I have hated the poor light from my 1998 XK8 head lights since day one. I am use to a more bright and wider spread of light. (Corvette & BMW hid)

I have replaced the stock 55watt H-1 bulbs with 100watt super white H1 bulbs. (You can get them from JC Whitney & E-Bay less than $20. a pair.)

I admit that there is some improvement and they look like HID at 1/3 the cost, but they are still are a very aimed beam like a flash light (Torch for our UK friends) and I have to turn on the fog lights to get a good light spread. (They are 100watt super white H-1's too)

Am I the only one who is feeling that the lights are pretty poorly designed?

Is there any way to improve the width of the beam?

 

Dunno bout the XK8 but I had a very similar problem with my X type a few years ago and very poor / dim lights.

I also changed them up to 100W Sportzblue by Ring and they were a significant improvement

 

I totally agree, What's a good fix

 

look at reverend sam's HID replacement thread, you should follow the same procedure, and make sure to get the kit that has the wiring looms to fit your H1 bulb to the new D1S.

 

Earlier non-HID XK's have horrible main headlights. The HIDs are pretty amazing though.

 

Get yourself a HID kit from ebay around $40-$50 delivered, you will have to remove the headlamp to do it, what the rev did was change his HID bulbs to a different type as he already has Xenon headlamps, fitting a kit is a bit more involved.
Get a slim kit then it will all fit inside the headlamp and still look stock, I have done it many times, 500% improvement, just dont buy a kit more than 6000K, they look too blue and you will look like a ricer

 

I always change up to the 100w bulbs for lows and highs and wire them so that they are all on when the high beams are on because I hate losing the close fill light with the high beams on.

JimC....I am curious about where and when you took that photo of my Super Model Italian Wife with the T Shirt....no kidding even she admits it looks like her.....what's the story there or don't I want to know?

It is obviously in the States somewhere....and seems to be a little too coincidental....

cheers,

jj

 

Agree w/XK Racer. Get an Ebay set of HIDs 55W 4300 $40-60.

Upgrading your old halogens with higher watt halogens is nonsense. An HID kit will make the halogens look like a D-cell flashfight. Its plug and play so even the most primitive mechanics can make it work. gordo

 

I did not use Halogens, I used 100watt Xenon replacements in both driving and head lights.

They are both bright enough but the beam is too focused and seems to have two straight beams out in front of the car, not a nice wide spread like a sealed beam has.

It is the spread or focus I am not happy with now, the new bulbs give plenty of bright white light.

I was thinking about buying a used unit & removing the frosted lens and replacing them with one the is more flat/clear and see it that gives a wider beam.

 

I am afraid they are still halogen bulbs, loads of ebay sellers sell them as Xenon effect, they are suppose to be "super bright" just like HIDs, it is all BS!

They are apparently filled with xenon gas and the bulbs sometimes have a blue tint to them, if you do not have a ballast module, you do not have HID/xenon

This is what a HID kit looks like, the silver box in this case is the ballast module.



There are special covers you have to remove that cover the bulbs, they do not have a filament but produce an arc between two electrodes, this is why on some cars you will get a "bulb out" warning light as the circuit is broken. if you touch the bulb the grease from your fingers will melt the glass (so they say). They are measured in color by how hot the arc burns e.g. 6000K, the K stands for Kelvin that is 10340 Farenheit, the hotter you go does not necessarily mean the brighter, they actually say anything past 5000K and it dims, what happens is the xenon gas glows more blue, at 10000K is a really blue light.


HTH

 

At which point does it assume a greenish tint?

 

4300 is the point at which the most visible light is produced and IMO the best HID to install.

 

As far as I am aware you don't/can't get a green tint.... Unless there is something special out there, I have heard stories of different gases being used in the bulbs to create different effects but not as far as Xenon is concerned only halogen