BMW to develop Laser Headlights

[Roam]

This is neat, hope I can retrofit this on mine!! But I already can't stand driving with all those bright xenons blinding me at night.

 

[Meatball]

It helps when you've got the xenons to see by. Nothing bothers you anymore.

But seriously, its all in the optics. Xenons in a halogen reflector while mis-aim your beams.

Xenons or halogens in a proper projector housing- and all is good.

If these phosphor based beams are going to be nice and elliptical like in the photo, it should be no trouble to shape and aim the beam to where it needs to be. They should not be a bother while out on the road.

I also do not think there will be a retrofit kit available for quite a long time now.

 

[steve001]

It appears that they have really pulled it off. It will be an option in the new i8. Here is an interesting article about it: link

An informative article, Very nice of you to have posted it.

 

[Krane]

I think the concept is not to save car's electricity, at least not at this stage of the game while cars are still oil powered, but more to create cool new headlights that will also limit the spread and possible give some autonomous driving capabilities, as it will be easier for the sensors/cameras to read the one wavelength data.

BMW currently has the best night vision camera too, well they actually use Thermal Camera by Flir, while Mercedes for example uses old technology like "sony handycam" shooting IR light ahead, crap in comparison to what BMW has, and that is disappointing because to me Mercedes was always the luxury car, BMW was more of a rich level gimmick, no offense to BMW drivers its just my opinion, so I think Mercedes should have had this technology instead, but whatever.

 

[kilter]

same tech that WL uses right?

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

I think the concept is not to save car's electricity, at least not at this stage of the game while cars are still oil powered, but more to create cool new headlights that will also limit the spread and possible give some autonomous driving capabilities, as it will be easier for the sensors/cameras to read the one wavelength data.

keep in mind, current generic halogen headlights consume ~55W a piece. HIDs: ~40W.
Dunno the specs on BMW laser headlight, but another thing to consider is that the light source has potential to be easier to control.

BMW currently has the best night vision camera too, well they actually use Thermal Camera by Flir, while Mercedes for example uses old technology like "sony handycam" shooting IR light ahead, crap in comparison to what BMW has, and that is disappointing because to me Mercedes was always the luxury car, BMW was more of a rich level gimmick, no offense to BMW drivers its just my opinion, so I think Mercedes should have had this technology instead, but whatever.

Merc had the engineering solution, in that the car is already spitting light out in front, why not use it to enhance the night camera vision? Same basic end result, probably some good cost savings, to give the best added safety per added cost. My car doesn't even have ultrasonic sensors

same tech that WL uses right?

This made me chuckle. Technically, yes. WL implements it very poorly, though.

Also, keep in mind the post date when replying, I'm sure that the headlights will put out something better than an oval ;-) Interesting to see that output shape, though. Wonder if it is related to the pumped region of the phosphor, which would be line shaped just like our 445nm's.

 

[Bacon]

I can see it now... all those pesky ricers are going to stick overpowered 445s to upgrade their crappy hids (which are not focused down or installed properly, insted spread in all directions to other driversi hate ricers //rant)

and what happens when in accident? All those separate beams shooting out of a cracked light :undecided:

But it makes alot of sense to me. Here we go;
I need my lights fixed, call me when itsdone
"you're car is ready"
"Here is my card"
"That will be $550 for new lights"
"Of course! Take my money mr dealership thugs"
:barf:

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

$550 per side is probably what the halogen reflector headlights cost

If anybody even asks about how to power a laser from a car battery, that'll be a red flag.

In the event of a crash, I'm sure there will be safety interlocks and fail-safes. As long as the laser isn't focused to infinity, and no reason why it should be, just a lot of blue light will exit the headlamp. Couldn't be any worse than police lightbars. Each LED is a 5W LED, each pod has 6 LEDs, each light bar has somewhere around 12-24 pods, and of course, the users have them set to full blast.

 

[Dr_Evil]

I think the halogen reflectors for my truck are around $200 to $250 each. Of course that's just for the headlights. Those with the turn signal and headlight in one housing probably cost more. I f**king hate modern cars. Those assemblies probably cost around $25 to make. They are s***ty too because the plastic crap doesn't last long. I wouldn't care as much if the made them out of glass.

 

[djQUAN]

I think the halogen reflectors for my truck are around $200 to $250 each. Of course that's just for the headlights. Those with the turn signal and headlight in one housing probably cost more. I f**king hate modern cars. Those assemblies probably cost around $25 to make. They are s***ty too because the plastic crap doesn't last long. I wouldn't care as much if the made them out of glass.

Mine was about $270 a side. Ended up buying a set from ePay for $200 shipped for a pair. Used it for a year or so then tore it apart and fitted projector retrofits. And yes, the plastic lamps of all modern cars today are crap. You'd think by now they have figured out a way to make the plastic more UV resistant but no, it's one of their sources of income that's probably why those are expensive.

 

[WizardG]

Look at the bright side (no pun intended), If BMW puts these into production then we should see the price for the new 3.5 watt 445 diodes fall through the floor relatively soon.

 

[Epiclaser]

The WickedLasers sight mentioned them when they were talking about their phosforce


:lasergun:

 

[Operator]

It appears that they have really pulled it off. It will be an option in the new i8. Here is an interesting article about it: link

Guess, I just really need to see it with my own eyes, in real world driving situations. LED headlamps are still relatively new (not counting DRL's.). But I'm still interested in seeing how this pans out. Though I'll be honest, I'm and Audi fan! But good on ya BMW...

 

[Nanolaser]

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