I swear these things used to be CRAZY bright, I mean they're still good but when a new new car passes me at night the road surface is usually brighter on their side, color temp a little more yellow on the LR3 output as well.

I thought the same thing before I was selling my RRS (also 2006) like it used to be better. Also, both vehicles were getting me high-beamed sometimes initially, and now it never happens.

They're D1s right? I swear I read they were rare 55w Xenons a while ago and like $200 / bulb but I see them for $50 a set some places now.

Both the RRS and the LR3 are adaptive bi-xenons.

Anyone else noticing this?

EDIT / UPDATE: NOT D1s as MANY many bulb and parts websites list!

 

They are not D1s, but D2S HID 35 W bulbs, NOT 55 w. and yes, they do fade out , rather then burn out as regular bulbs would do . Common bulbs have a wire filament, that gets hot spots and gets disconnected fro the crown, HIDs have Anode and Cathode , that creates constant spark between them, that emit light discharge,Over the years, they get weaker and don't shoot light as they use to, when they were new.Then comes the time , whether is worth for you to replace them. I did .

 

edit: double post, hate the mobile website!

 

Thanks for the reply - hopefully you're wrong though, since I just ordered a set of D1s bulbs. I believe they have the igniter pack or whatever that is built into the bulb base? The d2s type is the bare bulb / base like most aftermarket kits use. Multiple cross reference websites show D1s for RRS and LR3. D2s came up for the FFRR.

I'm pretty familiar with the technology, I got one of the first retrofit kits you could buy, $630 Catz HID kit back in the day for my M3, in maybe 2003ish, then NHTSA banned Catz imports specifically. I had the European ellipsoids in there so beam cutoff wasn't a problem. Of course now there are a thousand suppliers and the same kit would cost $90 lol.

Not sure where I saw the 55w thing but most references to "lr3" bulbs just show the easier to buy halogens (ie 55w) so maybe that's where it was coming from.

Wow I can't even imagine what the new bulbs will do to this thing - it STILL has good headlights but I pulled up some tables earlier graphing duty life % for hours versus lumen output - YIKES.

At 2000 hours (I guess about 6 years of use) the bulbs are putting out 2240 lumens versus 3200 lumens at zero hours! And of course my 06 is almost 10 years old so... I could easily be at about half of the OE light output.

If that's actually true it'll be BY FAR the best $30 I've ever spent. I'm actually embarrassed at how cheap they are but they had good specs and reviews so... plus free 2 day (Saturday) shipping with Amazon prime!

 

Please post results!

I have always been wary of this; and tend to not use my lights unless really necessary and also not to cycle them a lot, as this is the root cause of the common HID Failure mode.

My headlights still seem bright as $hit.

 

I stand corrected.
Adaptive Xenons are D2S type 35 W.

 

Didn't even notice double post on my phone, oops.
Aren't the standard Xenons also D1s?

houm_wa : I've been doing exactly the same thing now that I know how bad the light output can drop off with age. Hm maybe there are reasons other than cosmetic for companies starting to use LEDs.

Then again if these turn out to be good bulbs for $30 shipped, I might as well use the headlights whenever I want!

 

LEDs go dim in the same fashion as arc lamps. It may take longer, but it's also a dim-not-burst kind of deal. Most LED lifespan is defined as 70% of original Lumen output.

...at least that's what it was 10 years ago, when I worked in the lighting arena(but on airplanes, not cars)

 

Thorgal you were right! They're D2s and I have the wrong bulbs#%(*$#&^%@*#&


In my defense, I can list like 10 websites that list the D1s and it must have been crappy luck because I didn't find ANY that listed D2s (or THEN I would have started digging deeper to make sure I didn't get the wrong ones).

BBQ at my local indy LR shop today, he showed me the different LR xenon bulbs and pulled the ones from 07 LR3 housings and sure enough.

 

I guess maybe I best install my new set of bulbs I have in my parts stock.

I have been waiting for one of the bulbs to quit as they are going on ten years now and they double as daytime running lights so they have lots of hours on them.

While I have heard they do get dimmer with time, had never seen any numbers on that. I had just assumed I was getting old as my xenon's did not seem to be as good as I first remembered - I feel better now; maybe both my mind and my eyes are not dimming.