HEADlight Bulb replacement

[rajuncajun37]

I have a set of HELLA lights on the way. My old set has bulbs but I should replace them with better bulbs. I believe my current set is SilverStars or something. The old plastic lenses look bad, even worse they don't provide enough light. At night I can see the shadow my car produces in front of me because the car behind me is so bright that it illuminates the road ahead of us. Other cars help me to see at night.

I want a clean, natural looking but bright bulb for the head light. No HID wanna be for my driving lights. Too much bright light bouncing all over the place. I wanna see the road, not mother nature.

I also want a wicked BRIGHT flood light. It's the bright setting for the car. You know, the flash to pass BRIGHT part of the head light. The driving light bulb is an H7, correct? Is the flood bulb also an H7? If so, which bulb should I use to give me a ridiculous annoying burst of light. I don't use them much, usually for Flash to PASS and to alert other drivers if they are blinding me.

NEXT, I want a cool looking city light bulb. It's the city lights/parking lights/euro light bulb. The ZiZi ones look cool. I drive onto the military base almost daily, the city lights help people to see the car without blinding the gate guards. ZiZi or something else?

NOW, here's where I really need help. The factory fog light in our headlights looks to be a projection style light. What is this bulb? Is it an H7 or H3 or something different? I want yellowish fogs, I would like a yellow looking fog light. And could I run an HID bulb in this section. Could I add some sort of HID effect to the fog light since it looks projection style. I believe a super bright yellow light would be ok in the fog section because it will NOT flood the streets with annoying light. The fog seems to be focused on the road directly in front of the car. Would you guys use an HID or a fake HID aka: Bright as Hell, cheap HID wanna be in this section?

Summery:
1. Natural light but BRIGHT H7, which to buy
2. Bright and annoying flood light, which to buy and what size is it
3. Cool looking city light H3, ZiZi or something else
4. Fog lights, I want Yellow but is it possible for HID/Projection style lighting in this area


Thanks in Advance

[lil_kano]

For the brightest light output for the high and low beam you will have to do more than better bulbs. The problem is the stock wiring is restricted and can't support a good bulb to its full potential. The BEST thing to do is run a relay system and run higher wattage bulbs. Even better if those headlights you got are e-code specs. Then you'll have a clean cut line on the road. I did this on my mk4 jetta and it made a HUGE difference. Its not that hard to source and build the relay harness either. There are tons of info on it all over the web. I plan to do it to my R when I get new headlights...if I don't give in and go for retro fit setup.

Shoot me a PM and I can send you some links I have saved at home.

I don't have the bulb types off hand so I can't help you there. As far as t he fogs though people have done the HID drop in before. There was actually a thread not too long ago about it. From what I read, consensus is that, yes, you can do it BUT the out put (as far as visibility) wasn't that great because our stock fogs are aimed low and don't have a clean cut off. But if you're doing it for looks then heck yeah!

[rajuncajun37]

City lights are for looks, yes. The fog needs to be functional. I do electric work for a living. I believe I can do the relay setup. I went to solder school.

OK, I'll send a PM ya way. Any other information/pictures/videos can be posted here. Thanks.

these ballast are on sale, could I use them for the fogs? will e-codes allow me to do HID as driving lights? Because it'll produce a clean line across the road?

[BOUDAH]

For your driving lights get OSRAM RALLYE's those things are BRIGHT AS HELL and WHITE natural looking light. I would also recommend these as your Hi beam as well. They are H7 and work nicely in a reflector housing. ECS has them i believe.

I run the HID Wannabe HIDs as my headlights. theya re ok but the "4300K" turned out sorta pinkish and i cant stand it. it actually is less bright than i would like.
i gotta call lightwerkz and see if they cant do anything about it.

As for the city lights i had the ZiZa LED cities and IMO those things were more of a bright ass obnoxious blue than white. perhaps youd wanna try a normal halogen or w/e bulb.

I actually just ordered the H7 YELLOW ZiZa bulbs for my Hi beams as i like the look of them off as well. In inclement weather they should prove useful. I also ditched my ZiZa LED city lights. Im gonna go back to the stockers or perhaps try the yellow a different manufacturer. looking for something a bit less in ur face, lol

[rajuncajun37]

here's some yellow fogs


ok, so... factory bulbs are like 55 w and I can run 65/70 w bulbs if I do the wiring and add the relay.


So direct power is wired to the headlights and then controlled with a 20a or 30a relay? The headlight switch tells the relay where to allow current to flow. Headlights, fog lights, bright lights or city lights. So I could run 65/70 bulbs plus a very bright fog light....

65/70 bulbs won't work without better wiring? the factory harness and wiring is robbing power somewhere? Good information

So if the driving lights and the bright beams are replaced with higher watt bulbs I'll need to do this. I don't think I'll need this for the fogs. The relay will be wired directly to a 12 v power source? Battery to relay to headlights.

like this...


looks like fun

[shinnersvr6]

Kevin,
Here is what im running on stock headlights. Proper aiming helps alot too.

I run the CPI Selective yellow fogs. They seem to light up the road better than the stockers plus yellow light. These are not super yellow though.
http://store.candlepower.com/h3bulbs.html

I've put in the Osram Rallye 65w bulb on the stock harness. Much more light. 9 months and no problem
http://store.candlepower.com/h7bulbs.html

Then i have the yellow 42dd leds. Will see how other Rs city lights look at TOD and maybe switch because they don't light up the housing as much as others I have seen in recent threads.

[BOUDAH]

[QUOTE=shinnersvr6;69837315]
I've put in the Osram Rallye 65w bulb on the stock harness. Much more light. 9 months and no problem
http://store.candlepower.com/h7bulbs.html

QUOTE]

these are what i was talking about

[dirtylawnchair]

I've put in the Osram Rallye 65w bulb on the stock harness. Much more light. 9 months and no problem
http://store.candlepower.com/h7bulbs.html

This.
/
I polished up the headlights and installed 65W bulbs....night and day difference. Added about 3 HP to the wheels

[rajuncajun37]

ok, here's the deal. I got the two E-Codes in. One has a broken lower tab. I decided to use it any way, it looks cool so far. The other had a broken adjuster on the inside. I swapped the part with my old head light. Just installed the new lights, they look HELLA good. LOL

The one with a broken adjuster has paint chips and scratches inside but it looks way better the my OEM set. My city lights no longer work though. I simply installed my old bulbs where the city lights go and they won't light up. I believe I already have the EURO switch. I say this because it has a setting for the rear fog light. Tell me how to fix the city lights.

Also, the turn signals are different, I need the orange screw in bulb for turn signals. And my old HIGH beam was an H7 but this E-Code is not. What bulb is required for HIGHs?

I doubt that I'll need the high watt bulbs. These headlights look very good, they cast plenty of light. I'll save my money for brakes instead of expensive bulbs. At least for now.

[rajuncajun37]

Yes, pretty dog gone sure my car has the Euro Switch, Anybody have information about Hella E-Codes and city lights? Is there a flaw in the wiring?

[rajuncajun37]

Still no city lights but I'll chase the wires this weekend. Probably wired different either by design or by mistake. I can fix that.

I wanna talk bulbs for a second. I think I have the SYLVANIA bulbs for my H7 driving lights.

The OSRAM Silverstars have very good reviews especially for the price. I believe 50% more light due to design, not wattage.
# Uses xenon gas which produces a whiter light than halogen
# Standard wattage - the extra light output is due to the use of xenon gas
# UV filter - safe to use on plastic lenses

Really good bulb for OEM headlights.

PHILIPs bulbs look really sharp. Check out this PHILIPS- Xtreme Power XP +80%! - (Clear)-


80% more light due to gas and design, brightest DOT available. The HYPER bulbs look bad a$$ as well. If I run the relay with hardwired bulbs to the battery I can get 50% more light than factory wiring. Even without the RELAY these HYPER and XTREME bulbs should look perfect. Fake HID's suck, PLASMA look can't be right and no blue or purple color for me. After a little research I found that the HELLA and PIAA bulbs are good but expensive alternatives. OSRAM and PHILLIPS are affordable and highly effective products.

Anybody got input on PHILLIPS over OSRAM? Hard wired 60 to 80 watt bulbs with a relay would help for sure. ECSTUNING has the relay if needed.

[rajuncajun37]

New lights are in, looking to order bulbs this weekend. I need the H1's and better H7's.


New headlights, side markers and blinkers!!

[rajuncajun37]

very little input on this subject... SOOOO, I'll leave this here.

Awesome, Snow Track event. Snow drift overseas. Great music, enjoy. R32 content of course.

[rajuncajun37]

I'm looking at NEW H7's to maximize the performance of these Hella lights.

Here's what I've seen so far:

NEW Philips X-treme Vision H7

Philips Xtreme Vision delivers 100% more light on the road than a standard bulb and maximum brightness.



This is a 55w bulb which through design gives nearly 100% more light than an OEM bulb. Remember eye sight is a terrible way to measure LIGHT. These are expensive but also safe for any headlight. Low consumption of power and low heat production means you can run bright bulbs without damage to Plastic Housing, Plastic Lense, wiring and no damage to the switch or harness. Expensive but powerful option for H7's. We should consider this bulb.

NEXT on the LIST

Osram Night Breaker PLUS H7


Another 55w bulb with great design and technology. This is an award winning bulb that is less expensive then the EXTREME VISION bulb. Some people prefer these just from experiences. It's considered a BEST BUY by most vendors. No danger of damaging anything on the car. If you research these bulbs you will see that junk like SLYVAiNA and HELLA and PIAA simply can NOT compare.

This next bulb is TRIED and TRUE

Philips X-Treme Power H7


This bulb won YEAR's BEST three years in a ROW. IT too is a best buy product and it produces 80% more light over OEM. It is safe and reliable. It produces a ton of clear white light. BUT, it is older than the others listed. STILL, it's a great product. I would simply make my decision between this EXTREME POWER and the Night Breaker over PRICE. Buy the one that cost less. Most drivers feel the Night Breakers look bright but Most test show the X-Treme Power bulbs to technically be brighter. Your choice.

NEXT to FOLLOW is

Philips Rally H7 80W aka: High Wattage H7 bulbs....offroad use....


You guys running high wattage bulbs must have added wiring and relays...? Correct? If you run a 60 or 70 or 80 watt bulb on factory wiring and harness you will only get 70% to 80% of the bulbs efficiency. High wattage bulbs on a factory setup will be brighter than OEM but you REALLY need a relay and wiring to the battery to she the full benefit.

ALSO, their is a possibility of damaging the plastic lenses when you run high powered bulbs in the US headlights with plastic lenses. I'm considering to run 100 / 130 WATT RALLY bulbs in my high beams. Without the relays I'll get 50% of the bulbs true output. SO...I'll probably order the relays. If I run the high wattage bulbs for extended time I could melt the bulb housing. The HELLA E-Codes use H1's instead of H7's. I will use these kick a$$ bulbs mostly for the following:

Flash to Pass
Give Right of WAY
Get driver's attention
Warn fellow driver's of LEO's
Identify objects in road
Brief stretch of dark highway
Ask fellow driver's to dim their freak'n brights
Annoy the Hell Outta people with extremely bright bulbs or misaligned head lights.
Fake HID bulbs suck and annoy me worse than Fart Cans now a days.

XENON and Fake HID's suck....

[rajuncajun37]

Here's the most current information about bulbs.

PHILIPS just released the X-Treme Vision +100. It's the brightest total white bulb that uses 55 watts. The only company in America to sell them THAT I FOUND is MotiveMods. I can assure you that they are getting them from the UK. I really doubt that they keep them in house. Best website I found with all the cool bulbs is PowerBulbs. These X-Treme Vision are the Newest, most advance and brightest 55 watt Halogen bulbs available. They also are the most expensive.

OSRAM makes the Night Breaker bulbs. These are +80 bulbs and compare with PHILIPS X-Treme Power bulbs. Both are +80, both are true white, both are 55 w and they are the same price. People reported the Night Breakers look brighter but the X-Treme Power was tested to be brighter. The Philips bulbs produce more light around the vehicle and the OSRAM seen to project the light a bit better. Either way, both the Night Breakers and the X-Treme Power are award winning bulbs. Best bang for the buck, no doubt.

Here's a something new. The OSRAM NIGHT BREAKER PLUS +90. This is the new OSRAM bulb and it is +90 so brighter than the regular Night Breaker and brighter than the X-Treme Power. NOT AS BRIGHT AS THE X-TREME VISION, but close. The NBP is less money than the VISION but the real selling point is it has 50% longer life. It's officially called OSRAM NIGHT BREAKER PLUS +90 AND 50% more life.




This gotta be the best H7 bulb for E-Codes. Hands Down.

[rajuncajun37]

I decided on a 55 w all weather H3 bulb. The only yellowish fog light H3 bulb I can find is the OSRAM all season. There are plenty of yellowish all weather bulbs for H1 and H7. You can even get high wattage yellow H3's but our lights have a plastic lense over the fog light inside the glass housing. I wouldn't run a high watt H3 bulb. SO, Philips and Osram both make 55w H3's in yellow but I only found the OSRAM so far and it's at PowerBulbs.

Moisture in the air and rain and sleet and snow all absorb the BLUE spectrum of light. A wet payment would absorb a lot of BLUE tinted light. These Yellow all season bulbs reduce the amount of blue which makes the yellow more pronounced. Some do this with yellow tint, blocking the blue. Some do not use tint. Not sure how that works. It was reported some Yellow bulbs look normal and when it rains you can see the yellow tint appear. Probably because it cuts through the moisture where as the blue gets absorbed.

[rajuncajun37]

the E-codes have an H1 for HIGH beams, I wanna use a high wattage bulb here. I'm thinking the Philips Rally 100w H1. It will have to be wired in and use a relay. Prolonged use could melt the housing, NOT THE GLASS but maybe the housing. It's cool cause I'm not gonna leave them on for long. These guys ain't even legal. A ton of light, a ton of heat and a ton of power. One flick of the brights and people will pay attention. I can't wait to smoke some people running HID's in none projection housing. I'll give um a taste of their own medicine.

Philips Rally 100w

[fuquar]

If you need something in the short term, I have an extra set of Silverstar H1's from my MkIII ecodes. They're still new in the box. Let me know if you're interested.

Also, I have a wiring harness for relaying your lights. I started putting it together, then the MkIII was totaled.