HID bloom

[arwadowd]

Esteemed guru types-
For what it is worth: HID grommet on my kit tool a 3/4 hole and the grommet flange was small(PITA). Anyway, the whole deal was fast and easy until reinstallation of the top wire lampholder clip. I fought with that sucker for hours. So, now everything works but-----

I seem to have a LOT of scattered light up and to the sides. It's very noticable in the covered garage as lens patterns on the walls and ceiling. I have not yet adjusted the beam pattern up to optimal. Does this mean the hotspot is too far forward? The lamp said H7 but is longer than the halogen it replaced. Do I need to be concerned or just happy I've got this much light?

Thanks in advance--
Jim

[zippy_gg]

This is wrong! The base of the HID H-7 lamp should be identical to the base of your original H-7 lamp, even if the glass portion is a bit longer.
Did you remove the black ring at the base of the bulb before installing? It has to come off and its purpose was just to protect the bulb during shipping.
Also when you install the new bulb it should fit exactly like the old one, although it will be a little harder to put the side clips back on because the base as slightly thicker than the original.
As far as the 3/4 inch hole, it should be just fine, and you push the rubber grommet in with a small screwdriver, being careful not to cut the rubber. That should take all of a minute.
The black light cover should go back on with no difficulty, unless of course you left the black ring at the base of the bulb. Did you make a small cut in the headlight housing to route the stock low beam power connector leads out of the housing before re-installing the cover and spring?
I suspect that the bulb to be seated too far out, causing the light to scatter the way it does.
I just did an install last Sunday and it went very smoothly.
You may want to retrace your steps, be sure the black ring is off, and the H-7 properly seated. Everything should be easier from there.
Try and take some pictures if you are still having difficulties.
Good luck!

[c00k1e]

The packing ring on the kit I got last week looked so over engineered, you could very easily mistake it for something that was meant to stay on the bulb. I was only convinced otherwise, as it was off center and the bulb wouldn't fit in the holder with it on.

[arwadowd]

Nope, the packing ring and rear slotted plastic were removed. The glass part of the lamp is longer. The forward pattern looks about right but the light scatter to the sides is the question.

Jim

[Josmas]

I think I remember reading somewhere that the reflector in North American bikes is different than those used in Europe where they drive on the "wrong" ;) side of the road. I noticed on mine that the light seems to spread more on the right than on the left giving better visibility to the curb without blinding oncoming traffic.
I could be just blowing smoke out of my butt here, but if that were true then the scatter pattern may have always been like that, but now it's more noticeable with the brighter light :sun: .

somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

[zaphod]

...Europe where they drive on the "wrong" ;) side of the road.
Just a FYI, most of Europe drives on the right side of the road. In the UK they don't drive on the right side, they will tell you they drive on the correct side.http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Ajlelectronics]

Just a FYI, most of Europe drives on the right side of the road. In the UK they don't drive on the right side, they will tell you they drive on the correct side.http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif

When you are right handed, you drive on the left. Easy enough to understand. :rotf:

Something to do with having your right hand free to wield your weapon. :)

[zippy_gg]

Nope, the packing ring and rear slotted plastic were removed. The glass part of the lamp is longer. The forward pattern looks about right but the light scatter to the sides is the question.

JimThe question is: Is your bulb seated properly? If not the bulb will be at an angle and you will get the scatter you are reporting.
The base is keyed and must fit exactly as designed.
Let us know if your bulb is seated properly with the clip on.

[dshealey]

Esteemed guru types-
For what it is worth: HID grommet on my kit tool a 3/4 hole and the grommet flange was small(PITA). Anyway, the whole deal was fast and easy until reinstallation of the top wire lampholder clip. I fought with that sucker for hours. So, now everything works but-----

I seem to have a LOT of scattered light up and to the sides. It's very noticable in the covered garage as lens patterns on the walls and ceiling. I have not yet adjusted the beam pattern up to optimal. Does this mean the hotspot is too far forward? The lamp said H7 but is longer than the halogen it replaced. Do I need to be concerned or just happy I've got this much light?

Thanks in advance--
Jim

You should have a nice sharp cutoff of the beam, same as the original bulb.

Check to see if the bulb is seated solidly by the clip. If you can move the bulb around by putting pressure on the back of it, it is not seated. I actually made a new clip for mine, the first H7 bulb I had was shaped so that the clip would not put pressure on one side of it.

The bulbs are a lot longer, but the critical part is that the little arc chamber in the center of it should be the same height from the base seating surface as the filament in the original halogen bulb.

Try moving the bulb around with the clip off and powered on. Make sure it is already on before trying it though, as the starting voltage is over 1,500 volts! Running voltage is only 85, enough to feel it pretty good if you should make contact with it, but not dangerous.

[arwadowd]

The lamp base is tight. The problem with the retaining clip I attribute to the thicker plastic base. I've readjusted the headlight back up to where it should be. The pattern is not very smooth(daylight). Maybe the brighter and slightly longer point source accent things that are not important in real world conditions. Will test tonight ....

Thanks for the input.

Jim

[Josmas]

In the UK they don't drive on the right side, they will tell you they drive on the correct side.http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif

:o So, in the UK they drive on the "correct side of the rode", but the steering wheel in their cars is on the wrong side...right? ;)
Now I've totally confused myself! :rolleyes:

[STEBS]

You should have a nice sharp cutoff of the beam, same as the original bulb.

Check to see if the bulb is seated solidly by the clip. If you can move the bulb around by putting pressure on the back of it, it is not seated. I actually made a new clip for mine, the first H7 bulb I had was shaped so that the clip would not put pressure on one side of it.

The bulbs are a lot longer, but the critical part is that the little arc chamber in the center of it should be the same height from the base seating surface as the filament in the original halogen bulb.

Try moving the bulb around with the clip off and powered on. Make sure it is already on before trying it though, as the starting voltage is over 1,500 volts! Running voltage is only 85, enough to feel it pretty good if you should make contact with it, but not dangerous.

I have the same problem with the light pattern from my hid light, I don't remember the pattern being like this on my 2002 Lt but on the 2005 the light pattern has a sharp straight cut on the left side but on the right side it shoots up at about a 30 degree angle hitting the side view mirrors of the drivers in front and to my right . After pulling this bulb and moving it around several times this is the best I could get from it. I thought there was something wrong with the bulb so I wrote the supplier (in this case Hid-Online), here is their response to me along with 2 pictures they sent in the email

the first picture is their description of how the hid pattern should be, the second picture is of the halogen pattern.


Dear Ron


What you seem to be describing is what is called an asymmetric dip beam pattern. These examples are for left hand drive traffic but are simply reversed for right hand drive. This shows that the optical characteristics are correct. There is no way of changing this as its done within the headlamp design. The only difference here is the colour temperature from halogen to hid



Hope this helps

Jez

Technical Support

[Steve_R]

Ron, My 2000 HID low beam pattern looks the same as yours. Nothing to worry about.