Confused Re Bi xenon headlamp bulbs

[xco]

My xc90 MY08 se lux has active bi-xenons.

I had a xenon dipped beam bulb go recently and so replaced the pair(Philips) as you do and well pleased with the ice white beam...but the main beam is now a horrible warm yellow (still a good amount of light ...not complaining about that just dont like the now colour difference)compared to the dipped beam xenons.

I understand that I have active bi xenon's in as much that when I corner the dipped beams turn aswell...my confusion arises from the fact that the main beam headlamp bulbs are listed in the user manual as H9 active xenons....
Now does that mean they are ACTIVE xenon H912v/65w bulbs required or they are H9 halogen12v/65w bulbs sitting within the bendy headlamp assembly as both seem to be available?

Some sites when applying my reg/no tell me I need H7's which is wrong.

Some help clarifying this would be most helpful.

Thanks in advance.

[SwissXC90]

I have the same headlamps:

Bi-Xenon low and highbeam in the same lamp/same bulb (with auto-levelling and auto-bending around corners)

And a separate standard tungsten filament halogen bulb for the high beam
Yes, the colour temperature of the halogen is a lot warmer than the Xenons.

But, at now 1 year old, my rip off cheap chinese fake Osram Xenons are tending towards the orange colour spectrum and they slowly match the halogen highbeam lamps

[xco]

Thank you for your reply....I have sourced some from FRF volvo swansea and gone for the original oem osram ones....Still confused though....h9 to me would imply halogen but there are all sorts on the web which when you look at the spec for them are advertised as halogen but spec reads xenon!!!
Then there is the heat to consider as they are 65 watts as opposed to the usual halogen rating of 55 watts and the apparent need for plastic uv shielded tubes because the headlamp housings on an XC90 are plastic and not glass......

Too much to risk.....so decided to go for originals.

If the bulbs I am replacing were the originals fitted I presume they may have yellowed over time anyway and the new ones may veer more towards the ice white tint I desire...We shall see...They are due to be delivered Monday.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by xco

Thank you for your reply....I have sourced some from FRF volvo swansea and gone for the original oem osram ones....Still confused though....h9 to me would imply halogen but there are all sorts on the web which when you look at the spec for them are advertised as halogen but spec reads xenon!!!
Then there is the heat to consider as they are 65 watts as opposed to the usual halogen rating of 55 watts and the apparent need for plastic uv shielded tubes because the headlamp housings on an XC90 are plastic and not glass......

Too much to risk.....so decided to go for originals.

If the bulbs I am replacing were the originals fitted I presume they may have yellowed over time anyway and the new ones may veer more towards the ice white tint I desire...We shall see...They are due to be delivered Monday.

H9 is halogen. On the bixenons the high beam light comes from the discharge bulb (a baffle plate moves out of the way to change the beam cut off that is present for dipped beam) and there is often an additional halogen bulb to supplement the light at high beam.

The reason for this is some HID lamps take 4-5 seconds to reach full light output from a cold start, hence HID alone would not be effective if you wanted to flash your lights as a signal during the day.

Useful article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...ght_bulb_types

[xco]

Thanks for your reply and the link ....your explanation explains a lot.

[NigelDay]

Does anyone know of premium 'higher output' H9 bulbs with a whiter light ? I have active bi-xenons in my XC60 and the auxiliary H9 main beam always seems disappointingly yellow. It seems only H1, H4 and H7 are manufactured in 'Nightbreaker' or other brands.

[xco]

There are 2 Japanese firms Nigel that I found that stock h9 replacements in super bright white.... hids-direct.co.uk and MTEC/BOLTS RACING AUTO TEC but I got so overloaded in the end looking for a direct replacement that I gave up and ordered oem originals just to be on the safe side .
I dont know the age of your h9 bulbs but if like mine they are original fit they may have yellowed with age.
I'll let you know the difference when mine arrive Monday.

[xco]

Originally Posted by NigelDay

Does anyone know of premium 'higher output' H9 bulbs with a whiter light ? I have active bi-xenons in my XC60 and the auxiliary H9 main beam always seems disappointingly yellow. It seems only H1, H4 and H7 are manufactured in 'Nightbreaker' or other brands.

PM just sent you

[CBudd76]

Watching this thread my dip beams are like candles as well.

[xco]

Update on the Osram h9's.

Side by side they were still yellowy in hue compared to the brand new Bi Xenons fitted... so after a conversation with Simon at FRF Volvo they agreed to take them back and I decided to try a set of Cobalt Blue H9's from www.hidsdirect.co.uk in their MTEC range of replacement bulbs.

I am very impressed with them giving out a very crisp white beam rated at 1500lumens.
On un-illuminated Dual carriageway at night, they were able to illuminate a 3rd sign down the road on a known stretch where-as the osrams could only manage as far as the second sign and green and red exit and lane markers were noticeably more defined and on a country road (pitch black)in fog on full beam they were able to illuminate the cats eyes and some penetration through the fog to illuminate a known post box on route where -as the osrams could not and just gave beam bounce back.
I think the kelvin rating of 4750K(beam colour) may have had something to do with this.

As I say I am very impressed with my purchase, the only unknown in this being how long they will last but at half the price of the Osrams i'm not worried.

If anybody else is interested the part number on www.hidsdirect.co.uk website is

CMB/H/65w/CB They are £16.99 a pair incl P&P.

Hop this helps anybody with the yellow beam problems.

I