Light differentiation: which headlights are better?

Automotive light has evolved from candles and oil lamps to LEDs and a laser. Nowadays, there is a great variety of ultramodern headlights.

Halogen lamps are long-lived automotive lights. They appeared in cars in the middle of the last century and still have strong positions. Even in previous generations of premium business sedans, the Audi A6, BMW 5-Series and Mercedes E-Class, by default, there were halogen headlights that were fitted in the basic configuration. Now they are being replaced by LEDs, but still “halogens” are available in many models of the middle classes, as well as in the absolute majority of the A and B segments representatives.

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Their main advantage, of course, is cheapness. All automakers allow the replacement of such lamps by the owner of the car. In fairness, we note that it is not always possible to do this easily and quickly. Many models have a blown light source removed, for example, after removing the bumper, headlights, or - at best - the wheelhouse liner.

Halogen lamps with age lose their brightness, but to a small extent. Therefore, they can be changed one by one. And the difference in the quality of illumination is more apparent due to the fact that in the store you will most likely buy another model of the lamp.

There are also some disadvantages. The first is a weak quality compared to more modern analogs. This is true for most cases, but not for all! There are cars that have heaped xenon or diodes that shine worse than basic “halogen”. Therefore, do not rush to pay extra for the lights without checking them in action.

The second minus results from high temperature when working incandescent bulbs. The dirt on the hot headlamp cap instantly dries up, and the headlight washer cannot cope with it. In a long journey, you will often have to stop for rubbing or come to terms with the hellish amount of non-freezing on a constant headlight cleaning. In addition, if the halogen works in the lens, the latter will quickly burn out and dim. Optics will have to be restored.

Xenon headlights first appeared on the BMW 7-Series in the back of the E32 model in 1991. Until the early 2000s, xenon lamps were usually placed only in the passing beam, but then the so-called bi-xenon came into use. There was one lamp left, and the electric curtain was responsible for the change of modes. By the way, contrary to popular belief, xenon is placed not only in lens headlights, but also in the reflector.

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Xenon lamps are more expensive than halogen ones. And this is not the most important thing. Discharge lamps eventually lose a significant percentage of brightness. For example, replacing one lamp on a three-year-old car with a mileage of 50-60 thousand kilometers, you will see a very significant difference between the headlights.

There is a note in almost every instruction manual in the lamp replacement section: xenon lamps are changed only by an authorized dealer.

On the overwhelming majority of models, the extra charge for xenon is justified: it shines noticeably better than halogen one. And its spectrum is more pleasant for an eye. These two factors together lead to the fact that on the night road the driver will be less tired.

Xenon was not long the peak of evolution, and today it is rare to find it on new cars. Current trend is LEDs. In 2000, they partially occupied the rear lights, in 2007 - the LED dipped beam appeared, in 2008 - fully diode headlights.

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LED-lights shine at least at the level of xenon, and in most cases surpass them. Nowadays, matrix technology is rapidly spreading. Thanks to dozens of diodes for each headlamp, the car has in its arsenal an infinite number of options for the light beam. The quality of road illumination with LEDs is out of competition.

The design disadvantages, however, are significant. Separately, the elements of the headlights cannot be changed, only assembled. For new cars, under the protection of the warranty, it is probably nothing terrible. But when choosing a used car in the secondary market, think about the cost of headlights cost.

Manufacturers claim that the diodes do not lose brightness over the years and will last as much as the entire car assembly.