I see that some headlight lens assemblies are "not for models with Xenon headlamps."

So how do I determine that? 1995 850 turbo wagon.

 

Does your car have aftermarket xenon bulbs in them?

 

They are probably aftermarket that have known to melt when hot. OEM should not. Your wagon should not have Xenon bulbs unless as FCP Groton said...they are aftermarket.

 

Our normal housings are NOT DOT Approved for HIDs

 

So Xenon = HID ?

There don't seem to be any HID approved lenses in the groton website...

I've always though the lights didn't project very brightly. Recently installed low beam Phillips NightGuide Tricolor bulbs, but not getting the color effect. Phillips says some it doesn't work with some lenses, so that was wasted money.

But even with the new bulbs the lights are not very bright.

 

The best way to get more light is though HID bulbs. Our normal housings do not produce much glare, but there is still some. It is best to get an HID-Retrofit, where they take projectors and then retrofit them into our housings

 

I might be purchasing a set of fog lights for my 850, the lights im buying are real 850 fog lights from a 95. I have Xenon headlamps and wanted to hook up 2 new balasts on the fogs...would it melt the fog lamp covers?

 

I think the lamps are glass, so you should be okay. I do not think that they should harm it. They will be putting more light, but idk how much light they produce. They seem fairly dim

 

People use "xenon" and "HID" interchangeably, but they really shouldn't. Xenon is a gas that is used in many different lighting application, including OEM and many aftermarket bulbs. Many of the aftermarket "xenon" bulbs are traditional bulbs that are coated blue or purple, to provide the bluish light output that you often see from cars with HID lights. This bluish color is seen only on the edges of the beam, and only to people outside the vehicle. It cannot be seen by the driver. The light that is put out by OEM HID systems has a color temperature of roughly 4,300K, which is very close to the color of natural sunlight. It is very pure and white.

The problem with the coated bulb approach is that the human eye doesn't see the blue part of the color spectrum very well. That's why they use blue lights on the stairs in movie theaters - you can see the step, but it doesn't provide enough light to distract you from the film. It's also why fog lights and driving lights on cars are generally yellow. The human eye does very will in the yellow and white part of the spectrum (3,000K to 4,300K).

To compensate for this issue, manufacturers of these coated bulbs increase the wattage to put more light on the road. Higher wattage lights run hotter, and can melt your lenses or wiring harness. True HID lights use a ballast and a special bulb that doesn't have a filament, much like a fluorescent light bulb. These systems use a tremendous amount of power at startup (thus the ballast), but once they are ignited they run much cooler and on a much lower wattage than a halogen bulb. Another thing to note is that HID lights do not do well in reflector light housings. This is why you almost always see them in projector light housings in OEM applications. To be used in a reflector light housing, it has to be specifically designed for HID lights in order to properly disperse the light beam on the road. Finally, OEM HID systems have automatic leveling systems. The output of HID systems is increased to the point where it could easily dazzle/blind oncoming traffic at night. DOT approved systems auto level to avoid this issue.

Sorry for the long post, but there is lots and lots of bad and misleading information out there about "xenons" and "HIDs".

 

So where do I go to find retrofit HID systems for a 1995 850 turbo wagon?

How expensive are they? Is is something I could install myself? I suppose a retrofit would come as one piece to replace the whole headlight housing & lens as a unit?

I'm not happy with the dim light & short projection of the OEM system. I installed Phillips "Night Guide" halogen lamps, but no difference.

In this thread:

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-850-16/headlight-lens-euro-vs-us-d-o-t-approved-40216/

A member explains that the european E-code lens will give more projection at the expense of upwards light that might be useful to read street signs.

 

There are many companies that sell HID conversion kits. They come with bulbs that fit in your standard halogen socket, as well as ballasts and mounting hardware. They are relatively easy to install. The problem is that you will be putting them in headlight housings that were designed for halogen lamps. You also won't have the automatic leveling system that OEM systems have. You'll put lots more light out onto the road, but chances are the pattern will be unusual. If you decide to go this route, make sure you order 4,300K lights, not the 6,000K that are so popular on the heavily modded asian cars. You should be able to get a kit for a few hundred dollars.

I have done this once before with one of my vehicles, and I removed the kit after only a few days for the reasons mentioned above.. I wouldn't recommend it.

 

You can get kits now-a-days for under 50. Search DDMTuning.com

 

Where can I get a kit that includes a lens which won't melt, and maybe a reflector housing correctly designed for the lamps? Essentially replacing the whole light assembly.

 

You could just get the projector ones.

 

by "projector ones" what do you mean? How do they avoid the melting problem?

 

You buy ones that are like mine. They are projector based and are built for that light, not specifically HIDs, but they have the right technology. For best results, Retrofit.

 

Can you be more specific? The stuff on the site you reference says HID, and just a bulb & ballast, as far as I can tell.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/VOLVO-850-T5-T-5...item3efe5e4f5a