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Do I have xenon's?

2003 - 2009, roadster, coupe, facelift
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Steve84N
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Do I have xenon's?

Post by Steve84N » Sat Jul 02, 2016 12:57 pm

Fair enough, it works for telling on facelift then as mine have the reflector main beam.
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Do I have xenon's?

Post by RickyG512 » Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:30 pm

Hi All,

Sorry for taking ages, so I finally managed to get to the rear of my headlights and unfortunately I have Halogens :( :(

Anyway I changed the H7 bulb with a cheap £2 ebay replacement, started her up and back to normal now, although the lights didn't go up and down this time with the VRR VRR noise strangely.

I think from my experience, with all the signs everyone's given me, the only way to really be sure is it open up the headlight and see for yourself maybe, but you guys are right, i cant see anything in a country road!

Question is, do I get a HID conversion kit or try and find a HID headlamp uni from a breakers?
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Do I have xenon's?

Post by Scooba_Steve » Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:33 pm

HID kit over the conversion - to do it properly you'll need the lamps, ballasts, levelling sensors, new LCM (light switch) and coding. Very expensive even without new parts.

HID kit is essentially plug and play and is reversible.
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Roundozo
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Do I have xenon's?

Post by Roundozo » Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:35 pm

Agreed with the above post. I had halogen and couldn't see anything while driving at night. I've since fitted an HID kit and it's a massive improvement and a relatively simple job to do.

Fitting oem or even aftermarket xenon just isn't worth the cost outlay if you ask me due to all of the additional bits you will need to make it work properly.
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Magicarcher
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Do I have xenon's?

Post by Magicarcher » Wed Jan 25, 2017 8:45 pm

I too am confused if i have zenons. If I type my last 7 digits into the site which gives specs/accessories, no mention is made of my car having zenons. However My car is fitted with headlamp wash, and the lights say on them D2S H7. One light has a traditional parabolic reflector the other has a semi-spherical condenser lens.

Could anyone unriddle this for me, as I am confused.
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k31ron
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Do I have xenon's?

Post by k31ron » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:29 pm

Which HID kits are you all fitting? Had enough of my halogen candles.

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Do I have xenon's?

Post by mr wilks » Thu Jan 26, 2017 7:52 pm

Magicarcher wrote:I too am confused if i have zenons. If I type my last 7 digits into the site which gives specs/accessories, no mention is made of my car having zenons. However My car is fitted with headlamp wash, and the lights say on them D2S H7. One light has a traditional parabolic reflector the other has a semi-spherical condenser lens.

Could anyone unriddle this for me, as I am confused.
Have you yellow hazard warning stickers under bonnet on the panel above each headlamp ? This is usually the giveaway for Xenon,s :thumbsup:
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Do I have xenon's?

Post by Mr Tidy » Fri Jan 27, 2017 1:21 am

From what I have read the clincher is whether you have the thumbwheel to adjust the angle of the headlights next to the dimmer for the dash lights - if you do they aren't Xenons as they self-level, hence the up/down sweep if they are Xenons!

Headlight washers aren't at all conclusive - certain models (including all facelift 3 litre IIRC) have washers - the difference is if they are Xenons non-working headlight washers are an MOT fail, whereas on Halogens they are just an advisory AFAIK.

One thing is for sure, if you ever own one with them and one without you will know for sure! Sadly my current one is in the dark. :lol:
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Do I have xenon's?

Post by Magicarcher » Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:07 pm

Have you yellow hazard warning stickers under bonnet on the panel above each headlamp ? This is usually the giveaway for Xenon,s :thumbsup:
No
From what I have read the clincher is whether you have the thumbwheel to adjust the angle of the headlights next to the dimmer for the dash lights - if you do they aren't Xenons as they self-level, hence the up/down sweep if they are Xenons!
Have thumbwheels.

Guess I don't have Xenons
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Roundozo
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Do I have xenon's?

Post by Roundozo » Thu Feb 23, 2017 10:31 pm

Magicarcher wrote:
Have you yellow hazard warning stickers under bonnet on the panel above each headlamp ? This is usually the giveaway for Xenon,s :thumbsup:
No
From what I have read the clincher is whether you have the thumbwheel to adjust the angle of the headlights next to the dimmer for the dash lights - if you do they aren't Xenons as they self-level, hence the up/down sweep if they are Xenons!
Have thumbwheels.

Guess I don't have Xenons
Not the end of the world. Not as expensive when they go wrong (some of the xenon's will be getting on in their years now) and you can modify them (Hid kit) so you get a lot better light output. :thumbsup:
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Do I have xenon's?

Post by mjennings23 » Wed Mar 22, 2017 9:58 am

Don't mean to hijack this, but just a curiousity. It seems the general consensus is that HID kits to replace the H7 halogens are okay, I assume this is because the halogens also have projector lights rather than reflectors.

I only ask as I'm looking for a Z4 myself right now and finding ones with all my options ticked is proving fruitless! If I can knock xenon off that list and fit a conversion kit then happy days!

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Do I have xenon's?

Post by cj10jeeper » Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:13 am

mjennings23 wrote:Don't mean to hijack this, but just a curiousity. It seems the general consensus is that HID kits to replace the H7 halogens are okay, I assume this is because the halogens also have projector lights rather than reflectors.

I only ask as I'm looking for a Z4 myself right now and finding ones with all my options ticked is proving fruitless! If I can knock xenon off that list and fit a conversion kit then happy days!
HID kits are never as good as OEM however are an acceptable solution for many to replace the poor lighting of halogen
The reality is the size, shape and position of the bulb is not correct and at best don't dazzle and the light beam is OK to pass an MOT
If you can find a car with oem xenons it will be much better having the correct suspension sensors to adjust beam angle under load, alignment of beam with left 'flick' and cut-off and washers
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