Just took delivery of my ML350 last night and I noticed the HID lights doesn't seem as bright-white as my old cayenne. Was wondering has anyone swap out the H7 55w low beam bulb with a higher kelvin temp and higher wattage bulb??? Plus, is it me or are the lights shining too low??? Thanks in advance. I've been following this forum leading up to my purchase and it's been very informative and enjoyable.
Just took delivery of my ML350 last night and I noticed the HID lights doesn't seem as bright-white as my old cayenne. Was wondering has anyone swap out the H7 55w low beam bulb with a higher kelvin temp and higher wattage bulb??? Plus, is it me or are the lights shining too low??? Thanks in advance. I've been following this forum leading up to my purchase and it's been very informative and enjoyable.
The only thing higher color temperature will achieve is bling. The human eye is more sensitieve to the warmer colors, according to what I've read. The OEM temperature is around 4,300K.
I thought mine were low and adjusted them up a bit. The adjustment is done through small holes right at the fender edge with a Torx driver.
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<B>Greg</B> Lake Oswego, Oregon, USA
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<B>2006 ML350</b> - Pewter/Charcoal Alcantara/Aluminum; Packages: Comfort, Lighting, Entertainment, Appearance, Airmatic, Sunroof; Options: Nav, Sirius, hitch, heated seats, power liftgate, roof rack; Mods: ML500 skid plates, ML63 20" wheels.
<B>2001 BMW M3 Coupe</B> (5/01 prod.) - Titanium/Cinnamon w/ many mods.
If you have the standard lights you will have the H7 Bulb but if you have the Lighting Package you will have Bi-Xenons with a DS2 bulb. You can replace the H7 with a Hoen and may be able to achive more light
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Packages: Appearance (Pewter/Charcoal), Lighting, Entertainment, Comfort and Sunroof:
Options: Hitch, Heated Seats, Rear Airbags, Parktronic, Power Liftgate, Frt & Rr Stainless Steel Skid Plates, DVD Nav Sys, IPod Kit and Craddled Phone Kit
Mods: Hoen Titanium H-7 High Beams, All Weather H-11 Fogs, 5000k W5W Standing Lamps, Chrome Door Lock Pins & Hood Fins, Brabus Monoblock IV 20" Wheels with Hankook Ventus ST RH06 275/45 Tires, Brabus Custom Suspension 164-016-00 and SS Side Bars
If you have the standard lights you will have the H7 Bulb but if you have the Lighting Package you will have Bi-Xenons with a DS2 bulb. You can replace the H7 with a Hoen and may be able to achive more light
The stock H7 is 55w and the replacement xenonmatch titanium is 70w. I wonder if there is any difference to the untrained eye.
If you have the standard lights you will have the H7 Bulb but if you have the Lighting Package you will have Bi-Xenons with a DS2 bulb. You can replace the H7 with a Hoen and may be able to achive more light
My bad.., I confused the H7 as the HID bulbs. Yes, I do have the Bi-Xenons and want to replace it with a brighter/whiter bulb if possible. Wondering if the ballast can handle a higher wattage bulb. Thanks for the correction mikenj6.
If you have the standard lights you will have the H7 Bulb but if you have the Lighting Package you will have Bi-Xenons with a DS2 bulb. You can replace the H7 with a Hoen and may be able to achive more light
My bad.., I confused the H7 as the HID bulbs. Yes, I do have the Bi-Xenons and want to replace it with a brighter/whiter bulb if possible. Wondering if the ballast can handle a higher wattage bulb. Thanks for the correction mikenj6.
i also thought the HID lights would be both brighter and bluer, and mine seem to be aimed too low also, like Greg said. Guess i'll just wait until the 1-3k check up to get them adjusted.
I just want a constant white/blue light, that's all. My old cayenne, the touareg, and even the lexus 330 seem to have brighter lights!?!?!?! The factory HID's on the ML turns into a warm white/yellowish light after a minute of turning it on. I'm thinking about swapping the factory 4300K bulbs with 6000K's. Anything higher is too much.
kryptonite - 11/8/2005 10:51 PM
I just want a constant white/blue light, that's all. My old cayenne, the touareg, and even the lexus 330 seem to have brighter lights!?!?!?! The factory HID's on the ML turns into a warm white/yellowish light after a minute of turning it on. I'm thinking about swapping the factory 4300K bulbs with 6000K's. Anything higher is too much.
That's fine if you like the color, but don't confuse color temperature with output. I think you'll find most the 6k bulbs are the same wattage as the OEMs, therefore no more lumens. Boosting the lamp wattage substantially would require expensive ballast replacement.
Another issue is matching the halogen highs and fogs in color, which is tougher with 5k or 6k HIDs, and output will be reduced unless wattage is bumped.
For those who want to read more about light color, here is an excerpt from the Hi-Tech Import Lighting website:
What is the difference between a bulb that is 3800K or 5000K?
The differences between these bulbs is the colour temperature rated in K (Kelvin). This rating system is not rated by the brighter the bulb the higher the Kelvin rating.
Think of the colour rating scale as a rainbow instead. A standard incandescent bulb in the traditional shape that is common to the old style reading and coffee table lamps is rated at about 2400K to 2600K. A standard halogen headlamp bulb is rated at about 3000K to 3200K. Early generation HID systems where rated at about 4300K to 4500K and current generation HID systems are rated at about 4000K to 4250K. Just as a reference point, sun light at high noon on a clear day is rated at about 5000K to 5500K depending on the season, level of pollution in the air and your location on the planet. A cloudy day at high noon can be rated at about 6000K to 7200K.
Now that you have all those figures, let's think of the rainbow concept that we mentioned earlier beginning with the red side which is the incandescent bulb rated at 2400K to 2600K. As you move through the spectrum you will go through orange, yellow, white and then start to go into the blue and finally ultra violet. As the human eye sees light we all note that blue is actually the hardest to see with. This of course is due to the fact that blue light has the shortest wave length and is not recommended for good vision. Hence the reason that most current generation of HID systems have gone to a lower Kelvin rating. Rainy weather is the worst to be using bluish light in because the wet surfaces actually absorb the blue light and give you little return of information on what is actually there, sight wise.
The other factor into why something is brighter is a simple one, output wattage or intensity. Just because the sun is the brightest thing around doesn't mean it has the highest Kelvin rating. Cloudy days are dimmer than sunny days yet the cloudy days have a higher Kelvin rating. Confused enough? We hope after you read this a few times you will understand, most usually understand it the second time around.
So to summarize the answer to the question, a higher Kelvin rating has nothing to do with brightness as far as headlamp bulbs are concerned. Wattage and design of the headlamp bulbs and housings have everything to do with brightness and output. Also keep in mind that all higher wattage versions of any stock wattage bulbs tend to last a shorter time.
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