I AGREE WITH YOU ALL 100% that just a bulb change is not acceptable in many situations. But please don't lump all HID upgrade installs in the same category. This article is from 1987 and speaks in generalities.
Have you pulled the gutz of a 1997 740iL halogen headlight projector assembly and compared that to the exact same car with HID's?
If you haven't, then what are we talking about? An article with data from 1987?