Going out in the dark to get the newspaper this morning, it was so foggy I couldn't see across the street. Fantastic!

So I grabbed my keys and tried driving around using the xenons and fog lights.
The xenons worked really well with their sharp cutoff, lighting up quite a ways down the street. The "fog lights" were worthless, making almost no contribution at all.

I expected the xenons would work well in fog, and they work better than I had hoped.

 

Sounds like I should have had xenons in the 70's.

Sealy - Who's still looking for a couple of lost decades.

 

Ha..I'm foggy everyday. Coffee is cheaper than the xenon's too.....

 

I find fog lights are good for helping to light the ground immediately in front of the bumper. This is good when the fog is super thick and you're following the white line (fog line) on the outside of the lane.

 

Same here. Fogs are good for finding the unmarked edges of the road when you are out in the boonies!

 

Love my xenons! They impress everytime I switch them on.

 

interesting you said that....my MA told me not to bother with the fog lights since the Xenons will do the work. it confuses me when a dealership tells you not to buy something lol .

 

Me too.. i let it be Juke when i was discovered not was posible have xenons even in turbo model!

 

Agree, last week had a very foggy morning and the xenons were excellent. With the adaptive feature the whole package is superb.

 

I wish I had the xenons. :( That's the breaks when you buy on the lot, but I needed a car ASAP. Maybe next time when my lease is up.

 

left my CM at the dealer last night for some work and got a clubman as a loaner with no Xenons. Wow did I get spoiled fast in only a week. I hate non xenons

 

Curious, have Xenons gotten way better?

My issues in past cars have been;
1) Too drastic of a cutoff... When driving on the highways at night, the drastic brightness of the Xenons along with the sharp cutoff leave me feeling blinded for what might be further ahead (above the cutoff) so instead of seeing much dimmer images, it almost looks pitch black.
2) replacement costs... Halogen bulbs only cost $15-$20 and a quick pop of the hood to replace.
3) increased peripheral distraction... The sharp lines in the cutoff seem distracting in the peripheral vision while going over bumps. I constantly feel like I have these lines in the sides of my vision going up and down.

Mind you, the last time I drove a car with Xenons at night like this was probably 7 or 8 years ago, so maybe things have changed?

 

Next best was in the 70s rallying with a generator in the trunk and 1000 watt halogen on the roof. Great until the bulb went out, then BOY! Was it DARK!

 

My 2005 MCS had xenons and I had none of the issues you list above. I wear glasses and my eyes are sensitive to light but the xenons were so much better than the halogen lights. Replacement cost might be high but they should last at least 5 years. I haven't received my 2012 MCS yet so I can't say if they've been improved.

 

I wanted to get the HID option, but was not willing to wait 3-ish months for a car just to get that option. I ended up saving $1500+ by getting the 2011 off the lot, so I think it was a good decision. Also, the halogens have a great pattern, IMHO, with a fairly sharp cutoff (enough spill to help see stuff beyond the cutoff). I threw some Silverstars in it, and it's even better.
* I should note that I could only get the "cheap" Silverstars at the time, and ordered a set of Philips Xtreme Power for later. Have yet to feel a need to try out the Philips set, but we'll see when I start driving in more fog/snow/dark here soon.

 

My experience with the Xtreme is you should order another set as spares - the life is not anything like as long as the standard bulbs, but the output is higher.

 

Yup, pre-warned on the life of higher-output bulbs already. At the price I paid, it's not a big deal.

 

Hahaha, I know! My mother's R56 doesn't have xenons, and I drove it back from the shop for her one night. I got in, hit the ignition button, squinted at the road ahead, and thought to myself, "The lights are on, right?" After getting used to the xenons, it felt like I was half-blind.

 

I did the same thing. I pulled up close to a car at a traffic light just so I could verify the headlights were on by their reflection.

Got my baby back though, so no worries.

 

Just had one of my Philips bulbs go out - got just over 2 years out of them. jmo, but the improvement over stock bulbs was not very noticeable.

 

I got a 2012 CM with out the xenons and was wondering if it's possible to order entire new light housing for xenon to replace the original housing?