Chris, are you doing this after seeing my lights?

 

i believe i got the kit with 55w ballast.
one webiste says that 35w 4500k bulbs = 3400 lumens
and that 55w 6000k bulbs = 4800 lumens
This could be inaccurate. Can anyone comment?

 

I would think that if your gonna change your ballasts 50 0r 55 watt, from 35 you should be real good no matter what "bulb" you put in the projectors,, most people just do bulbs, and either think, they are getting brighter light output, (lumens) or just want that 6000 to 8000 or whatever color, (kelvin) I am leaning towards 55 watt, 5000 lumens, but, I just don't know enough about HID lighting yet to pull the trigger on this matter. IMO, the headlights in our sedans are quite good but, i usually can't leave well enough alone Just today, Very foggy going to work 2 to 3 hundred ft. visability plus at 3:30 am, very diff. to see anything! maybe if our integrated fogs were not so worthless regards...

 

That sounds correctly to me. Please notice the big different is 35W and 55W. So even you go with higher keven temp. you still get more lumens.

Our stock wiring for low beam can support 55W. I believe fog light is 55W halogen too.

 

I was on the border about changing out the lights, but after seeing yours I was sold - thanks Boris!

 

can anyone confirm that our stock ballasts can handle 55w burners?

 

Not sure, but I don't think they can. I installed aftermarket ballast along with my aftermarket lights.

 

Definitely NO. Each ballast can only handle a specific wattage. Our stock can draw up to 35W. If you put in 55W bulb, you will see it light up yellow light, then flicker and then off completely.

 

are there 35w 6000k bulbs i can purchase and swap in for the more blueish look?


I have just ordered a plug and play HB4 kit for my fogs(they will be yellow). they should compliment each other.

but you all say i should go with a full 55w ballast/bulb kit, i will.

 

My understanding is that higher color temp means a darker coating on the bulb and less light output for the same wattage. Higher color temp (more blue light content) also means more glare in fog, not less. Selective yellow lights which are recommended for fog run in the 2500-2900 color temp range. Here's a source.

http://autolamps-online.com/halogen/goldcentre.htm
* An incandescent lamp emits a light of all colours, that’s called "continuous spectrum".
* The human eye is especially sensitive to the yellow light (wave length around 550 nm)
* That means a source emitting 10 Watts of yellow light will seem brighter than 10 Watts of blue light, since the eye is a lot more sensitive in the yellow region than in the blue.

Here's another source:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...ght_color.html

You may want to consider 9006/9005 bulb swap/surgery, detailed here:

http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Upgrade/More_light.htm

Or even go to 9011/9012 bulbs, but they are higher color temp, not lower. But bear in mind that more light may not lead to better visibility down the road; it only helps visibility right in front of you. Good discussion of this here:

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forum...hawk-opinions/

I am not a lighting expert, just a web junkie. I did the 9005/9006 swap on my old 1991 infiniti and the results were fantastic; YMMV. I used the Philips VisionPlus bulbs, which I believe are around 2900K, but look very cool.