LR4 Halogen Bulb Upgrading - Highly Recommended

[gsxr]

Thanks for the detailed report - great information!

Dumb question about the factory Xenons: Are either the early (10-13) or late (14-16) bi-Xenon, meaning the high beam is also Xenon? Or do either/both of them use a halogen bulb for high beam?

 

[ryanjl]

Thanks for the detailed report - great information!

Dumb question about the factory Xenons: Are either the early (10-13) or late (14-16) bi-Xenon, meaning the high beam is also Xenon? Or do either/both of them use a halogen bulb for high beam?

On the 10-13, the high beam is a halogen and in a separate projector. When you turn on the high beams, the low beams remain on as sort of "fill" lighting.

On 14-16, the high beams and low beams share the same projector. They use the same xenon bulb as the 10-13 headlights. The D3S bulb is a high/low beam bulb. On the 14 and newer, it functions as such. Since the high beam comes out of the same projector, it's not as good as the 10-13 housing in this respect.

 

[gsxr]

On the 10-13, the high beam is a halogen and in a separate projector. When you turn on the high beams, the low beams remain on as sort of "fill" lighting.

On 14-16, the high beams and low beams share the same projector. I'm not really sure how it works. They use the same xenon bulb as the 10-13 headlights. It might be just some sort of change in the projection pattern or how it blocks the light from shooting up in the air where it would blind oncoming drivers. Regardless, on high beams there isn't a "double beam" of light, so they are slightly worse in that respect.

Got it. Sounds like the 14-16 is indeed bi-Xenon. These typically use the same burner for both low+high beam, and may use a moving shield that changes the light pattern between low/high. I think the reason is, the Xenon burner requires some warm-up time, so they can't flip quickly on / off when you want high beam. I have a 2008 Mercedes with bi-Xenons which use this setup and the output is excellent.

FWIW, I think Dan Stern prefers to not have low beams on at the same time as high beams, as the light projected closer to the car can cause your eyes to not do as well registering the beam farther down the road with the high beams. You can also flip on your bumper fogs if you want some light closer to the front of the vehicle (unless the system turns off the fogs with high beams, some vehicles do this, not sure about the LR4).

 

[ryanjl]

Got it. Sounds like the 14-16 is indeed bi-Xenon. These typically use the same burner for both low+high beam, and may use a moving shield that changes the light pattern between low/high. I think the reason is, the Xenon burner requires some warm-up time, so they can't flip quickly on / off when you want high beam. I have a 2008 Mercedes with bi-Xenons which use this setup and the output is excellent.

FWIW, I think Dan Stern prefers to not have low beams on at the same time as high beams, as the light projected closer to the car can cause your eyes to not do as well registering the beam farther down the road with the high beams. You can also flip on your bumper fogs if you want some light closer to the front of the vehicle (unless the system turns off the fogs with high beams, some vehicles do this, not sure about the LR4).

Yeah, sorry. Guess I edited my post as you were writing yours.

I haven't had much experience driving with the xenon brights as I just put them in yesterday. What you said makes sense, though. Maybe one day I'll get the bug to drop in the '14 headlights and get the cool LED light signature that comes with them.

The LR4 does turn off the fogs when you turn on the brights, but I disabled that function using the iiD tool just to see if it works (was thinking of using the fog light wiring and switches to run auxiliary lighting).

 

[ChicagoLR4]

I just replaced my headlights and fog lights. I used Philips Crystal Vision Ultra for the headlights, which are much whiter than the factory halogens and look more like xenons while not looking too blue. I tried the Philips Diamond Vision for the fogs, but they look a bit too blue (they do however match the small factory LED lights nicely.) I might switch to either LED or Crystal Vision Ultra for the fog lights as well, or keep the Diamond Vision since they look nice when using just the small LED's and fogs together with no headlights.

First photo is new headlight on the right.
Second photo is the new fog light on the left

 

[magus]

A good thread never dies…

I just replaced the fogs and the low beams with the Phillips Crystal Vision H11s and what an improvement! After 10 years it was time for a refresh. Thanks to all who contributed on this thread.

 

[magus]

And this lol…

 

[f1racer328]

View attachment 21564
And this lol…

Mind sharing where you purchased these?

 

[magus]

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