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Originally Posted by ChrisH
Do you recall what the lumen output and color temperature of the stock bulbs are? They did seem to improve with the later builds. Also, it appears that you use the stock headlight wiring for power, even though there is a surge current at turn-on. I would expect that the surge is short lived enough for the 35 Watt bulbs, but I wonder about the 50 Watt (takes longer for the current transient to get down to below the slow-blow fuse rating). Have you tested with the 50 Watt for many on-off cycles?
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If, by stock, you mean the halogen bulbs, I'm not sure. When I modified my M3's ellipsoids to have HID bulbs, I took the car to get aimed. There was a Ford SUV in front on the queue and the aiming machine measured the lumen output which came out to somewhere between 1500 - 1900 or so. When my M3 was up, the output was around 3100.
As for the surge associated with a 50Watt setup, I cannot comment. I'm not sure if the surge would be the same since you're just striking the arc and then the current draw diminishes. I don't have the equipment to test for this so if perhaps someone on the board has the capability, let me know and I'll send you over a kit to test. GroundLoop?
I'll take a closer look at the electricals this weekend to see if I can offer something that uses relays and a new tap off of the electrical system. However, as it stands, I've had the Elise for quite a few months and didn't uprate the stock fuse and haven't had any issues. The same can't be said for the horn fuse after upgrading to Hella Duotones
HTH