I used to think the same thing, then I started paying attention to the cars whose Xenon flash bothered me. I soon noticed it wasn't the high-end cars that came with them from the factory. It appeared to be models that were somehow retrofitted with the Xenons.

Properly fitted Xenon headlights aren't bothersome to me in the least. And that's looking them straight in the eye as they approach me.

 

WOW!!....now there's an opinion you're not gonna get everyday.

 

I agree. Properly aimed Xenons are just as safe to oncoming traffic as Halogens. Most of the time, if I have a problem with oncoming headlights, it's some guy with ebay "high intensity bulbs" in his civic with a fart can

 

For what it's worth, you don't use night vision when driving at night (unless you drive with your lights off ). You're actually using day vision and some degraded day/night vision (scotopic). If you are seeing color, you are using day vision. True night vision has a best acuity of 20/200 and is monochromatic. As always with any type of lighting you should direct you eyes to the lines on the right side of your lane when confronted with bright lights from oncoming vehicles. This will keep you focused on the road, while preventing your vision from being washed out and the natural tendancy to steer towards the lights. We had to learn entirely too much about the anatomy of the eye in flight school.

Also, I have the Xenon lights and wouldn't trade them for anything. The limited amount that I have driven the car at night has been great and nobody has given me an angry flash of thier high beams as if I were blinding them. They have the most natural and yet bright light I have ever seen.

Cody

 

So may be I need to modify the opinion--I'll try to notice if it's aftermarket lights on crappy cars that bother me.

I'd hate to lump you all in the same category with those folks unfairly.

 

So, if they break, they don't work and you are in the same position you are in now, except you don't have the xenons. Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. But, then again, I don't get the whole "they may break, so I won't take advantage of them" thought process anyway.

 

The Department of Transportation (DOT) approved Xenon and HID (from factory cars) to improve safety. Primarily in the area of vehicle fatalities, which includes vehicles hitting pedestrians. DOT research (including looking at Europe, which had Xenon and HID far longer than the US) apparently differs wondermini's opinion...

How many more fatalities (including pedestrians killed at night due to poor visibility) would there be if we returned to the dim-bulbed, yellow headlights of 1955?

Quite right! I find most folks who complain about 'bright lights' on oncoming cars tend to stare right into them when confronted, then shade their eyes... 58driver is 100% correct in stating the correct technique. Try it.

 

I think he meant the auto washer part, not the xenons.
"1 MINI, hold the lights, please"

 

Xenons are are bothersome to some people....I'd even say many. I'd also take common sense and real-world observation over DOT research anyday.

That said...I would never tell someone not to get Xenons if they felt they would really help them drive.

 

It's true... look at the responses, many say the xenons are "bothersome".... So, there's "bothersome" and there's "Dangerous" (as wondermini claims) to others....

Perhaps Wondermini is the selfish one... He/She would prefer to have more bicyclists, pedestrians, etc. killed because a driver didn't see them and react in time. The modern lighting gives longer distance visibility and helps avoid 'surprises'...

Try 58driver's technique... look down and away (say, at the line on the right side of your lane)... instead of directly at the 'bright' lights. No, you are not looking away from the road, your peripheral vision will include the oncoming traffic and your lane (plus the shoulder, curb, sidewalk, etc) will still be quite in full view...

 

These same "dangerous" and "bothersome" arguments were made when halogen lights were first introduced to the US and, I myself, remember noticing them among the then-common sealed beam headlights and thinking they were annoying. I submit a properly aimed xenon is less "bothersome" than a wide-washing halogen. The bluishness of the xenons causes many people to look into them without them realizing it.

 

You found me out. I'm a sadist. I want to run over bicyclists--truly the intent of my post.

 

The worst Xenon implementation are the ones that self level as the car bounds over bumps. When you are oncoming into a car which has that feature, the lights are very distracting and blinding. Much like a flash bulb constantly going off and on. Get caught by a couple of those on the roads around here and you might as well pull over. Because there is no way you are going to be able to see anything beyond them.

I have one stretch of road to my house which is not lit. The Volve Xenons created tunnel vision for me. They were so bright I could not see anything outside the light beams. Forced me to drive a lot slower than the rest of the traffic, which made the situation a bit more dangerous than I preferred.

 

I agree with Robin's assessment. I wouldn't say I hate them, but for the low beams, the concentrated light starting right in front of the car makes it more difficult for me to see anything outside this zone. I prefer lights which end up with an illumination "hole" from the light to maybe 20 feet in front of the car. The fogs can be then used to fill in the hole when needed.

With the high beams on, I don't really notice them throwing out a lot of extra light outside the low beam zone until there are street signs within range. They really seem to reflect off the street sign and construction sign material which is a nice feature. However, as high beam lights they don't really illuminate as well as I think they should. Range down road is extended over the low beams, but not as much as I'd like and illumination of items on the sides of the road and higher up isn't very good (except for signs).

Yes my lights have been readjusted within reasonable limits (low beams don't blind oncoming traffic). I've never been flashed by oncoming drivers when running low beams.

-my 0.02

 

These are all excellent points...I hope the OP appreciates the input/observations. If the question is "is it worth it?" then the answer must come down to (as mentioned in another thread) "is it worth it to you??" Seems best thing to do is to try a test drive at night, which frankly not many of us have a chance to do, especially with longer summer days and dealership hours. If you're serious about the question, they may give you a MINI to drive overnight???

 

Yeah, that is what i meant.

I dont like the design of the washers.
simple as that.
=)

 

Xenons can light up the road better at night, but it depends on your eye sight. I sometimes have a hard time seeing distances that are lit up by the xenons due to them being white/blue, but it's not so complicated with regular yellow halogens though distance is reduced since halogens can't project as far as HIDs. I believe this only occurs to me in cities when the streets are lit up by their (yellow) light poles, but I see everything very clearly when it is just my headlights lighting up the road, such as out in the country.

This being my 2nd car with HIDs, I probably won't buy any car that doesn't come with HIDs from the factory. I even waited the production time just so I could get a MINI with HIDs, as opposed to buying a MINI w/o HIDs that was unspoken for on the lot.

 

I love my Xenons! My only complaint is that you can't flash other MINIs with them since the '07s have bi-xenons instead of a combination halogen/xenons.

Oh well, I'll wave instead.

 

What do you mean you can't flash other MINIs? There's gotta be high beams. Mine is going to have driving lights, so when I flash the highs, those will go on for me

 

Yup, there are high beams, but they're bi-xenons. It means that you have to fire up the xenon lights to flash, and that's hard on the igniters ($$$).

Plus, it takes a few seconds to fire 'em up--not like a halogen flash.

 

WOW.

I could not disagree more. Xenons are all about increasing safety for the driver of the xenon-equipped car and other cars on the road. Most xenon-equipped cars from the factory are aimed properly and do not blind others. The ones that you are referring to are usually the aftermarket ones on Civic aimed too high or on SUV's.

 

So, I'm quoting myself here as apparently my less inflammatory remarks are not getting seen.

Seems like the DOT ought to regulate the aiming of these lights. While folks on this forum seem to be conscious of the potential to blind drivers, we all know not everyone out there cares so much.

 

One thing I've noticed is that I tend to look at the "unusual" lights that stand out from the others. I think a lot of folks do that subconsciously. Between that and the after-market HIDs, xenons are getting a lot of bad press.

 

Sorry, Wonder, I didn't look at you going after bicyclists. I think your original thoughts were based on your driving experience. I honestly felt the same way when I first saw the Xenons, but over time it just seemed like the ones I took for aftermarket attempts at retrofitting were to blame for the ones I felt were blinding.

Even though I love my Xenons, I would never suggest that everyone needs to drive with them. Saying that someone who rejects a headlight style wants to see more people killed or injured seems a little, well, ... blinding.

 

You can always tell when a person is running aftermarket HID bulbs in non-HID housings; the light is dispersed everywhere. Factory will always have a sharp cut off beam for the light, so that oncoming traffic will not get blinded.

Now, if a person has those beams jacked up (ala SUV), that is a different issue...