Can I upgrade from the original lamps to xenons, and if so what kinda cost we talking...

If not any alternatives to stock lamps?

 

sylvannia super white bulbs are great. Any xenon bulb has a very short life.
Upgrading to the real thing will cost you an arm and leg so it's not practical nor cost effective. there after market kits available it will probably just lower the value of your car.
cheers,
mau

 

My xenons both worked since early Oct 02 till I hit a deer. That one did blow one of the bulbs.... Other still going strong.... And on my MDX I'm on my third set of halogens, and it's a 2001. (Yes, I use gloves to change them)

Matt

 

arm and a leg, for my mini worth it...

no but you think like 1000 or more?

 

each side module costs about $750 (without discounts), then you need the whole squirter assembly and the stuff that goes with it. I'm guessing it's north of a grand with new parts for sure....

Matt

 

If you want the real thing (Levelers and all) you're probably looking for 600+ for each housing (1200 for the set), and a few hundred for the leveling tie in to the suspension. If you want to cheap it and go with an aftermarket kit, you can find them for 150 with ballast's and everything. Gnatster is a good person to contact for stuff like that, as he sells OEM parts.

FYI, using aftermarket xenons on your car is illegal, and WILL blind oncoming traffic. A xenon bulb has no filament, so trying to use a halogen housing to "Project" the light causes it to scatter all over and cause massive glare.

 

That is incorrect... Xenon bulbs last on average 2 times longer than halogens.

 

+1
The xenons on my 02's are still going strong.

 

A lot more than that, most xenon bulbs outlast the cars they're in. A Xenon bulb has no filament to burn out, they arc electricity across two electrodes in a xenon filled gas bulb. In fact, if your lights stop working, more that likely either the ballast or the igniter died.

 

haha yeah.... i was just trying to go on the safe side but you are definitely correct.

 

Unless you flash them when off. Then your igniter may not last very long. Not being able to flash your lights, at other MINIs who flash at you, is one of the downsides of Xenons.

There are others:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...dvantages.html

 

and there is lots that go into good lighting. I like the halogens on my MDX more than the xenons on my Mini for sure...

Totally off topic..... At the bottom of the read is this legaleze...

"No part of this text may be reproduced in any form without express permission of author." Totally ignorse the "fair use" clause of copywrite law...

Matt

 

I think that is typical wording of copyright notices. I've never seen one mention fair use. The fair use law just determines when the notice can be ignored.

 

Re-aiming my headlights a little higher helped a lot. Danielsternlighting.com has a nice guide how to do it. Check the thread on how to do it. Same adjustment screw for halogens or xenons.

Changing my bulbs to brighter halogens made a little difference but do look nicer IMHO. Don't worry, they are a brighter, "clearer" white, not annoyoing blue ones. Check the thread for daniel stern's email to me about replacement bulbs.

I'm very happy with my halogen setup now.

 

This is only an issue on the R56. The R53 doesn't have bixenon's, and has separate halogen bulbs for the brights.

It's also worth noting that if the lights are already on then it doesn't matter if you flash them, because all you're doing is moving a reflector up and down.

Solution: Leave your lights on all the time .