Xenon Lamps - BMW Z8 2000 Owner's Manual

Xenon lamps

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Xenon lamps illuminate the side and
front areas of the vehicle much more
brightly and with greater uniformity than
traditional halogen lamps.
In a xenon lamp, an electric arc re-
places the filament to generate intense
illumination. A gas mixture in a quartz
glass tube with metal vapor is ignited
by a high electric voltage. The arc that
is generated is then sustained by a
lower voltage. When the lamp is turned
on, there is a brief warm-up period.
Maximum brightness is attained in
approx. 15 seconds.
Xenon lamps provide significantly im-
proved visibility, especially during ad-
verse weather and poor driving condi-
tions, e.g. driving at night in heavy rain
or through road repair areas where
there are no lane markers.
Vehicles with xenon lamps are equipped
with automatic headlamp range control.
Thus the highway is always optimally
lighted and drivers in oncoming traffic
are not blinded.
Xenon lamps make a significant contri-
bution to highway safety since other
highway users, bicyclists and motorcy-
clists in the right lane, and pedestrians
are more easily detected.
Online Edition for Part No. 01 41 0 155 083 - © 03/00 BMW AG
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