Scratched Headlight Bulb

[sunnydude959]

Hi Guys,

I have a CL 500 (W216) with xenons, but the inner pair of lights for high beam are halogen. I wanted them to match the xenons so I bought some Philips diamond vision 5000k bulbs and they match the colour of the xenons almost exactly to my amazement. I've tried halogen bulbs before that claim to be xenon and they're either 1) the correct colour but awfully dim or 2) still a yellowish light just less yellow.

Anyway, I was installing them in my car, and as I was trying to put one of the bulbs in, I accidentally scraped it against something around there. It left a scratch/scuff on the bulb itself.

My question is, will it affect bulb performance or longevity? The bulb still works... for now. Can the bulb explode/implode and cause a mess (or worse, damage my housing)?

Thanks for your help guys

 

[renault12ts]

It may be shorter lived...but otherwise safe to use.

 

[sunnydude959]

I've just checked the beam pattern... its all screwed up, its going high, looks like ill have to change it anyway then

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

That's karma for fitting illegal halogens, I'm sure any halogen above 4200k is illegal and for off road use only

With regards to scratching the bulbs, if it's messed the spread of the light already (still bearing in mind it's still illegal) then I doubt anyone approaching you with them on will be a fan of yours

 

[PobodY]

I was trying to work out how you scratch a quartz bulb assembly, but if it's been coated with a blue filter I think I understand.

As above; it's not going to damage the bulb, but you've already discovered it makes nasty patterns from where the scratch is.

 

[sunnydude959]

Yeah, I'm taking the bulbs out later on this evening. They haven't been switched on on the road yet, so technically I'm still legit

But what I don't get is that its not as 'blue' as my xenons, and yet my xenons are fully legal and these bulbs aren't...

And yeah it has a blue filter on it

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Yeah, I'm taking the bulbs out later on this evening. They haven't been switched on on the road yet, so technically I'm still legit But what I don't get is that its not as 'blue' as my xenons, and yet my xenons are fully legal and these bulbs aren't... And yeah it has a blue filter on it

Your xenons are around 4200k or under which is technically white, and in a housing which is correct to project such a light

The illegal tinted blue bulbs are as such because they've been tinted, you'll never get legal halogens that will match the hue of the xenons, nightbreakers are close but only because they are whiter than white

Bulbs like that make Keratoconus sufferers like myself go half blind when in the path of them, although it's legal to drive with that condition and even with as little as one eye functioning there's still nothing that can hurt eyes worse than badly distributed bright lights like those

Try nightbreakers or Philips racing vision, seeing as it's only for full beam though is it worth it?

 

[190]

In think it's rather sad that the fashion status of automotive lighting has taken priority over the function. We seem to be in race of ever increasing light output which, lone drivers on an empty road excepted, won't help any of us see better.

But they look good and that seems to be what's important.

 

[sunnydude959]

The xenons go full beam anyway, so it was only to get the inner lights to colour match the xenon lights.
It wasn't really for function in the first place, just for colour matching.

 

[sunnydude959]

Right then,
I've ordered some 4,200K Osram bulbs and hopefully I don't scratch these ones!

I will try to upload pictures against the xenons once fitted

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Right then, I've ordered some 4,200K Osram bulbs and hopefully I don't scratch these ones! I will try to upload pictures against the xenons once fitted

They won't match, but White is certainly better than Yellow

 

[sunnydude959]

They won't match, but White is certainly better than Yellow

It still looks yellow next to the main xenon, but less yellow than the previous stock OE Phillips ones yes.

The light output on the wall is considerably crisper and almost xenon-like in colour though.

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

It still looks yellow next to the main xenon, but less yellow than the previous stock OE Phillips ones yes. The light output on the wall is considerably crisper and almost xenon-like in colour though.

What did you put in, Nightbreakers? Those new Phillips racing vision bulbs are meant to be pretty decent but haven't tried them yet