Uprated Headlight bulbs - Acutally worth it?

[D_T_W]

As per title, is there any point? I know I should have specced Xenons, but didn't have a choice when I got the car. I do most of my driving at night, so tend to carry spare bulbs in the car incase one goes. Is there a real difference in light levels between bog standard bulbs and supposed uprated ones, and is it worth shelling out a bit of extra cash over standard?

[Lippy Kid]

I just fitted some Phillips Extreme Vision bulbs to replace the frankly rubbish standard ones in my E39.

I can now actually see where I'm going at night.

[Tonberry]

Of course there is.

No bulb is born equal the same way 98-99 RON is required for certain cars.

Anyway. I've had Osram Nightbreakers in both the Mondeo and the current 306 now and they make a world of difference.

Driving the Mondeo down an unlit lane with main beams on was no different to holding a couple of candles in front of the car.

Well worth the 40 odd quid it cost for 4x bulbs in H7 variety.

[Rammy76]

Lippy Kid said:

I just fitted some Phillips Extreme Vision bulbs to replace the frankly rubbish standard ones in my E39.

I can now actually see where I'm going at night.

I agree, the Philips Extreme do seem to improve things quite a bit.

The lights in my B5.5 Passat were shockingly bad but now after replacing them with these they are now not too bad.

[Blakeatron]

Just bought some of the halfrauds extreme white ones for the shogun, does not get used much so did not want to spend a fortune on expensive bulbs.

They were on 2 for 1 so £25 for the pair. Just fitted them in the rain and even during the daylight teh light is a lot cripser and brighter compared to the old bulbs.

[shiftydave]

Blakeatron said:

Just bought some of the halfrauds extreme white ones for the shogun, does not get used much so did not want to spend a fortune on expensive bulbs.

They were on 2 for 1 so £25 for the pair. Just fitted them in the rain and even during the daylight teh light is a lot cripser and brighter compared to the old bulbs.

I just got some of the Halfords mega-ultra-super-fantabulous ones as well, and they made a huge difference. Most noticeablely it was on unlit roads when you have oncoming traffic - before I'd always feel that the road beyond the next oncoming car wouldn't really seem to be illuminated because of the brightness of the oncoming headlights, whereas now that effect is somewhat minimised.

[duckers26]

shiftydave said:

I just got some of the Halfords mega-ultra-super-fantabulous ones as well, and they made a huge difference. Most noticeablely it was on unlit roads when you have oncoming traffic - before I'd always feel that the road beyond the next oncoming car wouldn't really seem to be illuminated because of the brightness of the oncoming headlights, whereas now that effect is somewhat minimised.

Same here although everyone seems to be flashing me coming the other way!

[Liquid Knight]

Xeon Plus bulbs have made the world of difference with my Rover. Not a lot of difference in the Fiat so older cars with crap lights yes, newer cars with okay lights a little improvement but not worth the difference in price to be honnest.

[g3org3y]

Rammy76 said:

Lippy Kid said:

I just fitted some Phillips Extreme Vision bulbs to replace the frankly rubbish standard ones in my E39.

I can now actually see where I'm going at night.

I agree, the Philips Extreme do seem to improve things quite a bit.

+1 On the Philips Extremes. Use them on the E30 (pre-facelift non projector lenses) and now light output has gone from dreadful to acceptable!

[CoolHands]

the only thing no-ones mentioned so far is that they seem to fail earlier. ie possibly after 18 months. Which may or may not be an issue for you.

Someone will be along in a minute to recommend relays...

[eldar]

g3org3y said:

+1 On the Philips Extremes. Use them on the E30 (pre-facelift non projector lenses) and now light output has gone from dreadful to acceptable!

Another + here. My W204 likewise from bad to acceptable. Not as good as xenons, but they are hideously expensive to retrofit properly.

[Lippy Kid]

CoolHands said:

the only thing no-ones mentioned so far is that they seem to fail earlier. ie possibly after 18 months.

Oh. I couldn't actually confirm or deny that, I've yet to keep a car that long.

[Liquid Knight]

Lippy Kid said:

CoolHands said:

the only thing no-ones mentioned so far is that they seem to fail earlier. ie possibly after 18 months.

Oh. I couldn't actually confirm or deny that, I've yet to keep a car that long.

Mine went after twelve months but it works out less than 10p a week so I wasn't that bothered.

[collateral]

I assume old bulbs get worse with time, so I would've thought that there will always be a difference comparing old to new?

[PhillipM]

My Philip Xtreme's are 5 years old and still going strong.

[MrBrightSi]

When i had a corrado, the best thing i did was to change the lighting circuit, make it shorter. That plus some uprated bulbs allowed me vision at night.