Rudy

I doubt that they'll be banned but:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) here in the US is currently studying an abundance of complaints of glare from three light sources: 1) Higher mounted headlights (low and high beam) found on SUV's; 2) High Intensity Discharge (HID or Xenon) headlamps; and 3) "Extra" lamps like fog, driving, or other auxiliary lights.

Here is a link to the NHTSA's request for comments (RFC) on the subject of these types of glare. It goes over many theories, etc. as to the cause of the complaints as well as some proposed solutions.

(The above text was borrowed from one of my earlier posts in one of the foglight threads from more than a year ago and can be seen here)

Madwax

I don't mind seeing them on other cars. I'd have them on mine, but they are very expensive to fit after delivery. The only thing is, because of the hint of blue about the lights, that from a distance I often mistake other cars with Xenon for police lights making me look twice in the rear view mirror!

Doesn't the angle of the beams automatically adjust for hills and dips in the road?

znod

I seldom get flashed. But, if I do, then at most I flash back once with the highs--to let them know my highs were not on. Not that you do either, but I don't do flashing retaliation because people get shot doing so.

bobr2001

In Germany, we get flashed very seldom so that does not seem to be much of a problem. I was disturbed by them many years ago when Xenon first came out but I think they have improved the system over the years and I'm very used to them now.

jet190rs

In NYC ppl don't flash, they honk.

I don't I've ever encountered anyone who has a problem with Xenons. If they do, well then, f*ck off.

Maybe they're just jealous that their headlights aren't as cool looking.

EBMCS03

Nope hardly ever get flashed... Like you guys said... if you flash me I'll flash you! hahahahah

PotatoAddict

I always thought that the inner lights were the high beams? Is there a high beam feature that I never knew was there?

Anyway, thanks everyone for the responses. I read an article on some website that said when halogen lights were first introduced, a lot of people had the same negative feelings towards them. However, with time, everyone adjusted and began to accept it. Perhaps in the far future, all cars will get rid of the halogens and start to use HID.

EBMCS03

I always thought that the inner lights were the high beams? Is there a high beam feature that I never knew was there? [/quote]


The inner ones are the flash to pass (* when you pull the stalk*) the outter ones same place as where the low beam xenons are is where the high beam xenons are when you push the stalk. That triggers a mirror to shoot the light higher.

Rudy

Or more accurately, it triggers a shutter to flip up and allow light to shoot higher. There's no mirrors involved...

caf

I have two cars with xenons, and two without. In general, I think the newest lighting systems, including the ones in BMW's, are awful. As bulbs have gotten brighter and brighter, the automakers have had to cone down the beam to keep them legal. The result is very good light straight ahead, but a very rapid drop-off outside the "cone". This means you have almost no light to the sides of the car, and if you are going down into a dip in the road, there is no light going high enough to illuminate the uphill side. I think these lights are actually dangerous. If a dog, other animal, or kid, comes up from the side of the road you won't see them until they're directly in front of you.

I actually prefer top-notch halogens to xenon. With xenons, the colors are completely unnatural at night--everything looks somewhat monochromatic.

I think the biggest irritation for oncoming drivers is the way cars with xenon seem to flash the oncoming cars. This, again, is because of the sharp cut-off of the illumination zone. Every time the car hits a little ripple in the road, the lights seem to flashing in intensity to the oncoming driver.

The solution is obvious. Although BMW's adaptive system is trying to solve the shortcoming of xenon lighting systems, a better approach would be to design a system where the projectors create a soft, gradual reduction of lighting intensity outside the cone.