Xenon vs LED headlights ...

[Alan]

Hey everyone, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this, I've got both and am finding I like the Xenons better. They seem to give more light and the cut off seems higher.

My brother was telling me something similar with his cars as well.

What do you think ?

[bren]

I've got some LED lights in my kitchen, not sure that'll help. :lol:

[clyde]

Haven't driven a car with LED headlights yet, but I wonder if they might be a better fit for replacing halogens and leaving HIDs as the extra cost?

I have no idea what costs are like, though.

[Nick M3]

Higher cutoff is an aim thing. And if you're looking at the audi xenons, they seem to come from the factory aimed very high. (Misaimed in the case of my Mom's B8 S4.)

I've driven an F30 with LEDs and they were fine. Better than my E46 xenons, but not as good as a Morimoto Mini setup. The real downside is that LEDs lose a lot of efficiency as they get whiter, so they are getting pushed out with a much bluer temperature.

Edit: And the cost of xenon is basically zero. LEDs are expensive, st least comparatively.

[clyde]

Edit: And the cost of xenon is basically zero. LEDs are expensive, st least comparatively.

Huh.

[wdc330i]

They were one option we did not think was necessary on our new X5. That and giant wheels.

[Alan]

Huh.

Many cars come standard with Xenon's and the LED's are optional.

[Alan]

They were one option we did not think was necessary on our new X5. That and giant wheels.

BMW Xenons are awesome, my brother has Xenons on his M3 and LEDs on his 6 GC and he prefers the Xenons.

[rumatt]

I've got some LED lights in my kitchen, not sure that'll help. :lol:
I like the 37000 lumen LED lights on my bicycle. Not sure that'll help. :lol:

[rumatt]

BMW Xenons are awesome,
I have halogens on the E46 and Xenons on my "new" wagon. I expected to be
dazzled and amazed by the Xenons, but honestly I don't find that much difference. They're better I suppose, but they're both fine. :dunno:

[Jeff_DML]

I like the 37000 lumen LED lights on my bicycle. Not sure that'll help. :lol:

Do you have a extra 0 in there? :)

I have 5000 Chinese f!cking lumens on my bike :D sorry inside joke between my riding buddies.

[rumatt]

Oh yeah, extra zero. :lol:

[FC]

I have LED's on the eGolf and like them quite a bit. I am not sure I'd pay extra for them though. The LR4 has Xenon low-beam and halogen high beams, and I am convinced good halogens make for better high beams in terms of distance. I felt the same way with the E46, where, while the headlamps were bi-Xenon, flashing was done with halogens and they seemed to ilumminate far away areas better.

[Alan]

I have halogens on the E46 and Xenons on my "new" wagon. I expected to be
dazzled and amazed by the Xenons, but honestly I don't find that much difference. They're better I suppose, but they're both fine. :dunno:

I have LED's on the eGolf and like them quite a bit. I am not sure I'd pay extra for them though. The LR4 has Xenon low-beam and halogen high beams, and I am convinced good halogens make for better high beams in terms of distance. I felt the same way with the E46, where, while the headlamps were bi-Xenon, flashing was done with halogens and they seemed to ilumminate far away areas better.

The last car I drove with Halogens was our 2011 MB GL450 and they were terrible. BMW halogens were definitely better but the Xenon's IMO are amazing especially the newer ones. My 911 which has Xenon's and they are the best headlights of any car I have ever driven.

[John V]

I haven't experienced LED headlights yet. I will say that the Xenons that were on my old ZHP were outstanding, and they were definitely better than the Morimoto Minis that I now have on the truck.

[FC]

Agreed both my ZHP & E91, as well as 987S & TT (both '07) were all excellent. So are the LR4 low beam Xenons. Haven't driven the Miata much at night, but those Xenon's are at least decent to pretty good.

The V70R Xenon's were very meh. The Xenon high beams on that car were downright bad. Ditto the Saabaru. But the Jeep & MCS halogen lamps were brutal. So was the 190E but that car was 80's tech so I'll give it a pass.

[Plaz]

The last car I drove with Halogens was our 2011 MB GL450 and they were terrible. BMW halogens were definitely better but the Xenon's IMO are amazing especially the newer ones. My 911 which has Xenon's and they are the best headlights of any car I have ever driven.

Are the 911 xenons better than the 911 LED advanced lighting package thingie?

[Alan]

Are the 911 xenons better than the 911 LED advanced lighting package thingie?

I don't know, I've never been in a 991 with the LED's though I will tell you I was driving home tonight and was kind of overanalyzing my lights on the A6 and the LED's are really are bright ... I kept thinking of Nicks post to see if they were aimed on the higher side but I don't quite see that. Next time when I'm in my daughter's car I'm going to keep an eye out to see if the car's LED's are brighter being it is a newer model.

[Sharp11]

I concur wrt xenons on the ZHP, outstanding is correct - ten years of night driving later and they're flawless, still. Up here, it gets really, really dark so great lighting is a must.

My wife's Infiniti M35 has standard halogens - they're not awful, but the difference between the two cars is striking.

[blee]

Good housing/projector/reflector design matter more, IMO, than the light source, although I suppose they're all interrelated. My '11 Silverado has very unremarkable H11 bulbs in plastic housings, but they throw light very nicely and the high beams are fantastic. In contrast, the '16 Silverado I had for a couple of weeks had a set of HIDs that were absolutely awful. The light itself was nicely white, but the pattern was terrible and I saw maybe 2/3 of the road compared to my '11.

Side note, the IIHS now reports headlight quality with its crash tests, and agrees with me on the current Silverado.

[equ]

I like the f10 5-series xenons (I think swiveling) quite a bit, among the best xenons I've driven. I have the optional 35W swiveling xenons on the boxster (PDLS) and they are good too, but perhaps not as good as the f10 (or the car is lower). Come to think of it, when I had the 987.2 and 997.2, I thought those xenons were the best.

The xenons on my b8 a4 and b8.5 s4 were not nearly as good.

Standard halogen doesn't work well for me. We put in higher wattage bulbs (taking special care with aim) on both the e46 m3 and the golf. They help, but not as good as xenons regarding patterns and clarity.

What bums me on the boxster is the lack of a front foglight. I like seeing pothole/bump relief at low speeds around town. The f10 fog light is weak stock but I haven't touched it as the low beam is so good.

[John V]

The 987's headlights have definitely ruined me for other cars.

[SARAFIL]

I have the LEDs in my 550 and I like them. I don't do enough driving at night on the highway/out of the city to be able to give you a reliable comparison of LED vs xenon but it feels to me like the LED are at least equal if not better to what I had on the E9xs and F30.