Future of Xenon Bulbs

[FILV]

My 2012 X3 still has its original Xenon bulbs, so having in mind that eventually they will be bound to need replacing, i am often just checking the prices of replacement Xenon bulbs.

I have noticed that every year there are less and less Xenon bulbs of the favorable brands (Philips etc) for sale, and it seems the LED bulbs are now becoming the main offering.

Has anyone done the change from Xenon to led bulbs?
Do you need a resistor to avoid any errors?
How is the light performance compared to Xenon bulb?

Examples:

"ultinon access" - Autolume Plus

autolume.co.za

 

[PsyCLown]

I could be very wrong here but my understanding is that the xenon bulbs use ballasts which increase voltage significantly (20 000v +).
So if you wanted to swap over to LED you'd need to firstly redo the wiring and bypass the ballast.

The next thing is that xenon bulbs should always be used with a projector, however I am not convinced the projector would be ideal for use with an LED bulb due to the way the light is dispersed from the LED bulb. Maybe you can get LED bulbs suitable for use in xenon projectors which have a similar dispersion pattern to a xenon bulb.

I doubt xenon bulbs will disappear completely, I'd suggest sticking to xenon bulbs until you really cannot anymore.

 

[FILV]

I could be very wrong here but my understanding is that the xenon bulbs use ballasts which increase voltage significantly (20 000v +).
So if you wanted to swap over to LED you'd need to firstly redo the wiring and bypass the ballast.

The next thing is that xenon bulbs should always be used with a projector, however I am not convinced the projector would be ideal for use with an LED bulb due to the way the light is dispersed from the LED bulb. Maybe you can get LED bulbs suitable for use in xenon projectors which have a similar dispersion pattern to a xenon bulb.

I doubt xenon bulbs will disappear completely, I'd suggest sticking to xenon bulbs until you really cannot anymore.

My F10 has led bulbs in the oem Projectors, and light output is excellent. Same as Xenons.
So im guessing the issue just comes down to the power/voltage

Some new leds have some sort of cutoff on the led, not sure how it works but apparently this is for cars that dont have projectors.


I would love to stick to Xenons, in particular the Xenon 6000k bulbs which were always the Whitevision range, but they are becoming harder to find, and expensive. Seems the Leds are cheaper for the same performance.

Hella LED Retrofit Xenon Replacement (~D1S/D1R) Set of 2 - Autolume Plus

Hella LED Retrofit Xenon Replacement Our LED retrofit xenon replacement lamps impress both in daily use and in the long term. While conventional xenon lamps only reach their full light output after a certain warmup time, LED retrofit xenon replacement lamps deliver clear, bright light...

autolume.co.za

 

[TurboLlew]

If you're really worried about availability, buy a set of bulbs and keep them (or do a set now and keep your originals as backups) IMHO

Apart from the actual optics of the light, when I investigated LED upgrades for the Porsche, they often come with fans OR heat management issues making fitment a challenge on some platforms since especially some of the higher end options which you'd want to go for won't fit in all housings. The better route is complete replacement headlights with new housings and electronics for the LED setup that also have new lenses/DRLs etc.

 

[KarshS]

I replaced my xenon bulbs with LED replacements from @FiRi@Rennzport

So far im happy with them. Defiantly better visibility at night. It was a direct replacement

 

[FerdiBotha]

I had to replace Xenon bulbs in my E90 and opted for LED's due to Xenon availability. The LED's are on par, if not slightly better, than the OEM Osram Xenons.

 

[FILV]

I had to replace Xenon bulbs in my E90 and opted for LED's due to Xenon availability. The LED's are on par, if not slightly better, than the OEM Osram Xenons.

Was it a straight plug n play or did you have to add resistors to each bulb to not get any error?

 

[msm]

Was it a straight plug n play or did you have to add resistors to each bulb to not get any error?

Chat to Firi. He has drop in replacements that do not produce any errors.

 

[FiRi@Rennzport]

Hello...I'm heeeeere.

Yes sir we can assist. I did my f25 back in 2021 as well and moved over to our premium led globes. Price is R1500 a set with a 1 year guarantee.

Specs as follows
45w vs 35w OEM
6000 kelvin vs 4500k
10,000 lumens

We also have globes for the fogs, they are R1200 a pair, but for some odd reason the f25 will need coding to clear the error. The same globe on another BMW is error less. I'm thinking it has to do with the frm.

You can reach me on 065-950-6027

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