90% Brighter Bulbs, Any one tried them

[jackyboy]

Saw these in Halfords the other day then looked them up on the internet.
They say that they are 90% brighter than standard as against the Xeon ones you see advertised as 'up to 50% brighter'

They are around £15 - £18 a pair (or £18 each in Halfords) and wondered if they were worth it, as a cheaper alternative to HID

[mackay1]

Hi jackyboy,

I'm not sure which particular bulbs you've been looking at but I've tried the Osram Silverstar 50% bulbs and there was a noticeable difference - though nothing to compare with the HID's. I use them now for my main beam with HID's fitted on dipped.

The last time I looked the best non-HID bulbs seemed to me to be the Philips X_treme +80% ones - but they weren't available in H1 (still aren't as far as I know) - only H4 & H7. I still wouldn't expect them to come close to HID's.

Cheers

Roy

[xmexclusive]

Hi Jackyboy

There are a number of suppliers offering 100 watt Xenon bulbs and these give 90% greater light output. There are reasons not to use them. They significantly exceed the UK legal permitted headlamp bulb wattage rating of 55 Watts. The extra current draw is 90 Watts and this could well shorten battery life considerably. On full beam the front lights will now take 310 Watts well above the design rating of the car wiring, this on a car with a known history of headlamp relay/wiring problems. If of course you do the full job and fit the 100 Watt bulbs to the main beam as well then the 310 Watts goes up to 400 Watts. By comparision the HID sets at 35 Watt a bulb reduces the current draw on dip beam by 40 Watts, puts less than the designed load on the car wiring while giving around 300% increase in light output. So using HID's in the UK does not breach the bulb wattage limits but each car light installation requires approval of the bulb/lens/glass combination. The XM's light installation approval predates the introduction of HID's and also LED bulbs.

John

[demag]

My son has a Pug 306 to which he has fitted Halfords own "Super Brilliance" bulb rated at the standard 55 watts. They have been on the car for more than a year now but I seem to remember they were around the eighteen pound mark back then. Obviously 306 headlamps are drastically different to an Xm's but the light output is definitely far superior to the original standard fit bulb.

The bulbs are H7 so slightly different to an Xm. P/No is 477SB and next to the barcode the box is marked 204727 if that's any help. The box is a silvery gold colour which is cut away to show the bulb.

[XM v6 sadist]

Hi

I have Osram Nightbreaker bulbs on the XM and they are noticibly brighter. Driving in front of the XM and looking back they don't have any of the yellow tinge that you normally see on XMs. They aren't that much worse than the excellent projector headlamps on my Honda. Having said all of that I'll probably put some HID's on when I get a chance.

Cheers

Tony

[demag]

HBU448SBB Halfords "Extreme Brilliance" for the Xm. They are doing a bogof offer at £17.99 Not a bad deal that.

[jackyboy]

The Halfords price looks like an 'each' price as there is only 1 in the packet. They are 55watt though and not the 100watt that you see on Ebay
There are several brands but I was looking at the Osram Nightbreaker available in H1

[demag]

Its buy one get one free on the website.

I bought some headlamp bulbs from ebay once. One lasted a fortnight so I got in touch with the seller. Most unusual he said. No problem though send it back for a replacement. The next day the other one went. I threw 'em in the bin.

[mackay1]

Hi

Osram Night Breaker H1 +90% 55w are £18.60 per pair here:

Autobulbs Direct Ltd

P&P free + set of matching sidelight bulbs!

(I've used this web site previously with success.)

Roy

This post has been edited by mackay1 on December 03, 2008 12:42 am

[jackyboy]

Cheers for that Roy, think I'll treat myself for Xmas

Jim