Hi guys

I have since replaced the bulbs/globes with osram cbi and the type of lense Jag use still gives off too yellow a light on the road for my liking - i have had them for a few months and they have colour shifted already

I bought a set of Philips Ultinon 6000k, about as high a kelvin as i want to go given trade off in output, and they wouldn't physically fit inside the headlight base - the base was a mm or 2 wider than the osram

Has anyone replaced the bulbs and can tell me which exact brand and model you went with. Not sure if mine is an isolated case, or maybe i just wasn't been firm enough seating the bulbs - pushing hard tends to move the projector left/right due to AFS option and not sure it's doing it any good, not to mention lack of handspace means you're free balling it

Another thing i was thinking to do is remove the bumper and headlights so i can suss it out better

 

I just installed these with no issue. 5000k looks perfect.

 

The stock F-Type globes are Osram Xenarc D3S 66340 HBI, rated at 4600 K.
I understand (but I'm not sure) that you need the HBI ones for the F-Type because the F-Type uses the one globe for both low beam and high beam (HBI seems to stand for "High Beam Improved"), unlike for example my XFR which uses the HID globes for low beam and separate halogen globes for high beam.
But I'm only guessing, maybe any reasonable quality D3S will be OK and it doesn't need the HBI designation.
Someone in the know can maybe set us straight!

 

Just happy that replacing the bulbs seems like an easy DIY job. With my CTS-V it was crazy difficult.

 

The Owner's Handbook says "boys and girls don't try this at home, it's a job for a JLR technician" (or words to that effect if you get my drift!).
But they look easy enough to access to me, the rubber backing covers come off easily and as long as your hands aren't huge you should be able to squeeze in there then simply "twist and pull" to remove the globes.
Also, they are definitely D3S HBI on mine, but the Workshop Manual says D1S, I wonder why? A mistake in the Manual or different globes for different markets?

 

Went with the Osram Xenarc 66340 CBI D3S bulbs rated at 5500K. First tried the Philip Ultinon 6000K bulbs. The Ultinon's did fit, at least in my '15 lamps, but their light production was less than the CBI's. Once the CBI's became available in D3S, I switched over. The CBI D3S color is closer to 6K than to 5K. However they do it, the CBI's also manage to produce a tad brighter light (around 3200 lumens if I remember correctly).

The Osram's D3S light performance is still not up to the D1S, IMO. It has a greenish cast to its color, even after accounting for the color shift "break-in" of about 100 hours or so, and the light production is less. This is likely due to the lesser power requirements of the D3S' mercury-free bulb mixture as well as my Jag's headlamp lens.

BTW, not sure about what "the manual" or market differences are, but the OEM bulb that originally came in my NA F-Type R was a D3S, not a D1S. The bulbs are not interchangeable, as the internal pins are spaced differently as are the anchoring notches of the bulb's plastic base. I understand the ballasts are different too, since the start-up requirements for the D3S are lower than that of the D1S.

 

The D3S lamps I installed resulted in the same focus/dispersion. High/low are equally unimpressive as they came from the factory, just pleasantly more white.

 

Yep my car came with osram xenarc 4300k d3s from factory

i too like the osram cbi and am running them atm

ive had a lot of cars with leds lately, but last car I used cbi's in was my r35 gtr and with their pseudo open projector reflector setup they produced a perfectly white light similar to bmw/Audi led

i just find that white output is much easier on my eyes when driving in completely dark areas, and now that I've gotten used to leds, xenons just appear yellow

i might just save myself any further hassle and retro fit the facelift leds

 

So with HIDS, is it a matter of 'you get what you pay for'?


There is a colossal difference between the Osrams and the cheapies at a tenth of the price!


Must admit, I would like something whiter with a blue'ish tinge. Also, do we need to be careful regarding the temperature... possibly being hotter the further up the brightness chart we go, or is that the old halogen wattage days?

 

After years of retrofitting halogen (remember those blue-coated bulbs?) and xenon components, I ended up going back to either Osram Sylvania or Philips. I've found the Osram CBI bulb in particular provides the best compromise of color and light. Osram somehow figured out a way to keep a relatively yellow-free color with little sacrifice in light (lumens).

As your link shows, there are tons of aftermarket xenon kits/bulbs out there. Unfortunately, many of them are of questionable quality. Besides durability, I've found some bulbs were not compatible with my projector lenses, projecting poorly controlled beam patterns, e.g., beam width, cutoff sharpness, intensity, etc. In that sense, I agree that one gets what one pays for.

Most all OEM xenon bulbs are in the 4300-4600K range. 4300K is "sunlight," but there is still a yellowish cast to most of the OEM set-ups. (Some manuf's do better than others in "squeezing" out the yellowish tint by going with a "better" lens. Some of the MB and Acura models come to mind.)

In general, going up to 5K-5.5K bulb eliminates most all of the yellow. By 6K, there is no more yellow--only a pure white color. The trade-off is the loss of light production (lumens). I personally liked the color of a 6.5K bulb (pure white with a hint of blue), but the lack of light output was unacceptable. You've probably seen cars running 8K-10K bulbs. Hard to miss with their lamps glowing blue to blue-purple. At night, those lamps hardly put out any light worthy of driving safely.

I thought xenon was the end game...until I saw how LED lamps light things up. I'm with domino_z, and should be looking into retrofitting some LED's, heh.

 

+2. I retrofit some LEDs into my Land Cruiser. Every time I turned them on, stunned squirrels fall out of the trees.

 

The leds in my f80 m3 are adaptive, and in dark areas will create a tunnel of light around cars in front

its a cool party trick that allows the sides of the roads to be high beam light while following someone

https://youtu.be/qAKqXk3wXbo

but even with this fancy led setup, the actual output (lumens) is still not as good as a decent hid/xenon projector setup - discounting aftermarket led off-road bars etc natch

i got to try the laser high beams on a new r8 a while back and that was truelly impressive, they cast a narrow beam so far down the road that the illumination is even further than you can clearly see

 

Pictures please, especially of the victims...

 

Semi -related question:

Anyone know if it is possible for me to take obvious visible fingerprints off the globes? Or is a dealer trip involved?

 

Shouldn't be hard to DIY, it should be fairly easy to remove the globes then carefully clean them with the appropriate cleaner (just don't ask me what that is!). If you take it to a dealer to have this done they will likely charge you a fortune to do exactly the same thing.

 

Isopropanol Alcohol, or any other spirit that leaves no residue.

 

I was looking at the 300K blue/violet online, and couldn't believe the colours you can get from these HID's, just a shame, as you say you loose the effective power/lighgting output.


What about higher Wattage say 8K? Would it start to melt harnesses and pop fuses though.

 

A definite DIY job. I use isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs. Evaporates quickly and does a decent job of cleaning the glass. I use it for cleaning my various electronic components since it contains little water.

 

In case anyone is wondering: isopropanol = isopropyl alcohol.

 

isopro, whatever, I was typing and thinking of another totally different chemical ;-)










Anyway, I would try Meffalatid Spirits.