007

looks tite ray
big diffrence , am thinking about upgrading the bulbs for brighter effect.

raymond g-

Help me out again.... If I've determined that low and high beams are H7 bulbs, I would be asking for two pairs, right? Do I have the option of shopping for higher wattage H7s and having standard wattage on low side? I'm going through a Sylvania xref list (just to ID bulb type) but don't see mention of what I refer to as the 'parking light'....you know, the ones which light up first before the headlights (and below the high beam bulb). Ahh, I'm blathering now....what size is this parking light bulb? (It's way too yellowish, so am trying to match brighter white of high/low beam)

Whitey

H7 55W for both headlight and hi-beam. Suggest not using higher wattage bulbs as there's a risk of burning out your wiring (although I've had 100W headlamps for 2 years without probs, that was without realising it .....the HID glare should have alerted me tho ).

The parking lights are H6W, there are some really white ones available by Ventuno in Japan, but they are expensive and hard to come by, even in the rest of Asian. There are a few others (some in the US) that claim to be close to HID but comments so far is they haven't lived up to their expectations.....

raymond g-

thank you, sir for the info. tracking down some Philips variants now

Whitey

Do give the Crystal Visions a look if a you have a chance,. They are a newer bulb than the Blue Visions and from experience, I personally believe they are much clearer/sharper (since they are cased in crystal) and a better color than the blue visions.

MBWorld1

Whitey,

When you say that the Crystal Blue are better color than the Vlue Vision, do you mean they are more like Xenons?

Whitey

Look who's getting confused - its Blue Vision and Crystal Vision...

Blue Visions are 4000K, whilst the Crystal Visions are 5000K - meaning the Crystals are a little bluer, but not by much...just enough to give the light a bit more color, hence closer to MOST (not all) xenons. If you're after oure white, then I guess Blue Visions will do but they're not as sharp/clear and I personally think the bluish tint of the Crystals replicate xenons better....but of course, thats jmo.

Whitey

BTW, many Crystal visions you see online are 4000K also, but I have seen the 5000K's in action on a set of clear W209 CLK Halo lights and was very impressed - HID, but without the projectors!

Whitey

Sorry fellas, just checked the packaging, the 5000K bulbs that I've raving on about are DIAMOND VISIONS.....not Cyrstal visions, which are still 4000K ...........My bad

MBWorld1

Where can I get this Diamond Visions?
I tried Google but didn't see anything.
Also, who is the manufacturer?

Thanks Whitey!

Whitey

Philips

They're widely available in Europe and Asia but I guess because of the issue of approvals, they're not so easy to get a hold of in the US. I would be cautious ordering on line but I seem to remember someone ordered some Philips bulbs a while back from the UK (arrived within a couple of weeks) without any problems but I can't remember who (do a search for "Philips" here, you might be lucky to find the thread).

zam2000

MBworld1

Remmember, as long as halogen bulb is considered, it's all up to personal prefercence. One prefer this brand while other consider other. If you scan through the forum, you will see that for every type of bulb out there, there will also be someone who claim it's the best, regardless of whether that's a Korean cheap bulbs or overpriced PIAA.

Color is one thing, brightess is another. The law of physic apply to both Halogen and Xenon: the more color covering the bulb, the less brightness it is. This is why reputable xenon bulb (Osram & Philips) have no color tint whatsover. Last, but not least, is how reliable the bulb is. For me, back w/ Halogen, I stopped searching when I found a type of bulb that I was happy with. If you want to consider bulb, keep in mind all three factors: color, brightness, and reliability.

For every halogen out there, how close they can get to look like "Xenon" is very much subjective, each person has his/her own preference. The only type of light that can give true xenon look & performance is ...xenon.

I spent a lot of money on "xenon" look bulb before I upgraded to xenon, and just try to save other member from wasting $$ like me. The way I see it, if you're happy w/ the Halogen bulb you have, then stop there. Next step is Xenon.

This is one of the best site where people research on Halogen bulb. Had I found about it earlier, I could have save lot of $$

Halogen Bulb Information

MBWorld1

OK ZAM,

I am gonna go to Xenons anyway so I will just wait untill I get all the parts.
Any news on the Lens?

zam2000

Nope, except that I sent the guy the $$ and haven't heard anything from him !!!. Worse, my phone log only keep 10 numbers, so I lost track of his number as well.

Let's hope that my money isn't just vanished !!.

To be honest with you, I don't think the xenon upgrade worth it, now that I have gotten it for few days (and already spent money to upgrade the bulbs, since the ones I received w/ the package are D2R, which is not intended for projector, and xenon bulbs aren't that cheap !!! ).

I suggest that you check out my xenon first, before spending extra $$ on further upgrade. Btw, there're others who interest on the BlueVision, so you can always return that to me.

Whitey

Zam, your suggestions are very sensible. However, I am curious - why do you think the xenons are not worth it? I'm curious as I'd not owned a car with xenons yet and always thought they're meant to be an improvement on halogens (besides looking good)......

zam2000

Alright, here're the pictures as promised !!. The pictures in list are:

1. Beam against the garage door.
2. Light beam as seen from driver/passenger seat.
3. How the Panasonic ballast fit in
4. How the Hella projector get fit in.
5. Look compared to the W211

Notice the little groves on the Hella lens, it helps to distribute light evenly and elimimate hot spot, not to mention it allow light to be pass through and align beam properly (you won't have that horendous 2 narrow beams from each light anymore). Unless you decide to bake the light housing and take out the front cover, you will have to take out the lens, manage to fit the shroud (ring) into the projector front housing, fit the lens in ..... Definitely not a 15 minutes jobs (at least to me !!).

The ballast is not that hard to mount on the passenger side, but on the driver side, which doesn't have much room behind the light housing, it's a bit tough to it in.

The two big grove on top of the light beam are designed to eliminate glare to opposite traffice. It's the cut on the shield that create it (check the W211 for more info)

Notice the sharp cut off created by the xenon light. You will need a combination of things to get it right: the Projector (lens & shield), alignment, bulbs, and ballast.

<b> Also, as preventive for water condensation, see how I seal the light housing w/ silicon. Picture #3 shows it. I think this is a must do. You gotta take out the weather seal (rubber) to do this </b>

That's all

zam2000

FYI. This is how the W211 with Blue Vision bubls beam into the garage door. Picture taken w/ same setting (ISO 64, 1.8 Ap, 1/20 sec).

So in essene, the W211 and W210 has same projector (same lens). But since the light from the W211 is halogen, its yellowish gives impression that it's brighter on well lit area. So really depend on where you live & drive, xenon makes sense or not. On dark place (park & road), it's another story.

In southern CA, you can just drive w/ flash light mount in front of your car, and it still would be okey. All roads are just soo bright.

MBWorld1

OK, I will check out your Xenons in person at night so that I can get a good idea.
Hope you do get the lens cause I need them

MBWorld1

I love the blue tint in the Xenon photo against the garage.

Good work Zam!

Whitey

Then, if you choose to stay with Halogens, you should find a bulb with at least 5000-6000K which gives a bluer light (admittedly the brightness will be sacrificed a little, depending on the bulb of course). I'm using 6500K which is quite blue, probably a bit much for some. 5000K's have just a slight tint.

zam2000

Whitey

Any sort of blue tint will kill the brightness of the light. The more blue (darker tint), the less bright the bulb will be. The bulb still may give impression of lot of light, but the blue shadow it creates is often considered of most weak light (in color spectrum).

The true somewhat purple xenon create is by a combination of "clear" xenon bulb and projector lens. It often look purple/blue at an angle, but from driver point of view or view directly in front, it's alway white light, and that's the brightest/most usel light.

Painted bubls will always look purple or blue, from all angle.

I just want to set it clear. I respect the fact that each has his/her own preference when it comes to light.

Whitey

I totally agree and that is exactly why I say brightness will be sacrificed. But it certainly does depend on the bulb because of the difference in Halo gas content they put in them. The famous Sylvanias do not need such a blue tint (almost clear) was alble to increase the lumens/brightness output to achieve the whitish light because they max out the gas but that also affects the durability of the bulb. The Diamond Visions in fact remain quite bright despite the blue tint because of the crystal casing and maybe also the gas content. My 6500K's on the other hand aren't as bright because of the heavy reflective coating it has (to avoid the blue reflection during the day), perhaps cheaper casing and different gas content - both of which are 55W. I don't need a lot of light because I am driving in the city all the time and I prefer not to have the blue reflection during the day, so I did not use the Diamind visions. What I am saying is it also depends on the technology put into the bulbs. Because of the design of my bulbs, their color does change with the angle and that is why I have them.....like you, I too have done much research and wasted money on trying different bulbs.

Whitey

I do not disagree with anything you're saying Zam and I sure admire your creativity with the projector thing. And I would love to get some xenons but at this point in time it is not my priority. I am merely giving the guys an option based on something that I have personally tried and tested, but with a caveat on the brightness. I would not recommend what I am currently using purely however because the lumens output is not optimum for some of the roads out in the US.

ruffrob

Now that I have the Phillips Blue Vision installed,can someone tell me verbatim,how to adjust the lights for that nice wide view they're supposed to give. Thanks to all who reply.....

MBWorld1

There are 2 black **** on top of each light housing. 1 is for right to left and the second one is to adjust up and down.
It just really takes alot of time and patience to get it just right.

I am still adjusting mine from time to time.