Are Xenon Headlamps Extinct?
Discussion
Just reading the Alfa Giulia facelift piece and another poster commented about it finally moving to LED headlamps from the previous halogen and xenon options. This tickled my anorak curiosity... is there anything else left on sale as a new car where you can get xenon headlamps? I'm not sure I can think of any. Or even halogens, for that matter? The cheapest Dacia Sandero has LEDs as standard! 
I see plenty of nasty lease spec German stuff with the sickly yellow glow of halogens, but I can't see any point in using Xenons now, LEDs are more effective, less complex, cheaper, easier to fit. I doubt very much anyone is introducing anything new with them so it'll just be old models on run out.
David87 said:
Just reading the Alfa Giulia facelift piece and another poster commented about it finally moving to LED headlamps from the previous halogen and xenon options. This tickled my anorak curiosity... is there anything else left on sale as a new car where you can get xenon headlamps? I'm not sure I can think of any. Or even halogens, for that matter? The cheapest Dacia Sandero has LEDs as standard!
At a guess, any car whose design pre-dates 2015 or thereabouts?joropug said:
I don't think halogens are in question, it's Xenons
Must admit most cars do seem to be LED now - My 2017 Audi and my Wife's 2015 Audi both have LED headlamps. They are brilliant.
There's certainly a few halogen cars still knocking about, but can't be many. Xenon I think is probably zero. Really can't think of any.Must admit most cars do seem to be LED now - My 2017 Audi and my Wife's 2015 Audi both have LED headlamps. They are brilliant.
I'm sure LED lights are great to use but driving at night now is getting so much worse: some of the SUVs with LEDs are like lasers straight into your retina. Never really had a problem with Xenons or Halogens, by comparison. I'm sure there is EU legislation covering headlight requirements but is there anything to limit how blinding they are for other drivers?
Edited by Electric Blue on Thursday 27th October 15:31
Xenon's on my (Kia) Optima and love them, light up a good distance down the road without seeming to bother other road users.
Wonder if LED's could perform any better, often look bright but don't throw the light well, still better than projection H4 bulbs which I now refuse to buy a car with.
Wonder if LED's could perform any better, often look bright but don't throw the light well, still better than projection H4 bulbs which I now refuse to buy a car with.
Gilhooligan said:
I like LED headlights but I’d much rather replace a xenon bulb or ballast unit than (presumably) a whole LED light unit. It’s going to be expensive in the future.
My 2018 Volvo V60 has full LED headlights and this year the self-leveling failed in one, such that it just lit the area in 1m in front of the car really brightly. It was approved as a warranty repair but would have cost c. £1500 for a new headlight.When telling this story to local garage when I took the V60 in for MOT, he said they had a new-ish audi that came in for repair and needed a c. £3k headlight unit!!
If mine hadn't been replaced under warranty then I would very much have been in the camp of 'would rather have been able to change a halogen/xenon bulb'!!
Big disadvantage of cars made with LED headlights is the cost , sometimes having to replace the whole unit.
I replaced the halogen bulbs in one of my runabouts Mk6 Fiesta with fan cooled LED's, the halogens were okay on main roads but down the lanes of our village were dire, the LEDs are a big improvement..
I replaced the halogen bulbs in one of my runabouts Mk6 Fiesta with fan cooled LED's, the halogens were okay on main roads but down the lanes of our village were dire, the LEDs are a big improvement..
Draxindustries1 said:
Big disadvantage of cars made with LED headlights is the cost , sometimes having to replace the whole unit.
I replaced the halogen bulbs in one of my runabouts Mk6 Fiesta with fan cooled LED's, the halogens were okay on main roads but down the lanes of our village were dire, the LEDs are a big improvement..
how on earth did you do that?I replaced the halogen bulbs in one of my runabouts Mk6 Fiesta with fan cooled LED's, the halogens were okay on main roads but down the lanes of our village were dire, the LEDs are a big improvement..
HTP99 said:
I remember when I worked for a VW dealer in the parts department back in the day when Xenon's were a thing, supposed to last the lifetime of the car, nope, regularly popped at a few years old and were hugely expensive to sort.
I remember years ago a work colleague had a mondeo ST220 with early Xenons, and a bulb failed which he said mean't a complete new unit.I think after a while manufacturers learnt their lesson and installed covers behind the bulbs meaning you can just buy a 40 quid D2S bulb and away you go.
motco said:
"Sickly yellow of halogens" said an earlier poster. My Westfield has tungsten sealed beam units - they are yellow!
From the 1930s through to the 1990s, cars in continental Europe had yellow tinted headlights. I can remember buying yellow tinted filters and painting yellow gunk on my car headlights for European journeys , back in the day. Yellow light is less likely to dazzle oncoming drivers and also cuts through rain, snow and fog better than white or blue light .
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