I need more than candle light at 120...

[searsy]

All,

I realise this has probably been covered......

I took the 3R out for a blast to Waddesdon Manor on Saturday, coming back I had to drive in complete darkness for the 1st time....its great fun zipping past lesser machinery in the dark, but....EEK how scary??!!

I thought my Yamaha FS1E's headlights were bad when I was 16, but how Noble got those candle light HID's through SVA testing is anyone's guess! I've seen the sublime BMW Halo upgrades that have been done (easy way out is....fancy doing some for me , don't have the time, space or the inclination to sit out in -2 to do that in the winter....can I just fit higher voltage bulbs? Its actually pretty dangerous driving at night without the high beam on (which is also useless), other road users don't see you coming round a bend. I just need bulbs for now so I can use the Noble on the nice days & occasionally at night in the winter. any suggestions?

[searsy]

wessexrfc said:

I've fitted the HID lights and I'd say they are one of the best upgrades I've done!! Give these guys a ring, tell them what car you have and they'll tell you the best kits:
http://www.hids4u.co.uk/
Takes a bit of fitting but we got the ballast units fitted inside the head light housing.

Ah! I thought I'd have to take apart the lights and retrofit something

Cheers all

Edited by searsy on Saturday 7th December 12:37

[searsy]

Sent them an email, just waiting for a response. Would like to just change the bulbs for now if I can and maybe do the halo type upgrade when it gets a bit warmer. The replacement H4's are supposed to be 300% brighter. That should make a welcome difference

[searsy]

swankBaton said:

Your BMW style Halos will not throw any light up the road past 20ft anyway , they are DRL / Sidelights only.
I've got a 35w 4300K HID Kit in the Low beams, aligned properly (passed MOT) and they offer good light.
Osram Night Breaker Halogens in High beam - aligned properly. I can see where I like at night.

The only problem with HID's in the Halogen projectors is the cut-off lign has a large up-tick designed for Halogens on the left hand side - You can split the light and mod the cut-off shield if you want (or get proper 90mm Hella HID projectors).
Im in the process of retro-fitting Hella E55 bi-xenons , just need to make up adapter plates.

90mm COB LED Rings for the halos, will post up pics later when I get home.

Will take a look at those when you post them (BTW HiD4u have not come back to me yet), I think we all realised the Halo's would not be the beam's just the sidelight replacements, but assumed the internal HID's would be bright enough.

[searsy]

Hi all,

Just had a conversation with Dean at HiD4U he has asked what the standard bulb is for the dipped beam on the 3R (its not the H4, that is in the 3 & is suitable for dipped & high beams), is it the D4S? If so the night-breaker has just been released by Osram, literally 2 weeks ago & that is what they recommend. It's approximately £75 per bulb:-
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/Osram-D2S-Night-B...

Also, do we know what standard bulb is in the high beam?

[searsy]

swankBaton said:

Pretty sure same in both

Just phoned Kerridges & they sheepishly said both....how scary is that. have asked HID's4u for their recommendation, will probably try that anyway if they arrive before the weekend as its not going to be horrendously expensive & report back

Edited by searsy on Monday 9th December 15:18

[searsy]

swankBaton said:

Would love to see a comparison - I have a cheap H7 hid bulb I can send searsy if your willing to show a side by side in each lamp?

How very civil of you! Anything for free stuff!! Want me to PM you my address?

[searsy]

swankBaton said:

I might want it back :-)
PM address I'll post it tomorrow.

PM'd

[searsy]

Just had this from Autobulbs, the ones they are recommending are £27.50 for a pair:-

[quote]
Many thanks for your email. If the car takes an H7 then the D2S bulbs will not be suitable as your car has halogen bulbs and not gas discharge bulbs. We do however have the Osram Night Breaker Unlimited range in H7 and these can be found here,

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-OSRAM-Night-Br...

Hope this helps
Kind regards,
Kim Bonard
Customer Service
Email: [e-mail]
Phone: [phone] (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm)
[end quote]

I may buy a pair of these, put the one in from swankbaton & compare it against both the standard & the one Autobulbs are recommending

[searsy]

swankBaton said:

Cant compare - I assumed you where buying a HID kit (bulbs + ballasts) and they were trying to sell you expensive bulbs. That Osram is a halogen bulb not HID.

Also - £17 shipped for the pair here : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Osram-Night-Breaker-Unli...

Yes, just wanted to upgrade my bulbs for the time being, can make some long term changes when it gets a bit warmer. Thanks anyway.
Noticed that the Osram Night Breaker H7's were cheaper elsewhere & directed my money to e-bay!

BTW - Is this the archetypal how many men does it take to change a lightbulb

[searsy]

Pilot Pete said:

Can you post a left and right (old/new photo) when you fit them.

Will do

[searsy]

JBliss said:

Why not just buy an HID kit? You wont notice much difference with just the bulbs changed.

HIDS4U are pretty cheap.

Unfortunately, don't have the time or patience in the winter They were cheap so worth a punt, if the difference really is negligible, I'll stick them back in the box & send them back with a polite note!

Edited by searsy on Wednesday 11th December 21:37

[searsy]

So, finally got round to changing my headlight bulbs over so from standard H7 to Osram Night Breaker Unlimited H7 12v 55W (which incidentally are the same wattage as the standard)......what a disappointment for want of more suitable words!!! I could not tell the difference, so I only changed the drivers side, but added a bulb to the dipped & one to the main beams to get a like for like comparison - admittedly its not dark, but you should be able to see some difference.....I could not see any apart from the Osrams are probably 5% whiter in light, luckily the swap was easy/cheap so not ranting mad. Next idea?!

[url]|http://thumbsnap.com/bK3ZU6nC[/url

Edited by searsy on Sunday 29th December 17:46

Edited by searsy on Sunday 29th December 17:52

Edited by searsy on Sunday 29th December 17:53

[searsy]

Drivers side - changed bulbs

Passenger side - Not changed bulbs

[searsy]

wessexrfc said:

JBliss said:

Hids. Nuff said

+1 not like we didn't tell you!!!
http://www.hids4u.co.uk/

You live and learn... Hids4u's parent site recommended them, can someone send me the link to the page for the HiD upgrade. Maybe I can send them back and do a part-ex..

Cheers

[searsy]

wessexrfc said:

Gave them a ring for you and traced my original order:
Part Number is: H7PRO
Discription is: H7 35watt proplus 5000K

Cheers Wessexrfc, gave them a buzz, the Night-Breakers are on their way back to them & I have ordered the H7PRO as you suggested as a P-ex.
Will post some more pics when I get them/fit them for those who have the standard candles

[searsy]

Big difference!

[searsy]

Fitted my HID's & a set of LED 5 section sidelights, difference is very noticeable, probably 3-4 times brighter. Only hassle was having to drill bigger holes where the wiring goes into the cluster to accept the HID fixing grommets. Will post some pics when I'm back at my PC.

Not sure how anyone could do it in 20 mins per side..took me the best part of 3 hours to do the whole job

Edited by searsy on Saturday 11th January 17:27

[searsy]

Have not sealed the cluster cover yet, don't really want to use the bathroom sealant stuff (apart from where the leads go into the cluster), it's such a pain if you want to remove the cover again and it looks so cheap. Anyone tried anything else like window trim rubbers?

[searsy]

Looks good, I'll have a think about that, also contemplating getting some locking clamps to seal them instead of the screws as much easier to remove.