2003 BMW Z4 H7 halogen

FartMaster3000

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Hello CPF! lovecpf

I've been a long time lurker but have never made an account here, but this place has always been very informative. :)

I own a 2003 BMW Z4 Roadster and it uses an H7 bulb for low and high beams. It is a projector headlamp and I believe it is a Hella E55 projector. Embarrassingly, I used to have an HID kit in there years ago when I gave into the hype by other forum threads, stating that an E55 halogen projector works well with an HID kit. Sure, the beam didn't seem as obviously scattered as a halogen reflector headlamp, but the math and physics never lie. It actually gave the illusion that the beam was actually good! Gotta love that foreground spot light. :p:crackup: Also, the "upgraded HID color/look" was much appreciated, though after a while I didn't really care about that. Anyways, I took the HID kit out after a week because I wasn't convinced it was breaking the laws of physics and I was paranoid of it randomly not working when I needed it to, melting, catching fire, exploding etc. These headlamps aren't cheap!

So, I've got some questions I've always been curious about:

-Do you guys know of any specific bulb that would take full advantage of my projector? I know some headlamps work well with specific bulbs more than others, so I was wondering if you guys have any experience about this type of headlamp.

-Do performance bulbs increase the potential in a projector headlamp in the same way as a reflector, or is it much less obvious?

-Do the "blue filter" strips on performance bulbs (ie: on XtremeVisions, Nightbreakers, not bluecoated junk) affect the color or appearance of the light in the projector housing?

Thank you!
 

Alaric Darconville

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:welcome:

You made an excellent choice removing the HID kit from your car.

Anyways, I took the HID kit out after a week because I wasn't convinced it was breaking the laws of physics and I was paranoid of it randomly not working when I needed it to, melting, catching fire, exploding etc. These headlamps aren't cheap!
They can also interfere with drive-by-wire steering systems.

I know some headlamps work well with specific bulbs more than others, so I was wondering if you guys have any experience about this type of headlamp.
Headlamps being designed for a specific bulb, for example yours for the H7, should mean that a better example of that bulb will work better than a poorer example of the bulb. This is true across the board. If the lamp works less well with a better bulb, there's something wrong. So, no, it's not a question of "Well, for these lamps, only the GE H7 will do but for those you must get the Philips H7". Basically, you select the best H7 you can, which right now are or these or these.


Do performance bulbs increase the potential in a projector headlamp in the same way as a reflector, or is it much less obvious?
Performance bulbs will improve the performance of projector or reflector lamps; to what degree is not necessarily predictable. There's no formula for this.

Do the "blue filter" strips on performance bulbs (ie: on XtremeVisions, Nightbreakers, not bluecoated junk) affect the color or appearance of the light in the projector housing?
At certain angles you might catch a glint of bluer light; it's supposed to reduce overall output to legal levels without reducing intensity of the useful portion of the beam. A side effect is some sort of "sporty" or "luxury" look. But the appearance of the lamps to others shouldn't be a selection criterion.
 

FartMaster3000

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Headlamps being designed for a specific bulb, for example yours for the H7, should mean that a better example of that bulb will work better than a poorer example of the bulb. This is true across the board. If the lamp works less well with a better bulb, there's something wrong. So, no, it's not a question of "Well, for these lamps, only the GE H7 will do but for those you must get the Philips H7". Basically, you select the best H7 you can, which right now are or these or these.


Thank you for the reply! Haha yes, I don't really care about the color of the headlamp beam or whatever--the car is a beauty regardless if my headlights are yellow, white or blue.

Did you choose the Philips +100% because of the lifetime or less of a blue tint on the bulb vs the other Philips + bulbs? The prices seem very similar between all of them. And wow, I didn't know GE made a +130% either! Pretty pricey but I'm assuming better than Osram NightBreaker/Laser/Next Generation?

Out of curiosity, what do you guys think of the ol' E55 H7 projector? I drove a 2009 Nissan Sentra with halogen reflectors a few weeks ago, and I was shocked at how much light was on the road, from a halogen reflector! It almost looked like HID in terms of how much light it had thrown on the road.
 
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Alaric Darconville

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Stillwater, America
I don't really care about the color of the headlamp beam or whatever--the car is a beauty regardless if my headlights are yellow, white or blue.
There are some people who go to great lengths to try to get everything to match, which is pointless when trying to match halogen bulbs to HID or LED. They're just not going to match. And then trying to get their fog lamps to match their headlamps, because a) they drive around with them on all the time which is wrong to do and b) blueish backscatter is more obnoxious than yellowish backscatter.

Did you choose the Philips +100% because of the lifetime or less of a blue tint on the bulb vs the other Philips + bulbs?
The +130 two-filament bulbs have reduced high beam performance vs. the +100 because it has slightly more blue tint area, encroaching into the window for the major filament-- and the bulb life will be shorter due to the performance optimizations. For your single-filament H7, only the reduced life is a concern. Carry spares and replace in pairs! If it's particularly difficult to change the bulbs, perhaps the +100 will be more convenient and still more convincing than the standard options.

Another note about the Philips bulbs-- they are frequently counterfeited and they often show up on Amazon.

As far as the Nissan Sentra lamps, I'm not too familiar with them. My '01 Corolla has some pretty satisfying headlamps (even today, because in 2015 I got new factory lamps to replace the aging ones); there are good and bad examples of all headlamp technologies. It's also possible that there's excessive foreground light making it appear as if they are working well.
 
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FartMaster3000

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Ooooh! I just remembered something that I've been scratching my head over for a couple years now actually. :p I've asked on other lighting forums but to no avail. Maybe more experienced users here might know.

A long time ago, I swapped out a pair of bulbs for brand new fresh ones on my Z4. The ones taken out were the OEM Philips H7LL. At the time, I replaced them with a pair of Sylvania XtraVision H7s. Unfortunately, I then ended up getting condensation inside one of the headlamps due to me closing the back panel incorrectly and not having a proper seal.

So, no problem. I took out the new bulbs to avoid ruining them from moisture (I thought this at the time), put in the old LL bulbs, let the headlamp air out one day and it was good to go... or so I thought. For some reason, the headlamp with the condensation ended up giving me a more yellow looking beam/inside the projector. I took a picture of the difference and it looked a lot worse in person. I've never thought the OEM halogens ever looked "yellow", in fact they've always been "white" looking to me before any of this happened. They almost always looked like "HID" in comparison before condensation go into both of the headlamps. :( They both ended up matching in terms of how much more "yellow" the beam looked. :( Here are some pictures:

https://imgur.com/a/NFlKX2L

Pardon for the low quality photos, they were taken back then on an iPhone 3G :crackup: The top two photos are before any moisture got into the headlamps and both using the OEM Philips H7LL. The last photo is also with the Philips H7LLs but post-condensation on the passenger side headlamp.

I always thought it looked as if either it wasn't receiving enough power or something. They've never been the same since. Any ideas?
 

-Virgil-

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I see what you're seeing. Make sure the bulb is fully and correctly seated, and then try swapping the bulbs left/right and see if the weak-looking headlamp moves to the other side. If so, new bulbs ought to clear it up. But if the weakling stays on the passenger side, then it means either an electrical issue (doesn't seem likely) or the headlamp has some bigger problems either caused or worsened by the water that got in, most likely degradation of the low beam projector's reflector. That would mean you'd need a new headlamp, and the odds are pretty good that if you replace one 16-year-old headlamp with a new one, the problem will reverse: the new lamp will seem brighter and whiter than the old lamp that previously looked superior.

But one thing, though: you say condensation got into one of the lamps, then you say condensation got into both of the lamps.
 

FartMaster3000

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Both sides ended up with that "yellow" look to them. The lenses, outer plastic, looked okay at the time. But yes, unfortunately *both* ended up getting condensation on the inside. It rained and the driver side also got all fogged up. This was around the time I had just gotten the car and wasn't used to getting behind the wheel well to swap bulbs. I didn't take a picture of them both after, just when one side changed. :(

The interesting thing was that they both turned more "yellow" almost immediately after drying out for a day. It wasn't a gradual change in color, it was very apparent when it happened the first time. Could the reflector bowl degrade that quickly within a day?
 

-Virgil-

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It could be that the reflectors were zombies (already dead) and the moisture aggressively finished them off. If you're in a salty-air location near the ocean, that could be a factor, too. Unfortunately this has to be a guess unless/until the headlamp is cut open for a postmortem examination.

If the yellowish color stays even with new bulbs, then it sounds like a pair of new headlamp assemblies is in your future.
 
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