Xenon Headlights

[Guest jeffc5]

Hello,

 

I have just purchased my first Citroen, a (second hand) C5. I was wondering if the automatic operation of the headlights has any effect on the expected life of the xenon bulbs. The lights regularly switch themselves on and off for short durations, eg. when I pull into my garage after driving home in broad daylight, when I pull into multi-storey car parks, going through short tunnels etc etc.

 

The switching doesn't bother me at all, and I do find the auto headlights handy, but I would not use them if their use was going to reduce the life of the bulbs.

 

While on the subject, can anyone tell me the approximate life expectancy of the light bulbs?

 

Thanks

 

Jeff

[GreedyPig]

Hello,

 

I have just purchased my first Citroen, a (second hand) C5. I was wondering if the automatic operation of the headlights has any effect on the expected life of the xenon bulbs. The lights regularly switch themselves on and off for short durations, eg. when I pull into my garage after driving home in broad daylight, when I pull into multi-storey car parks, going through short tunnels etc etc.

 

The switching doesn't bother me at all, and I do find the auto headlights handy, but I would not use them if their use was going to reduce the life of the bulbs.

 

While on the subject, can anyone tell me the approximate life expectancy of the light bulbs?

 

Thanks

 

Jeff

 

You can switch off the automatic function. Personally I like it. No idea of life expectancy though.

[Guest jeffc5]

You can switch off the automatic function. Personally I like it. No idea of life expectancy though.

Thanks.

 

I'm OK as far as disabling the auto function is concerned.

 

My question springs from the fact that when I got my car it had a burned out globe (I think due to a minor front end collision). The mechanic that replaced the globe told me that the globe has a very long life span, practically the life of the car. Sounds fair enough when considering the cost.

 

The dealer wore the cost of replacing this globe, but I was wondering when or if I should factor in replacing them over the next 10 years or so I hope to keep the car.

 

Thanks for your reply

[lightfj]

they are supposed to last the life of the car but having said that my nearsideone began to look dimmer than the o/s, so I replaced it.

From citroen they are about £90 a time but if you look on the net you can get a pair for that sort of money.

It is better to replace a a pair because the temperature setting of them determines the colour of the light. You can be stopped or fail an MOT for lights not being the same colour.

Also they are a so and so to change and due to the very high voltage on them make sure they haven't been on for 10 mins before changing.

They are not unlike ordinary bulbs to change but asre very very tight.

[Guest jeffc5]

Thanks.

 

 

They are definitely very hard to change. You can't get any finger prints on the glass either. Once you sort out which way the clip goes you're OK