Originally Posted By JohnS1 This may be revealing of my advancing age or perhaps some oncoming eye affliction, but I can't help but think that the headlights on a lot of today's cars are way too bright - especially those ones with the blue tint to them. These guys get behind me on the freeway at night and I have to physically angle my rear view mirror up so I can't see their lights in the mirror. If I don't, I am temporarily blinded and long afterwards there is this sort of "memory image" of their headlights in my eyes. Even worse is when you encounter these sorts of headlights coming at you. When I flash my lights to tell them to dim their lights, they turn them even brighter, which tells me that the dim mode is way too bright. Does anybody share the same experiences with me? I think some of the bright headlights on contemporary cars are way too bright, and even dangerous. I am really surprised they are allowed on the road. Any opinions out there?
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost Right here with you...they are way to bright and do blind oncoming traffic. Law enforcement used to be vigilant about such things, but, are probably to busy to deal with that at the present time. Another bothersome thing for me is the loud motorcycle. When I first got my license and yes, I know that was right on the heals of the horse and buggy, you had to be careful about how much noise your vehicle was making. As a teen we used to seek out Glass Pack mufflers to skirt the edge of the noise police. I am not exaggerating when I say that some of those loud (especially motorcycles) noises really, actually hurt my ears. Why in this time of "green" and "earth" protection, hand sanitizers, early warning cigarette smoke radar and righteous indignation over all of it, is this not an issue? Talk about noise pollution. I guess it doesn't bother people with asthma or a peanut allergy so it isn't a problem.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Well as someone who has hallogen headlights, I love them. It is so much safer driving with them, and they are designed not to dazzle. It is none of my business, but do you wear glasses? My wife and parents do, and my grandparents used to. They have all had issues with headlight dazzle. However, once they have reactilight lenses, the problem disappeared. Other possible solutions include tinted windscreen and reactilight rear view mirror. My car is also fitted with these and they mean no dazzle even with someone with bright on. Personally I will never go back to non hallogen lights. It is especially better on foggy or rainy nights. It is easier for me to see others and others to see me, making the roads much safers for all. The other thing that is cool is my car detects weight and it adjusts the trajectory of the beams so as not to dazzle people.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice I HATE those headlights... I wear contact lenses, but I don't think that's the issue. What I do know is that those things give me an almost immediate headache and I think if I were an epileptic, I'd be in threat of a seizure. My other peeve - especially here in Las Vegas where we see fog MAYBE once every two years... Idiots who drive with their fog lights on just because they think they look cool. I actually had a truck pull up behind me on the way to work one morning (I'm on the streets at 5:30 a.m.) that had off-road lights on top of the cab - those were lit up along with headlights and his foglights were on, too. ENOUGH ALREADY! I don't know if it works or not, but my revenge - especially on big trucks blinding me from behind - is to adjust my outside mirror out and up to flash it back in their big, dumb faces. Ya know... If it's so DANG bright that you can see the entire inside of my car (through tinted windows), including the white's of my eyes in the rear view mirror - YOUR LIGHTS ARE TOO BRIGHT!! Rant over. Thank you for attending. ;-)
Originally Posted By peeaanuut most of the situation you run into is that the headlights are not angled correctly. If you look at a new BWM wtih HID headlights, probably a 35w 5k flavor they will not be too bright. They are brighter but they are angled correctly and wont blind other drivers. What has happened over the years is that the price to upgrade to HIDs on standard cars has come down. For a while to get a full kit with balast and everything was avor $700. Now you can get a 55w system for about $180. 55w lights are so much brighter than 35w lights. The problem with upgrading your lights on say a civic is that the housing was not intended to have HID bulbs in them so they light becomes more spread out than it would in a housing designed for HIDs causing the light to be more of a distraction to other drivers and in some situations a distraction. I have learned this over time and even thought it was BS, than I had a friend turn on his headlights against a wall in his BMW and there is a difinitive line that the light cuts off and than I had a friend turn on his upgraded HIDs on his civic and the light was more spread out and haphazard. the other thing is the intensity of the bulb. Stock HID systems tend to be in the 35w 3500k range but when most people upgrade they get the 55w 5000k or 6000k range. Also the different intensities of the bulb give off a certain color and some want the more yellow look while some want the blue or white or even purple look. I have upgraded my lights in my MS3 but I was able to obtain housings from the GT model of my car that comes with HIDs. I did get the 55w 5000k bulbs for the headlights but have adjusted the bulbs down. Also I do not have HIDs in the highbeams. I also put 35w 3000k in the fog lamps but again those are lower to the ground and not an annoyance. One more thing that affects it but only so much is the quality of the bulb. Some of the upgrade kits come with crappy bulbs and they do not control the light as some of the better bulbs will. Hope that helps!
Originally Posted By peeaanuut oops one more thing. Upgrading to HID systems are popular in SUVs and trucks and those headlights tend to be poorly adjusted as well.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Agreed, my lamps were built in (audi build rather than BMW) and not one person has flashed me or slowed down in front of me.
Originally Posted By peeaanuut pretty much any HID headlight system that is factory installed will be adjusted properly. its the aftermarket upgrades that have become and issue.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>I have learned this over time and even thought it was BS, than I had a friend turn on his headlights against a wall in his BMW and there is a difinitive line that the light cuts off and than I had a friend turn on his upgraded HIDs on his civic and the light was more spread out and haphazard. << That makes sense. In the old days, when people changed a headlight it was really easy to mess up the alignment, so that one was pointing upward, the other down. I thought with the new, smaller bulbs the need for alignment was eliminated, but I guess not.
Originally Posted By Ursula I hate them and I think people in the city who have them should be shot. I've been blinded far too many times while going 80 on the freeway and there isn't much you can do except slow down or *gasp* use the one-finger salute.
Originally Posted By peeaanuut the HID headlights are safer. However they need to be properly adjusted. And we will begin to see them standard on most vehicles in the coming years in the US. Some countries already have them as a requirement.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Oops... Never mind... I thought the topic was about something else. Carry on.
Originally Posted By peeaanuut gonna have to wait till it gets a little bit cooler for that. haa haa!!!
Originally Posted By JohnS1 I think the "safety" argument is somewhat tenuous as long as other parties on the road are less safe. It's like the people who claim they drive giant SUVs because they're safer. Sure, they're safer - unless you're the one in the subcompact that gets hit by an SUV. Let's face it - most things people buy today, from cars to fashion to corn flakes - are bought because they make the purchaser feel "cool."
Originally Posted By beamerdog Re: fog lights. Mine actually light up the sides of the road so I can see deer before they charge out in front of me on the road -- and we have them in the city parks and surrounding neighborhoods. My son recently had one run into him (yes!) on a four land 50 mph road in the middle of a highly populated area.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Oops... Never mind... I thought the topic was about something else. Carry on. >>> Did you think this thread was about that woman that had her high beams on and didn't know it?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Did you think this thread was about that woman that had her high beams on and didn't know it?>> Well, most women have no clue when their high beams are on, but that is a whole different topic... (Most women also have no clue as to how they really look from behind, but that is a whole different BOARD!!) LOL P.S. I must explain myself a bit. I LOVE the larger ladies. So please don't think I have anything against a pleasingly sized booty. But MY GOD girl... there are good ways to display it and bad ways to display it. Ask someone you love (and who loves your booty) if you are displaying it well. That’s all I’m saying.
Originally Posted By JohnS1 I am completely lost - how does the phrase "Overly bright headlights" have anything to do with booty size???
