Xenon headlights ($470 for a pair..make your own)

[Buchholz, Steven]

Unfortunately, there is more to the HID lights than the source of
illumination.  On the newer cars the reflector and lens on the unit are
designed differently, AAMOF, another term you will sometimes see used for
the newer lights are "projector" headlamps.  Even if you spring for the HID
bulbs that will fit your stock headlamps you may not find the change in
illumination to be worth the cost of the HID system.  

Remember that there are differences between the "conventional" bulbs and the
HID units.  HID stands for High Intensity Discharge ... normal incandescent
bulbs create light by heating up a filament of wire to a high temperature,
and it is the filament that glows.  In these lights the gas in the envelope
is intended to be either inert (non-halogen bulbs) or to cause any metal
vaporized from the filament to reattach itself to the filament (halogen
bulbs).  There is no filament in the HID bulbs ... the light is generated by
ionizing the gas between two electrodes.  Where on an incandescent light you
are looking at light generated by a tungsten filament, the light in an HID
bulb is generated by the change of state of the gas molecules in the
envelope ...

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)

> Hella has started to sell (for $89??) bulbs that use the actual xenon gas!

> This gives you the same color as the xenon headlamps. Add to that a
$279.95 
> HID kit (www.fet-usa.com) to boost the performance output of the bulbs and

> you have your self anexcellent xenon headlamp replica.