We put a set of xenarcs in my buddys old jetta. My vw gti with ecodes, lexus hids and custom cut off shields were brighter and had a better beam pattern with almost no glare. I was never highbeamed (car is very low, so im under most people) and the cops didn't bother me ever.
We took those xenarcs and put them in my xj and I wasn't impressed. We aimed them and the beam pattern wasn't that wide and they didn't throw the light out very far. With the high beams on it was a little better, but it seemed inferior to a good set of ecodes and relays.
I run relayed hella ecode h4's with hella 55/60w bulbs, no blue bulbs on my current xj and my old xj and I was way more impressed. Very rarely do I need my highbeams or my hella 500's on. Alot of the roads by me in NJ aren't very well lit either. A projector hid setup properly setup would outperform my lights any day but I wouldn't want to drop the $$$ and time to make them just to have them get smashed by something while out in the wheeling.