We test BMW’s new laser headlight technology to see if it’s worth the price of a small car
Development of automotive technology moves at a relentless pace, not only in the more obvious areas of late, such as hybrid and electric propulsion, but in the finer details too. In recent years, few componenents have demonstrated that point better than the humble headlight.
Dating back to the 1880s, the earliest headlamps were precisely that – oil or gas-fired lamps that sat at the head of the car. There were replaced by electric lamps, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that halogen technology first appeared, and the 1990s for more advanced Xenon (or HID) systems.
In recent years the focus has shifted to LED lighting, with Audi making headlines by being both the first manufacturer to introduce an all-LED headlight (for its R8 supercar), and then the first to develop an LED indicator that swept across the light cluster in the direction of intended travel. However, its German rival BMW stole the limelight by announcing it would be first to market a with a production model featuring the next phase of headlight development, which uses laser technology and is available as an option on its £100,000 hybrid i8 sports car.
Costing a staggering £7,995 as an optional extra, BMW engineers boast that the laser headlights, which only work in high-beam mode, are 1,000 times more powerful than LED headlights, improving visibility from 300- to 600 meteres.
Another benefit of the laser lights is that because they are so powerful they can be smaller even than LEDs, in turn reducing energy consumption by 30 per cent.
Are laser headlights dangerous?
No, laser headlights are not dangerous to the human eye. That’s because you won’t be looking at the lasers directly (which would be dangerous, as we were all warned when those laser pens became all the rage), but the result of what happens when they are filtered, diffused and reflected through the headlamp on to the road ahead. The white beam given off is, according to BMW, harmless to pedestrians and wildlife.
BMW does, however, acknowledge that the laser lights would cause too much light polution for urban driving, and so they are only enabled once the car exceeds 37mph.
How do laser headlights work?
You operate the laser lights as you would a conventional headlight, pushing the the indicator stalk away from you to engage high beam. It also works in conjunction with the i8’s digital high-beam assist automatic headlight dipping system, whereby the car uses a camera to detect other traffic and dips the lights accordingly, meaning you can sit back and let the technology do the work for you.
Sure enough, when full beam enganges it is staggeringly powerful, allowing you to see into the distance with no edge to the light pattern. It’s pushing the point to liken it to driving in the day, even if BMW claims that the white light is “similar to daylight”.
However, to prove the effectiveness of the laser lights, you only need slow to below 37mph so that the high beam switches back to its safe mode of LEDs, at which point it’s as if somebody has masked over the top of them. And that’s LEDs remember, which are already far superior to the bulbs most people are used to.
So it’s a dramatic difference, but then you’d hope so considering you can buy a small car for the price of the light upgrade alone. Not that this is likely to deter BMW owners, who on top-of-the-range models are reported to tick the options list as if it’s a bed and breakfast buffet.
When will other cars get laser headlights?
BMW will next move the technology on to its 7-series luxury saloon, the new version of which makes its motor show debut next year. It will then filter down to other models in the range, with its best-selling 3-series likely to be available with laser headlights within the next 3-5 years.
Expect a similar timescale for mainstream models from Audi, which has so far only offered the technology on its limited edition, £160,000 R8 LMX supercar.
As for more affordable cars, with Ford only now coming to market with LED headlights for its new Mondeo, almost seven years after Audi first introduced them, you can predict a slightly longer wait until you’ll be ticking the laser lighting option for your family's next Focus.
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