Just curious, but why aren't the high beams HID lights? Even with my high beams on, I can still clearly pick out the area illuminated by the low beams. Why isn't there simply a pair of HIDs aimed further upwards than the low beams, rather than the halogens?

 

Because high beams are often, even primarily by many people, used for Flashing. At the very least they're subject to frequent on-off intervals so as not to blind oncoming traffic in rural areas. HIDs don't take well to frequent intervals and they absolutely suck at flashing since they need sufficient time to warm-up. Flash your HIDs off and on a few hundred times and see how long those $100 bulbs last.

 

Good question. The Euro's BMW/Audi's have Bi-Xeons HID's lights already as a standard feature. If I understand it correctly, it's the same bulb it just has a shield that goes up and down.

 

How long are the stock HID bulbs on the 8 good for??

 

HID bulbs are generally good for a good 5-10,000 hours of illumination (several years of average driving). But they're generally only good for about 1000-2000 ignitions (about 2-3 years of normal driving), which is why you generally wouldn't want them for high-beam usage which are turned off and on very often. You'd run through $100 bulbs every few months. That and the fact that they can take up to 30 seconds before they will re-ignite, making flashing them virtually impossible.

 

Thanks for all the info, folks!

And I like the sound of the Bi-Xeons. I'll have to see if I can find any more info on them...

 

Come down to Australia.. We use them to see Kangaroos and other things that want to jump in front of us at night... No wonder the high beams on imported cars are so poor.. Flashing indeed....

 

Well, yes, I can imagine that you guys get much more frequent and much longer uses of your highbeams than most people in the States do. In the States you can't drive 500 feet with your highbeams on before you have to turn them off because someone is coming the opposite direction. It's a rare day, even when travelling in very rural areas, that I get much more than a few straight minutes of usage on the high beams.

 

do the HIDs stay on when the high beams are on?

 

Yes they do. That's partially what compelled me to start this thread. With my hi-beams on, I noticed that I could still clearly make out the cutoff line of the HID's, and that the area the HIDs illuminated was noticeably brighter than what the hi-beams illuminated.