Decent Headlights...

[MrPeters]

Hello all.

I have a 'fleet' of cars at the moment, being an avid bangernomics enthusiast (and a student). One common feature of all three vehicles is the fact that the headlights are, for want of a better word, crap.

At this point, I'd like to make it absolutely clear that I am not after 'blinging DRLs' or LED sidelights or whatnot. I just want some decent headlights - if it gets rid of crappy yellowy bulbs, then all the better.

I have been doing a bit of research, and I might as well go the whole hog with sidelights / dipped and mains on all the cars. I'm just a bit confused as to which bulbs I should go with.

Sidelights; both Philips and Osram have offerings. Both claim to get rid of yellowy bulbs and be road legal. The Osram bulbs are generally a little cheaper (pence) than the Philips - what's the difference between the two brands?

Headlights & Mains; all the cars use H4 fitment, so I believe dipped and mains are just one bulb on each side. Osram Nightbreakers seem to get good write ups, as do Philips Vision Plus bulbs - both around the same price.

Does anyone have any opinions / experiences? And what prices should I be looking for?

Many Thanks,

Mr Peters.

[aka_kerrly]

have a browse of http://www.powerbulbs.com/ and search for the 2 for 1 or BOGOF vouchure codes available online.

I run the Phillips blue vision bulbs and they are certainly an improvement.

dave

[g3org3y]

Has good experiences with Philips bulbs. Installed the Vision Plus (+50) on my E36 and the improvement, albeit not night and day (unlike my later HID conversion) certainly noticeable and very worthwhile for the cost.

Here's some extracts from a review I posted on another forum years ago:

George said:

Not sure about the little girl the the teddy? I suppose if you have better lights you're less likely to run them over in the dark...maybe.

Compared to the regular bulbs they have a blue tip, other than that - nothing of note.



Unlike other 'xenon style cool wikid' bulbs, these make no claims about 'cool blue light' or anything like that. The blue tip, although reduces the 'yellowness' of the output, doesn't make the light white or blue.


Regular dipped and main beams


Vision Plus dipped and main beams


Slightly paler for the Philips, no obvious difference in brightness.

Night-time shots:

Decided the only way to really have a good look at the difference was to have a couple of night shots on both dipped and main beam. As such went down to the local sports center car park as it seemed like the best location.

I took shots with one side having the stock bulbs and the other the Philips, and then Philips bilaterally.

Certainly in person you really do notice the difference. Although the 'appearance' of the bulb light (in terms of 'colour') is not noticably different the output defo is, the Philips bulbs genuinely throwing a longer beam.

Unfortunately it's difficult to capture the difference on the camera but I think you get the general idea:

Slightly brighter Philips bulb (judging by the size of the surrounding glare/halo)




Comparison Pics:
Worth looking at the lines on the floor and the hut in the distance as reference points to appreciate the difference.









If you've got crappy headlight bulbs in your E36. this is a great upgrade for the price. Best £12 you will spend on the car imo.

In my E30 which has ever worse (non projector) headlights, I've gone down the Philips X-Treme route. Similar to the Vision Plus but these are rated as +80. Not chavvy at all in terms of light output colour and certainly better than the stock bulbs. Recommended, HTH

[TallPaul]

Make sure all the connections are good, especially the earths. The best bulbs in the world will always be dim if they cant get the current.

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

If you have pre-focus headlights (small round magnifying glass type unit) then fit a HID kit. They can be bought for <£30 these days - no brainer really.
Failing that, Phillips Xtreme Power Hallogens seem to come out tops in the tests.

[AMST09]

Nightbreakers are where I would put my money, you can get free sidelights on certain sites

I had the upgraded halfords ones in my fiesta and even they were a vast improvement on the ones before

[Rubin215]

Cheap HID kits off ebay are all you need.

I have bought two sets recently for less than £40 each, and I was stunned by the improvement.

They are easy to fit, but also easy to take out again when you sell/scrap the car.

[MondeoMan1981]

I have a 2002 Pug 206 with the old style lights.

Stuck the Halfords fancy ones in when they were on a bogoff deal. Made such a difference, much whiter, clearer light.

Came in about £13-£15 i think.

[Puddenchucker]

I've got these, in H4, which are good on both dip & main beam.

[AMST09]

http://www.powerbulbs.com/ you get free sides

[Acheron]

It probably doesnt help, but the headlights on my old Vectra were sensational. Xenons with AFL (Adaptive forward lighting).

They would tilt upwards on corners at speed so you could see more into the corner, they would raise a little at 65mph+ for motorways and dark straight roads, and a side light would illuminate when indicating or turning at low speed, so you could see the edge of a corner and any hazards in the gutter.

I miss that car so much

[Kentish]

One really simple thing you can do is ensure you have 12v or more at the bulb, as without that any bulb will be dull if is only getting 10v.

With the engine running, pop the lights on and put a multimeter across the terminals and measure the voltage with the bulb connected and on.

If you do have less than 12v, then fit a relay with a good gauge of wire directly off the live terminal (via an in-line fuse) to supply the relay and use the headlight wiring as just a switching current to the relay. Use thick gauge wires again to power the lamps from the relay and the same gauge to run an Earth as close as possible to the relay and the bulbs.

Very simple to do.

Then fit uprated Osram Nightbreaker bulbs and the difference will be night and day!