BMW will become the first car maker offer advanced laser headlamps

[csv8]

BMW's new laser headlights are more powerful than standard high-beam lights.

BMW will become the first car maker offer advanced laser headlamps on a series production car when its new i8 goes on sale later this year.

The new laser headlamps, developed in partnership with German lighting specialist Osram and set to become an option on BMW’s new plug-in hybrid sportscar, are claimed to provide vastly improved lighting intensity over existing LED headlamps, which will feature as standard on the i8, by offering a more constant beam of light.

According to Thomas Hausmann, manager of exterior lighting development at BMW, the new laser headlamps operate at up to 344 lux in high beam mode, as opposed to the to the latest LED headlamps which are rated at 180 lux.
BMW's new laser headlights are more poweful than standard high-beam lights.

BMW's new laser headlights are more powerful than standard high-beam lights.

By comparison, older Xenon headlamps turn out 120 lux, while conventional halogen headlamps boast a maximum 100 lux in high beam mode.


The light created by the new generation headlamp is emitted by laser diodes and a fluorescent phosphor material. It is described as being monochromatic, meaning the light waves possess the same length. This leads to a greater luminance and intensity, particularly over longer distances.

Hausmann says the monochromatic properties of the new laser headlamps enables them to illuminate the road for a distance of up to 600 metres, or up to double that of LED units. The more stable properties of the light beam also enable more precise horizontal and vertical adjustment for adaptive functions such as anti-glare high beam, in which the projectory of beam of light is automatically altered when an on-coming car is detected.

During a preview of the new headlamps in France this week, BMW admitted the original intensity of the laser beam, which can reach over 400 lux, has been reduced slightly to decrease glare on reflective road signs.

As well as offering increased lighting intensity for improved night time vision, the new laser headlamps are also claimed to be 30 per cent more energy efficient than the latest generation of LED headlamps, offering approximately 170 lumens (a photometric unit of light output) per watt.

Following their debut as an option on the the i8, BMW’s laser headlamps are planned to filter down into other regular BMW models, including next year’s sixth-generation 7-series, which will be previewed in concept car form at the Beijing motor show in April.

BMW rival Audi, which also co-operates with Osram, indicated its intention to place laser headlamps into production by previewing the technology on and updated version of its Sport Quattro concept at the Detroit motor show last month.
http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor...221-334yk.html

[barnz_xr8]

great so you actually get blinded by the people coming the other way.

[Streets]

I wonder how effective they are when you pay tommo a sixpack to come round and bung a set into your clapped out VN/lowlux

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Streets

I wonder how effective they are when you pay tommo a sixpack to come round and bung a set into your clapped out VN/lowlux

I would imagine you would not be able to acquire & afford the cost of laser lights for some time so no problems of gooses retrofitting for some time.

[satria]

Originally Posted by barnz_xr8

great so you actually get blinded by the people coming the other way.

I don't think BMW are that dumb, with the way tech is going in cars now I dare say it will have a feature to auto-dim headlights when the car detects another travelling the opposite way.

That's my guess anyway.

[Whitey-AMG]

Gee
where do they think these cars are going to be driven. Into a black hole.
oncoming HID xenon super dooper lights are bad enough, especialky when car isnt level . Having the millenium falcon i8 coming at you shooting lasers will be interesting.

[2011G6E]

You should see some of the four wheel drive guys...they honestly almost seem to get sexually aroused trying to outdo one another with light bars, masses of spotties, and HID conversion kits, seeing who can light up the furthest distance away down the road.

Which creates a problem a lot of people don't think about or realise.
Basically, if you can see much further away down the road, then you will unconsciously start to find yourself focussing at that distance, and usually start to ignore stuff going on much closer to you.

I'd much rather see clearly maybe a few hundred (at most) meters ahead of me and very very clearly out to about two hundred meters at most and also off to the sides. Honestly...you don't need to see a kilometer down the road or more. I'd prefer to light up close to the vehicle...where danger is going to pop up...like daylight, and possibly throw a spot further down the road. That's how we have our Triton set up...factory headlights with good bulbs, and a simple pair of 160mm spotlights, one spot, one spread, and we've never felt we couldn't see where we were going.

Also, there is what I call "low beam travel distance". If your lights are dazzling drivers a couple of kilometers away...as good HID lights can easily do...you will have to drop them to low beam a lot sooner than you would before. I know the rules say something like you have to drop your beam when an oncoming car is 200 meters away, but with modern HID's, the other poor sod will be blinded by then. I'm sure you've experienced it...you're on the highway, someone is dazzling you, so you lower your high beam to low beam, as does he...and then it seems ages before he actually reaches you and all that time you've been driving on low beam. Not an ideal situation. You can't set up your lights to deal with a perfect world where there's no other traffic...

I hope cars don't start to try and outdo one another for distance like fourbies have been doing for ages...ask yourself honestly and truthfully...how far do you really need to see ahead down the road...?

[Franco Cozzo]

I call bullshit on their lux figures, LEDs are no match for HIDs at distance or even Halogens with a good reflector.

I've got Baja Designs LED spotlights on my Focus and while being very intense close up they don't come close to the Hella Rallye 4000 compacts i had on at distance.

LED technology isn't good enough at the moment to be used for headlights as you can see not many manufacturers are using them.

Hella and an Australian company make a LED projector and it only does 1000 lumens, the same as a H4.

[Lardman]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

I call bullshit on their lux figures, LEDs are no match for HIDs at distance or even Halogens with a good reflector.

I've got Baja Designs LED spotlights on my Focus and while being very intense close up they don't come close to the Hella Rallye 4000 compacts i had on at distance.

LED technology isn't good enough at the moment to be used for headlights as you can see not many manufacturers are using them.

Hella and an Australian company make a LED projector and it only does 1000 lumens, the same as a H4.

Lumen count is simply a factor - light temperature, throw, as well as focusing points are also something to consider - lasers will be far better on throw and focus, coupled with adaptive headlight tech will be a good thing.

Helps you see further, at high speeds, can widen the throw at lower speeds, so on. Less power consumption and lower temperatures, as well as smaller packaging has aerodynamic functions as well.

[Mr Hardware]

I don't think i've ever said "My high beams don't shine far enough".

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

I don't think i've ever said "My high beams don't shine far enough".

You will when you have driven a car with bi xenons. My ST even on low beam is brilliant, better than some cars ive had on high beam. And when I use high beam its even better.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

You should see some of the four wheel drive guys...they honestly almost seem to get sexually aroused trying to outdo one another with light bars, masses of spotties, and HID conversion kits, seeing who can light up the furthest distance away down the road.

Sexually aroused, honestly bit of an overstatement don't you think.
When you see the conditions 4WD's drive under you will appreciate their reason for added lights like Trucks have.

[Motorbreath310]

Originally Posted by satria

I don't think BMW are that dumb, with the way tech is going in cars now I dare say it will have a feature to auto-dim headlights when the car detects another travelling the opposite way.

That's my guess anyway.

They haven't thought of it yet. There's an absolute butt-tonne of cars on the road already that give the overriding impression that you're about to be beamed aboard an interplanetary space craft and sodomised with something almost as big as an Audi drivers sense of self-entitlement. Perfect for the people driving them - retina replacement surgery for everyone else.

You'll start seeing backyard radiologists with BMW headlamps hooked up to car batteries.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by trublu

Sexually aroused, honestly bit of an overstatement don't you think.
When you see the conditions 4WD's drive under you will appreciate their reason for added lights like Trucks have.

Possibly a slight exaggeration...but by christ it's not much of one when you hear the way some people go on about it....

I've done a lot of night time highway kilometers with our Triton with "only" good bulbs and a pair of spotties, and I've also done long dirt stretches at night as well. If anything, on dirt roads it's even more vitally important to light up the first hundred to two hundred meters ahead of you and well off to the sides as if something large hops or runs out, you won't be able to stop as quickly, not that any sensible person would be driving at highway speeds at night on country dirt roads. Less important to be able to see clearly a kilometer ahead...you really want to be concentrating on distances a lot closer than even the throw of standard high beams.

And yes...a lot of people seem to put "outright distance" over clarity where it actually counts...

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by Motorbreath310

They haven't thought of it yet. There's an absolute butt-tonne of cars on the road already that give the overriding impression that you're about to be beamed aboard an interplanetary space craft and sodomised with something almost as big as an Audi drivers sense of self-entitlement. Perfect for the people driving them - retina replacement surgery for everyone else.

You'll start seeing backyard radiologists with BMW headlamps hooked up to car batteries.

The technology is already here.
Chrysler group have it and it is called SmartBeam™ auto-dipping, high beam headlamp control system

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Lardman

Lumen count is simply a factor - light temperature, throw, as well as focusing points are also something to consider - lasers will be far better on throw and focus, coupled with adaptive headlight tech will be a good thing.

Helps you see further, at high speeds, can widen the throw at lower speeds, so on. Less power consumption and lower temperatures, as well as smaller packaging has aerodynamic functions as well.

Fair enough on the lasers, but I can comment on the LEDs which is what brought me to the conclusion someone is fudging some stats there.

[Whitey-AMG]

Originally Posted by DJM83

You will when you have driven a car with bi xenons. My ST even on low beam is brilliant, better than some cars ive had on high beam. And when I use high beam its even better.

Funny that. Our kizashi has the wizbang self levelling bi xenon gee wiz units and i find them lacking. They have nice white light but i find the spread of light on my BFGT is much better thus making it a more comforable and confident driving experience, especially on unlit narrow twisty roads where distance is not so much of an issue.

[Whitey-AMG]

^^^^^
Edit
i dont think the kizashi has bi xenons. Just standard HID units.
either way, the GT has better lights. The cutoff in the kizashi s just annoying. Everything below is bright and then everything above is just dark. Its very distinctive and friggin annoying.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by ESP

Funny that. Our kizashi has the wizbang self levelling bi xenon gee wiz units and i find them lacking. They have nice white light but i find the spread of light on my BFGT is much better thus making it a more comforable and confident driving experience, especially on unlit narrow twisty roads where distance is not so much of an issue.

My Bi-Xenons on my Focus are really good, so far I haven't come across a car with better lights that I've driven.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by ESP

^^^^^
Edit
i dont think the kizashi has bi xenons. Just standard HID units.
either way, the GT has better lights. The cutoff in the kizashi s just annoying. Everything below is bright and then everything above is just dark. Its very distinctive and friggin annoying.

All projector type headlights will have a cut off. There is a little difference between a HID light and a Bi Xenon IIRC

[Ben73]

On the topic of lights. I will miss my Xenon lights once I get a new car.
I'm surprised why some cars that cost over 55k in 2014 still don't have xenon lights and LED tail lights. I know not everyone wants xenon, but it should be at least an option.
I have always liked good lights on my car.

[stevefreestyle]

Unless these Lazer headlight can vaporize the senile moron in the toyota in front of me, I don't give a rats......

[Charliewool]

This should be on the "but, but, but" science thread?
Can you imagine the damage that lights this bright do to the atmosphere?
There'll be holes burnt in the air everywhere, you wait!

[partsguy]

Originally Posted by Wretched

The technology is already here.
Chrysler group have it and it is called SmartBeam™ auto-dipping, high beam headlamp control system

It's also available on Ford Kuga Trend & Titanium as part of the Tech pack.

[2011G6E]

Amazed that auto dipping headlights are so slow in catching on, being such a simple thing.

Hell, they were introduced by GM way back in 1952 on the Cadillac..."Autronic Eye", the system was called. Then again, it also had automatic wipers that came on when it started to rain...

I'm also surprised that only two common production cars have had a heads up display so you don't have to take your eyes off the road to watch your speed...the Nissan Bluebird of the late nineties, and the new VF Commodore. Again, such a damn simple and cheap idea, why haven't they become common?

In some ways we've almost gone backwards...

[|Nate]

The BMW laser headlights would definitely be incorporating something like this.

I can't wait to see what these look like on the road, my 06 BMW's xenons are pretty good, the bulbs last forever (I drive with headlights on, and have done since I've owned the car for the last 2 years), and changing them over if/when they die takes a few minutes.

Speaking of lighting, I hope the 2014 Falcon has the optional extra of Xenons.

[Yellow_Festiva]

How long is the degree you need to learn how to change a blown globe?

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

How long is the degree you need to learn how to change a blown globe?

That's like everything though on European cars, pain in the *** to work on but when everything is working as intended its fantastic.

[xr6tjet]

If people want to have insane vision at night buy an AU... never been in a car that can light up the road brighter with halogen globes lol

[|Nate]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

How long is the degree you need to learn how to change a blown globe?

I obtained my Bachelors in "Euro maintenance" back in 2012, about to obtain my PhD this year.

In regards to the laser bulbs, I think you'd have to be ULTRA careful if/when you have to change anything.

Although, I think the laser lights will probably last as long, if not, more than Xenon bulbs.