Does My BMW or MINI Have Halogen or HID Xenon Headlights?
When looking at replacement or upgrade parts and bulbs for your BMW or MINI headlights, you typically need to know if the vehicle is equipped with Halogen headlight bulbs or HID Xenon bulbs. BMW and MINI have been offering HID/Xenon headlight options on models since the early 2000s. While the bulbs are obviously different, the complete headlight assemblies are typically different as well. This means that ANY part that you purchase for the headlights, such as; low-beam bulbs, high-beam bulbs, angel-eye bulbs, DRL (Daytime Running Lights) bulbs and parts will be dependent on the type of headlights that have been optioned on the vehicle.
You may have never really thought about your headlights (other than noticing that the road lights up when you turn them on) … until you need to repair or upgrade them. At this point, you may not be readily aware that there are differences in the headlight designs, let alone know which type you have on your BMW or MINI. Of course we (you and your BAVauto® Advisor) can use the VIN to look at the specific options on your car, but it’s also easy to just take a look at the headlights themselves. In most cases, BMW and MINI vehicles that are optioned with the HID/Xenon headlights will have a lens design commonly known as Ellipsoid. When looking at the low-beam headlight lens, it appears to have an outer 4″ to 5″ ring and a smaller 2″ to 3″ dark center lens (sort of like the pupil within the iris of a human eye).
Here are some examples of Halogen and HID/Xenon headlights on BMWs and MINIs:
EXAMPLES OF HID/XENON HEADLIGHTS:
EXAMPLES OF HALOGEN HEADLIGHTS:
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