There's no such thing as a $20 HID bulb (archive)

I think you are confusing HID with "xenon" look-alikes. HID is High-Intensity Discharge. These lights are the ones that are an option on BMW and some other cars for $500 or so. They take a very large voltage to start and the system to do this is expensive. There is no plug-in bulb that does the same thing. "Xenon" bulbs are the look-alikes. Most makers seem to want to convince people that they are the same as HID. I guess they have done a pretty good job of that. "Xenon" is an inert gas, meaning it doesn't chemically react with anything, in simple terms. I don't know the exact reason that it is added to a bulb, but I presume there are some good reasons to add it to a regular Halogen bulb (Halogens are elements in the same chemical family as Chlorine). Generally, the "xenon" bulbs are blue tinted, or have some other method of emitting bluish light, so as to make it look like you have HID lights. But guess what? The blue tinting generally REDUCES the light output of the bulb. There may be some exceptions with bulbs of higher wattage, etc. that actually produce more light. (However, they may not be legal for highway use, and may overtax your cars wiring, which is designed for stock bulbs). Unless the look-alike bulbs are DOT approved, even they aren't legal for highway use in the U.S. Also, quite a few people seem to complain about premature failure of the look-alike bulbs.

[Did you know that HID technology was actually invented before fluorescent bulb technology? Fluorescent bulbs have a lot in common with HIDs. They also take a higher voltage than their "running" voltage to start, which is why they require a ballast and starter circuit. HIDs really aren't new technology. Just their application to car headlights is new, or at least now becoming popular.]

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