Litronics - All Bi-xenon?

I think I'm confused and I need someone to straighten me out. I have a 2002 Carrera Coupe. I thought it was available in 3 flavors, Halogen Headlings, Litronic (xenon low and halogen high beams) and Litronic Bi-Xenon (xenon hi and low). I have Xenon low beams, and headlamp washers. When I put on my highbeams I get a Halogen lamp on with my Xenon low beams. Does this make sense? Can someone clarify this for me? Thanks. Andy

I have Litronics, but my high beams are halogens. That's what I assume coz' my high beams are not as white.

This has been fleshed out on some serious technical threads on here. For the early year 99-01 the headlights were xenon for low beam, and halogen for hi beam, and so the halogen would tilt when you flashed high beams. For 02+, the Bi-Xenon are xenon for low and hi beam. There is a projector that opens, you can actually see your xenon go "high". In addition, the halogen fires for fill.

Signal, that is what I've been told on renntech... mine is a 02, why are my high beams not as bright as my low? They seem more yellowish than white. If I flick on the high beams, there is an immediate clear difference in the brightness compared to low.

Not sure, I do know that the bixenons ALL have washers (silver disk) on them. So if you dont have the washer then you may just have projector halogens (not bi-xenon)

I've got the bixenons, and lighting up the high beam is like spinning the earth to noon.

Cosmos, you might not be getting the shutter all the way up. True HID's don't handle on/off cycles well and require a warm-up time. As such, the manufacturers have adapted a shutter system to change from high to low. It is possible that the halogen fill mentioned above is causing issues but it also possible that the shutter is not actuating properly, if at all. I'd take it to the dealer and have them diagnose it.

Irksome, Can you elaborate on your experice and vehicle? I take it your highbeams are bright based on your comment, but do you still see a yellow tint (ala Halogen) introduced when go to highbeams? Or have you walked out side to look at the headlights to see if a Halogen bulb is on at the same time? What year is your car? Do you have an option code for Bi-Xenon? Thanks.

I don't have headlight washers, but I have the silver disc plugs on them. I do know for sure that my low beams are Litronics. Maybe viper501 is right about something here, I'll go ask my mechanic to check it out. Or, I'll try it out tonight and let the high beam stay a while, coz' I rarely use high beams except for a few seconds just to check things out in the distance. Too much traffic around here to leave them on.

There are only 2 flavors of headlights on 996's or any year: 99-01' 1. Standard halogens 2. Litronics 99-01' 1. Standard halogens 2. Bi-Xenons The easiest way to tell (as if the actual lighting on the road was not enough) is if you have headlight washers, you have Xenons lights. SIGNAL has it right. With Litronics, the base bulb output is lower. When you turn on the high-beams, the halogen is used as the high-beam. The Xenon lamps rotate upwards to provide additional fill. Bi-xenons have a higher output. In low-beam mode, they use a shutter to restrict and redirect the output to just in front of the car. In high-beam mode, the shutters open and the Xenon lights are fully focused ahead. The halogen turns on only to provide light to immediately in front of the car. If you do a search for the 2002 Model Release Guide; it explains the differents and shows the 2 different illumination patterns. There is also some reference information inside your owners manual.

My bi-xenons throw so much light on high beam that I almost can't look at roadside signs. "Bleeding in" some halogen fill light on high beam will lower the color temp of the output and make it look more "yellow" than when only the low beams are firing, but the intensity is still there.

Ok, I checked tonight...Turned on my high beams and got in front of the car to look at the lights. There is a small bulb, about the size of a pencil eraser head (an inch+) that is the high beam. It looks yellowish in contrast to the much bigger HID bulb directly above it. So that confirms that the high beams are halogens, right? Which means I have Litronics. But my car is a 2002 model. The other thing is, I was told there is auto leveling with my Litronics. But I hardly see the lights move to self-adjust when I turn them on. Unlike my BMW, where the lights flicker and shift up/down for a sec when I first turn them on. So I had given up on having auto leveling, but there was this one time I was parked on a slope facing upwards, when I started my car and turned the lights on, it did the self-adjust for the first time! So now I know I do have auto-leveling Litronics. Weird.

I get bright white light that makes everything clear seemingly for miles. I see no yellow tint. I have never walked in front of my car with the lights on at all, let alone high beams. I would be scared to look into my lights on high. I have an '03 C2. I really should record my option codes, I'm never near my car when I'm asked. I'll try to do that tomorrow and re-post. I do have the headlight washers. On normal mode, I get slightly blue bright light, with very precise borders (shielding it from going high into the eyes of oncoming traffic). I am very impressed with the headlights on my car. I've hit the high beams climbing the hill to my neighborhood, and seen coyote eyes reflected from the bushes to the side of the road. Truly excellent lighting.

No. You have bixenons, unless, I suppose, that someone dropped a set of HID bulbs into your housings before you bought the car. And I'm not referring to the 'blue' tint halogen bulbs. There are a number of companies making drop in HID bulbs and ballasts for standard housings. But you do not have Litronics if you have an 02. Also, you may be seeing the city light, which is a small halogen bulb, versus the true high beam. Can you post a picture of the housing?

I'll go take a shot now......give me 10 mins.... Ok, Here you go:

my 99 has the regular litronics.... high beams are the halogens....and the low are the xenon...

viper501...here's the pic, what's your verdict?

I don't know about US Law or Rules , but in Europe the mounting of xenon lights must include headlight washers and automatic high adjustment.

Your labels are correct for an older Litronic car, but not for the 02+ Bi-Xenon lighting assembly you show in the picture. The upper Xenon reflector is both the low beam and high beam. The lower halogen is for immediate front and side fill only in high-beam mode.

Ok, so when you flash your highs on 02+ the halogen created the immediate burst of light? and for high beams left on, the projector assembly will rotate to make the HID beam face upward? Am I on track here? Is it rotating or is there a shutter that is opening?

Cosmos - By the way, that silver disk that you see is the headlight washer. The lights have to be on and if you activate it, the disk pops up and the washer cleans the lights.

No kidding, cool! I got a set of these lights at a swap meet to upgrade my car (haven't put 'em on yet) and wondered what that silver disk was. Bill

So, which means mine being a 02, I have Bi-xenons. And if I were to stand in front of the car when someone turns on the high beams, I will see the projector (which I marked LOW in the pic) angle upwards to shoot a high beam. At the same time, the lower halogen bulb (which I marked HIGH in the pic) will light up, not becoz' it's the high beam, but to fill the low beam which is now directed higher up. Am I getting this right? I need to get this straight once and for all. Others keep telling me that my 02 has Bi-xenons, but I keep telling them I don't coz' the high beam lever activates the lower halogen light, which is what confused me until now. And All Bi-xenons are self-leveling, correct?

No way...are you messing with me? I am not aware of that at all. I have not seen a headlight washer switch in my car anywhere, and all this while I thought the silver piece was a plug to cover the headlight washer option, which I don't have. Can someone please confirm what it is? Geez...just the headlights and there's so much confusion....

The projectors don't rotate on an 02'+. In low beam mode, the shutters close to restrict and redirect light to the immediate front and sides of the car. In high-beam mode the shutters open directing all the light focused directly ahead. The halogen turns on to provide fill directly in front and to the sides where the HID would be projecting in low-beam mode. You can do an interesting test to verify this. Pull your headlight assemblies out and unplug the cables to the halogens and put them back in. Then turn on your high beams. You will discover you have no lightening to the side or immediate front of the car and basically a very bright spot light at the distance.

Do you know how to read? It is in the owners manual. If you pull the wiper switch toward you, the windshield washer activate. If you push it away from you, the headlight washers activate. Hence why there is a picture of a light indicator with squirters on top of it on the face of the washer stalk. This is almost as bad as those who don't know the rearview mirror can tilt down in reverse or the seats and mirrors can automatically reposition themselves depending on which key is used. Yes there is some value to at least scanning through the owner's manual.

Cos - no he is not messing with you. You DO have headlight washers. As 02 Carrera stated, you push the windshield wiper stalk away from you to activate the headlifht washers, but the headlights must be illuminated (on) for the headlight washers to activate. Or stated another way...

Thanks guys! Good to learn something again. I checked the manual out, and YES, I should have RTFM! But you know, the wipers and washers are one of the things you'd skip coz' you kinda take those things for granted! After driving so many cars, you'd assume they're all the same! Actually I did notice the icon on the wiper stalk, tried it but nothing worked, (of course, thinking back now, the headlights were not on) and seeing the silver discs on the headlights, they do look like plugs. So I assumed I didn't have the option and the silver discs were there to plug up the holes. Coz' headlight washers for other cars don't look like that at all, that is pretty cool design wise! Now...I'm gonna try it out to see if my headlight washers work, and I'm also gonna get the wife to flick the headlight beams to witness the function of the Bi-Xenons! Thanks Again All!

Interesting discussion. Didn't realize these lights were so hi-tech. Now that we have all the headlight experts here, I have a few questions. Did the 02 C4S come standard with bi-xenons or was it an option? Can these be installed aftermarket? (If so, can anyone direct me to a thread here or at Renntech with information on this?) Also want to confirm this - So if an 02 has the round silver headlight washer discs it definitely has bi-xenons (i.e. headlight washers were not a separate option also available with halogens)?

1. option 2. yes but you apparently lose the self leveling, from what I understand but I could be wrong. 3. correct

i wish they offered the xenon setup without those silver plates

Thanks for the info. With some help fom Loren over at Renntech, I found the link for the DIY bi-xenon installation here: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=8612 It says the parts cost about $1K and that you will not have the self-leveling feature. What does "self-leveling" do exactly? Rotate up/down for hills, side to side in corners? Are the xenons desirable mostly for extra light output or is this self leveling feature a big deal too? I have heard from others that the xenons are da bomb, and I'm wondering if it would be worth doing the conversion at that price despite the fact the leveling feature is lost.

It adjusts the vertical aiming to compensate for front/rear attitude of the car. So in theory it will adjust for squat during acceleration or dive during braking, front/rear loading, bumps, etc. They're still nice lights without the factory leveling feature and roughly equivalent to the factory Xenons on my E46 BMW, from what I've experienced on my own car. If bright, white lights are important to you, I wouldn't let the lack of the leveling feature stand in your way.