OEM bulbs being at or beyond 10+ years.
Aftermarket bulbs are junk. They won't last you near as long, nor will they have the same light output as a brand-name bulb.

Stick to Philips 85122+ (http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=148&osCsid=25b4f5dk81kipri21relnl6mrbsq7ni8) D2S bulbs.
You'd really be amazed at what a brand new set will do; and you'll be hard-pressed to find a bulb that does 3400 lumen for the price.

This was after replacing my stock bulbs with brand new ones. I found an underground garage to show how bright they are.
It's on a slight incline and the photo was taken with a phone, sorry.
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/1547/img0145xq.jpg (http://img716.imageshack.us/i/img0145xq.jpg/)

[Rovert]

Not that I advocate 6000K like it's the end all and be all. But I spent $300 on my Philips Ultinon bulbs because they are tested and have R&D to have accurate color even if I had to replace only one bulb years after. They are of the highest quality that most cheap bulb can't claim for testing. I've heard good things about GE bulbs too. My old Philips 4300K are still running perfectly fine and bright in my dad's 540i. They are nearly 8 years old and holding. His last bulbs lasted 9 years until I changed them to mine. My sister's OEM bulbs in her Audi are 10 years old and starting to need replacing.

Cheaper HID bulbs aren't known to last that long. So cost per ownership is actually less if you spend extra money unless you've found a bulb with that magical lifetime warranty.

[ZHP-FTW]

Sorry to thread jack here but I have a question. I bought a pair of 8000k ( I know kinda ricey) D2S bulbs from Umnitza about a year ago, and just recently now the driver's side bulb seems to be a slightly different color than the passenger side. It's hard to explain, but the driver's side looks more blue/green and the passenger side is still bluish. Is my driver's side bulb failing? I might need to invest in some Philips D2S bulbs...

[spencers]

Sorry to thread jack here but I have a question. I bought a pair of 8000k ( I know kinda ricey) D2S bulbs from Umnitza about a year ago, and just recently now the driver's side bulb seems to be a slightly different color than the passenger side. It's hard to explain, but the driver's side looks more blue/green and the passenger side is still bluish. Is my driver's side bulb failing? I might need to invest in some Philips D2S bulbs...

Yep. Aftermarket bulbs tend to go haywire after a year. There's that saying: you get what you pay for. :)

[danewilson77]

Yep. Aftermarket bulbs tend to go haywire after a year. There's that saying: you get what you pay for. :)

I think the HID's from JLeviSW have a three year warranty. $45.00 for the pair.