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OEM xenon color temperature?

8K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  RedRaptor 
#1 ·
Does anyone know how "hot" the OEM xenons are? I also have a Honda S2000 with factory xenons and the S2K's xenons are considerably brighter/hotter, if you know what I mean. The light is whiter. I also used to own a BMW equipped with factory xenons and those were hotter as well. I have to admit that I'm less than impressed with the Maz3's xenons. Kinda wish they had more punch, for lack of a better term.
 
#3 ·
midnightfxgt said:
You are expecting the Mazda3's lighting system to be on par with cars which cost more than double, or even triple what the 3 costs? :shrug:. I would understand if the Civic came with Xenons and were better.... sorry, but I cant help ya man

~JOHN
Well.. yeah, I am! The xenon option on a Mazda3 costs the same as the xenon option on a BMW 330i. The fact that the 330i has a base price twice as high as the Mazda3 has nothing to do with it. And yeah, I know that the $700 I spent on xenons also got me the TPMS system but the BMW gets bi-xenons (high-beams as well as low) and also automatic leveling that the Mazda doesn't get, so in the end it's a wash. But even the BMW xenons aren't as good as the ones they put on the Honda S2K. The S2K's headlights are simply awesome.. the best of any car out there.

I'd be willing to wager that if I can swap out the xenon bulb elements on the Mazda3's OEM headlights for aftermarket units with a hotter color temperature I'd probably be happier.
 
#6 ·
Arent pretty much all OEM xenons made by 1 of 2 companies. I know one popular bulb is the Philips. I just thought pretty much all OEM bulbs were the same from car to car. I think the difference might come in the design of the housings.
 
#7 ·
Usually OEM is somewhere between 4100 K and 4300 K.

I know the Japanese use 4100 K, BMW uses 4300 K and Mercedes uses I htink 4500 K

You can tell by colour, the higher the number the more the colour fades from white to blue to purple.

6000 K is a purplish colour.
 
#9 ·
RedRaptor said:
Does that mean that 6000k kit gives off less light on the road? I don't mind the purple tint to HIDs...actually the Audis that I see have a purple tint to them.
The blue-purple you see from BMW's, MB's etc are due to the optics of the projector system (ie. the lens). The best light output from a hid bulb will be in the 4100 - 4300k range and this is what most car manufacturers use. Anything higher will give you bluish to purplish colour with the sacrifice of light output.
I retrofitted an OEM set of hids with Hella ballasts and 4100k phillips d2s bulbs in a VW Passat. On the passat, the halogen low beams use projectors, and the result of putting hids in was amazing. From different angles, it would have the blue-purple effect (from the optics) of bimmers and benz's, but the light output is the highest possible.

Hopefully that clears up some confusion about colour temperatures and the perceivable colours coming from expensive cars.

I placed 4300K hids in my 3, and the output is great, from different angles you can notice the colour changes (blue-purple) as well (as a result of the projector lens we have).

HTH :D
 
#12 ·
Thanks for all the info about HIDs, this thread is very educational. The only question left really is should people go with 4100K or 6000k? I guess its more personal preference. I think I'll end up going with 6000k because I like the purple/blue tint as opposed to pure white light.

I'll take it to a shop to do it tho. Probably Speedstar since a buddy of mine knows the owner. Hopefully they'll know how to wire the DRL to the FOG + Amber Parking Light combo so my 3 will have an Audi-like system.

I love the look of HIDs, they make your car look $10,000 more expensive than it really is.
 
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