Recommendation: Replace your old Xenons!

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by GrahamHR

Do they deteriorate as a function of time, or how long they have been on when the car is being used ?

I wasn't aware of the performance of the Xenons on my wife's 2012 Mazda 3 Sport deteriorating up to the point we sold it in early 2021.

They deteriorate with burn time, not age.

Just how much they deteriorate and how quickly depends on a number of factors, but like old fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent lamps, the loss of output can be very significant well before they fail completely.

[Rob3583]

Nightbreakers get a vote from me too. Slightly whiter light than the Osram xenarcs they replaced. Full beam is far better and dipped is a marked improvement. Just waiting on new 4200K halogen bulbs which will hopefully be a close match colour wise. Polishing the headlight lenses removed the stone chips (190,000 mile on the clock) making a sharper dipped beam shadow. Also replaced reversing lights with LED's and wow what a difference.

[GMcL]

The plastic covers benefit from a polish. I bought one of those do it yourself Sonex kits, Holts do one too. I didn't want anything too abrasive though I had noticed the covers were yellowing.

Before and after
Headlights_before_and_after_s.jpg

I'm happy enough with that for €20. No machine polishing all by hand, took about 20 minutes for the pair. You can actually see the dirt coming off with the two different grades of paper.