Hi, I'm just wondering if any of the Countryman owners who have the Halogen lights are happy with them? I've read posts in this forum about the owners with the Xenon lights really loving them, anybody love their Halogens? Do the Halogens light the road really well? I'm just wondering if the cost of the Xenon's are worth it or are the Halogens perfectly fine? Thanks

 

Halogen works fine but when I saw another cm w xenon, my brain said "that's cool!". Do I want to spend that much for it? no. Another reason is that when that cm was passing me I got blinded, like the driver had a high beam on.....maybe he had 20k hue bulb? Supplemental question-is it difficult to change from halogen to xenon? What part does it need? Forgive me hazelnut8, if I'm interfering your question.

 

Before configuring our CM4, we drove both the xenon and halogen equipped cars at night, and the xenon was so dramatically superior lighting that we included that option in our build. IMO, the xenon lights are better than most driving lights or fog lights available. We also chose the adaptive option, and driving on a dark road with the headlights aiming into the turns is excellent. Even though the option is expensive, we would do it again if given the opportunity - no regrets.

 

I don't know if it's possible to change from the standard halogen to the standard xenon headlight assemblies. Having looked at the xenon assembly in my CM4, it doesn't look like the xenon would get the needed connections. It certainly doesn't look like you could change from halogen to adaptive xenon, since other information would have to be provided (steering angle).

When the car is powered up, the xenon lights go through a self alignment procedure to adjust the headlights for possible loading in the car. I guess there could be a problem (lights aimed high) if more weight was added after the car was started. We haven't seen that effect in our use of the CM4 yet.

 

I have halogen lights but always turn my fog lights on at night. Those make the road so much brighter!

 

Xenon's, sunroof, factory driving lights, JCW kits, automatic transmission, leather seats, Harmon Kardon upgrades.......I assess it this way. If it improves my driving/riding experience, and at time of trade in or resale NADA shows a 90%+ return on that initial cost/investment, then go for it.

 

We opted for halogen. We are keeping the vehicle for awhile so replacement of a halogen bulb is a lot cheaper than possibly replacing a ballast or HID unit outside of warranty.

 

We added the xenons as an afterthought since it was only an extra $50 due to us ordering all of the other options for the sport package. Looking back after almost 8 months of ownership if I had to do it all over again the xenons would be our number one option over anything else. They are that good.

 

They are THAT good. We have the Xenons on both of our cars and wouldn't have it any other way. They REALLY are that good and worth the expense. As I understand it they do last a long, long time. In fact I can't remember seeing a thread called my Xenons quit working. At least not from failing to due old age.

 

The xenons on high beam are spectacular, on low they are really good as well. The best feature about getting the xenon though is that then you can spend just a wee bit more and get "adaptive light control", which focuses the headlights to the right and left as you go around curves. I will not buy a car without this again, it's like high-beams for curvy roads in that you can actually see where you are turning.

All together it's such a safety improvement it would be like riding a motorcycle naked to go without Xeonon lights + adaptive control if you have a choice.

 

Thanks Everybody for the responses. I guess I'll spend the extra $$ for the Xenons. My halogens on my current car do a great job, except during raining/bad weather. Hopefully, the Xenons will improve my visibility during those times.

 

How long are you planning on keeping it, my dad's running a 2001 Maxima with xenon's, they are still the ones delivered with the car.

 

TBH I don't notice much difference between standard xenons on my CM and the adaptive xenons on my wifes Touran, I think it's a great gymic for getting more dosh out of the punter for little benefit.

 

Surprisingly, the halogens on the CM are much brighter than the xenons on my 01 audi allroad were, they just seemed to be fading away, I had the lenses polished but that didn't really help. Then again, the halogens on the a4 i had before that were about as bright as the average D-cell flashlight! i would regularly drive with the brights on just to see! The audi xenons were beginning to change color, one had a distinct pinkish hue and occasionally would not fire. The bulb priced out at $900 but that didn't include the starter (another $900) or labor...

I test drove a CM with the xenons and know they're nice n bright! I am, though, very pleased with the visibility with the halogens, especially using the fog lights. I bought mine off the lot, so the comfort of the lounge leather + halogen won out over the leatherette + xenons... my poor ol leaky allroad wasn't going to wait for a custom build!

 

Wow, $1800 to replace a bulb for the Xenon's? That's even worse than the original price of $250 per light at production.
I was actually somewhat upset I hadn't upgraded to them from the Halogens until I read that...
I'm surprised MINI doesn't offer a "Headlight Warranty/Maintenance" package for $1000....

 

I bought halogens and completely regretted it. Had to install some aftermarket xenons in. Pretty happy now but next time I won't make the same mistake.

 

+1 for Adaptive Xenons

 

Brighter bulbs = more reflected light from rain, fog, or snow. A true fog light has a wide and very flat topped pattern that was traditionally yellow to reduce the perceived glare. The "whiter" or "bluer" the light the greater the perceived glare because of the way the human eye works.

 

Prior to having the CM4 with xenon, the best fog lights I have previously encountered were seven-inch headlight replacements (think Mini) made by Cibie. Those halogen lights had a sharp cutoff and the characteristic that the beam was wide and got brighter as it got closer to the cutoff.

[As I recall, the best fog lights don't scatter light up, which makes a visual barrier when it hits the water droplets.]

Somehow MINI's achieved something similar with a brighter light source - excellent illumination with a sharp cutoff.

Of some worry is the circle of light sources that surround the projector lens system - I wonder if that will be a problem in serious fog.

 

You can always do what I do in very heavy rain, thick fog, or heavy snow. I turn off my Xenons and just use my fogs. Dramatic reduction of back scatter. Under those conditions the light pattern of the fog lights is more than adequate for the speeds you should be doing.