Do the xenon head lights make a big difference in seeing on dark, rainy nights?

 

yes

 

Anything than can be seen, will be seen much better with the halogens. This is due to their brighter light and the way it's focused into the perfect wide rectangle that covers the street in front of the car.

The rain-slicked road itself will still reflect the light away from you, so the "Hey are my headlights even on?" effect you notice now will still be there.

I am very happy I got a package with the halogen headlights.

 

Did you mean to say Xenon's here, or are you actually pro-halogen vs xenon. I'm confused...

 

For me, as long as the xenons are factory equipped, they work far far better than halogens. But I have one car the was converted to xenon only using aftermarket kit, it SUCKS! I cannot see anything in the rain.

Foctory equipped xenons are 4700k color temperature and great for all road conditions

The only thing I don't like in MINI xenons is that the lack a high beam halogen bulb which restricts you from using the high beam flasher because xenons are not meant to be turned on and off in a fast repetitive manner

 

Your not turning them on and off by switching between the high and low beam on the MINI xenons... you are only activating a solonoid that is changing the pitch of a small reflector inside the light housing.

Now if you have the lights turned completly off during the day (no DRLs) and you flash your high beams at a fellow motorists by pulling the signal/light stalk... thats turning them on and off rapidly... and yes, thats bad for xenons. So just wave instead.

Mearly switching from low to high and back again has no ill effect.

 

NOT necessarily true. The OP asked

Do the xenon head lights make a big difference in seeing on ... rainy nights?

Good (and legal) fog lamps produce white or Selective Yellow. Xenon or HID bulbs are inherently unsuitable for use in fog lamps, and blue or other-colored lights are also the wrong choice.

http://danielsternlighting.com/tech/...fog_lamps.html

For bad weather, you want yellow light. HIDs are not the answer to foul weather.

They are much better in clear weather but not the answer for fog/inclement weather.

 

Yeps, I know that switching between high and low opens just the flap so it has no effect on the life of the bulbs.

Switching them on and off repetitively is the bad thing I think I didn't explain myself clearly a while ago hehe

 

I do not mean fog, I just mean drizzly and dark....and possibly other headlights coming my way. Sorry, I couldn't find my post and posted twice.

 

If this is a concern, just make sure you get the front fog lamps installed (if it doesn't come standard) and get the best of both worlds. The fog lamps look to be halogen.

 

It doesn't matter. Bad weather, fog, rain, snow ... selective yellow is best. Clear dark ... HIDs.

 

Towards the upper-right corner of the page, if you click on "quick links" and then "subscribed threads," you'll get to all the threads for which you have a subscription.

I'd agree that the yellow fogs are handy for the poor weather.