zeicht

i notice that the TL's xenon headlights are not as bluish or bright as that of a BMW Audi or Mercedes....it has a whiter shade rather than bluish white....it seems to be bluish right after you turn the lights on but fades to plain white after a few seconds

any1 share the same sentiments?

PUREVIL

Well from what I read on other forums concerning HID lights is the whiter the light the brighter the lights. HIDs use color temps to determine the color. Stock audis, bimmers, and benz use 4100K which is close to white light. Honda usually use 6500K which is the bluer color. But 4100K is brighter with more lumen output. So maybe the new TL uses 4100K instead of 6500K like the old TLs and Hondas.

Also when you turn on your lights they will be more blue during warm up... once the lights are warmed up they will be white. I installed M5 HIDs on my R1 and when I turn them on it looks blue but gradually turns white.

IF you notice the lights on bmw, audi, and benzs being blue, its probably because of the angle your viewing them at. The projectors usually will have different colors when viewed from different angles. I noticed from the front its white, but from the front side its blue and sometimes almost greenish. I really haven't seen to many TLs from the front dirving down teh street but I recall they look bluish when they are heading towards me.. so maybe you should have someone drive the car past ya while you stand on the road and as it comes closer you'll see some subtle changes in color.

WOW that was one long ass message. For more info check out www.hidforum.com

ravi

yea i noticed this too
but im not complaining....still good amount of light

zeicht

hey i wonder if canadian specs are different since so far everyone in this thread is from canada hehe....where the hell are our american neighbors' comments?

ya i tried to look at my TL's lights from far away and it looks white from most angles, a hint of blue here and there...actually i find the TSX's lights more bluish than the TL, i frequently see TSX's head on....kinda like audi's or bmw's....maybe bec the TSX comes from and is built in japan...different spec probably?

thanks for the explanation, if the 4100k is better then im happy with the TL's HID...but boy the BMW's HID are cool, esp the new 3 series...they just look bluish from any angle even straight on

Bitium

I think it has to do with the auto-leveling feature that comes with BMW, Audi, mercedez and not with the TL. This feature allows the light to be at the right level at all times. Have you seen projetor HID's going over a bump or hill and it becomes yellow/white and then back to blue. The auto-leveling must keep the lights at a level where the blue stands out more.

NLYTN

I've also noticed the same thing but when I pull next to a bmw the light is the same on the road . I have noticed that the TSX lights seem to be a deeper blue than the TL . If your not happy with this then get phillips 6000k Ultinon (<sp) bulbs. They look better than any BM or Benz HIDS. Your going to get less light ( still enough to drive with ) but they appear brighter on the road. My .02 !

lindros2

I brought this up with my dealer -- there is a yellow "burn mark" on the top of the beam. It's annoying after coming from an Audi with purple-ish xenon lights.

My only explanation is that Acura (and other Japanese and American marques) are too f'ing cheap to put auto-leveling systems in and have to comply with DOT regulations by "dulling" the light to protect oncoming traffic.

This crap wouldn't fly in Europe.

Skeedatl

How are they dulling the beam? If it's through the lamp, wouldn't replacing the lamps (of course they're pricy) correct the "dimness"?

TsunamiDC2R

So you would sacrifice visibilty , just to have "blue" lights .....

The more pure white the light, the advanced the visibilty, 6100k and above Lumen HID's are only counter productive, especially in rain and fog , were its light is absorbed, unlike a 4100k or 4300k were its more comparable to sunlight ....

PhilB

Actually, direct sunlight is closer to 5800K, see this link from Kodak:

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/h2/temp.shtml

For video purposes, 6500K is considered the correct color temperature of white and is what is used in movie editing rooms as well as being the target of a properly calibrated video display.

-phil

TsunamiDC2R

4100 - 4300 k is still the more efficent Lumen, the bluer the light, the more it can be absorbed.

The whiter light on the road, is the optimum choice for visibility ....

thats the whole point of HID's ...not some stunna blue glare ....just to "look" good ...

caball88

all stock HID's from what i remember are 4300K. Like the Bitium said its the up and down that makes it look different colors. also when the HID's are used more it will develop a more purple or blue hue.

TsunamiDC2R

All Honda's use a 4100 to 4300k ....

BMW .....uses 6000 to 8000 k ...

rets

White is better than Blue. They're brighter and safer...?


http://www.intellexual.net/hid.html


I think lens might make them different... http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showt...600#post689600 by boringegg

rets

I'm not pretty sure how this auto-leveling stuff works. In a merely second range, the car is going over bump up-and-down, how this device works?

Lots of BMW 7 or MB E still glare opposite driviers' eyes when passing the bumps. Except this device is like gyroscope, IMO, this is the only way which can adjust your headlight immediately.

rets

What time is it?

BarryH

Level sensors in the car detect angle changes and adjust the headlights accordingly. Both my Volvo and BMW have auto adjusting xenon's. The BMW even has adaptive lights that turn with the car. All of the adjustments are sub-second. FWIW, the BMW's lights are more blue than the Volvo's and both seem brighter than my old TL-S.

rets

Thanks. I know most of luxury vehicles have auto-leveling feature and more and more adaptive features will be added on soon. (that's why some ppl here ever whining 04TL loses this link...)

I could imagine how it works under the uphills/downhills situation. However, I just wonder how fast their reaction would be in the bumps... as you said, it's sub-second... which means up/down the bumps would make headlights move-down/move-up right away, right?

Why I still got the glare from those cars...

Tripp11

I thought the auto-level only occurred at start up and re-adjusted the headlights occordingly if thrown off plane when going over bumps or rough roads the drive before...

Of course, I've been wrong before.

BarryH

They adjust continually (on my cars). You can see them move going up and down hills. I don't think they're designed to compensate for something abrupt like a speed bump.

rets

Thanks, Barry,

I think so. The drive in uphill/downhill would make they change the angles, otherwise, the rough bumps and rocky roads might not.

corey415

Wrong. All oem HID is 4X00K.

TsunamiDC2R

Do your research.

corey415

prove to me BMW OEM HID is greater than 4X00 K.

samkws

wondering if the TL has auto levelving headlights or not?

Tripp11

It does not.

sixspdbrd

If you look at 6000k bulb, you will notice that it is not DOT approved and is therefore illegal in the US. In fact on the philips ultinon 6000k bulb, it says "For off-road Use Only." All manufacturers DO use 4x00 bulbs as OEM on their cars in the US because thats all that is legal.

caball88

i own a bmw and have been on the bmw message boards for the last 3 years. post the same question on any bmw or benz board and they will tell you its 4300K. Most of the time the bulbs will be either hella or osram(not philips). 6000K are all aftermarket bulbs.

MR-REV-HI

BMW's indeed use 4300k, just like Honda. For one, my partner has a 540 with 6000k's (aftermarket), also I've seen my Honda's lights shining on the same wall as my 5 and they are identical in color temp and brightness.

TLXLR8S

i found a good site that shows the two diffrent types of HIDs.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/framed...m/~don/d2.html

i guess we have the lower luman type of HIDs.

TLXLR8S

i found another site that talks about the white yellow and blueish types pf lights.
What is "White"? FMVSS108 contains a reference to an SAE standard that defines "white" light in terms of wavelengths. But it's not just one set color. The standard includes a wavelength aggregate RANGE that is considered "white". That's why arc-discharge headlamps, with their decidedly bluish cast, still are considered "white". It's why "blue ion" or "crystal blue" bulbs with blue-pass dichroic filters sold to poseurs who want to try to pretend they have arc-discharge lamps are NOT considered "white".

hear is the link if you want to read the whole artical. its intresting.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/framed...fo/blue_bulbs/

Teh Jatt

ok guys, I saw another TL around 4:15 pst... the headlights were on, by looking at the lights, first i thought it was bimmer, then when the car came close it was TL,... the light gave off purple blue color. Looked cool....

btw saw that TL @ herndon/polk ave.... so if you visit this site, holla back.

zeicht

ya saw a TL too the other day, it was behind me, i thought the lights were kinda bluish...so i started wondering if mine were defective, but based on what people are saying in this thread i guess we all feel the same way with the TL HIDs...and now im cool with it hehehe

Raheel

OLD TL's never used 6500k