Help choosing brighter headlight bulbs please

leehallum

leehallum

A2OC Donor
Hi, Apologies if this has already been covered, I have had a look in past posts but couldn't see anything...

I have what I think are pretty standard headlight bulbs and I find them to be a bit poor when driving at night. Can anyone please recommend any decent replacement bulbs that will be more effective?

I have had a quick look online and found some that boast being 50% brighter and give off a whiter light... but I am not sure which ones to go for.

Any help or advice would be appreciated : )

Also I guess its worth changing the side lights as well if there are brighter bulbs out there?


Thanks
 
Just have a search online and maybe some reviews as there are many upgrade options. Rightly or wrongly I generally stick to the standard type replacement bulbs and avoid the hid kits...
 
HI,

Anything that legally improves the light output of the A2 headlamps is worth doing.

They are amongst the "dimmest" around in my experience.

Be careful of the wattage though, 100W headlight bulbs give you the best improvement, but they are illegal.

The various bulbs on the market that offer a large increase in output consist of some genuine ones and many that are not as advertised.

So my recommendation is to go for a well known brand that offer uprated legal bulbs. such as http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Osram-H7-NightBreaker-Unlimited-2-Bulbs-/281921517981?hash=item41a3d4f99d:g:4JgAAOSw7NNT7zHn

As for the sidelights, you have a problem there, if you fit higher wattage filament bulbs you will almost certainly melt and/or mark the plastic light tube they sit in.

LED sidelight bulbe will be brighter but are also illegal and caused an MOT foail once for me because the tester said that they were flickering.

If it was legal I would use 100w headlamp bulbs and good quality (flicker free) LED sidelights.


But "Night-breaker" headlamp bulbs and standard side light bulbs are probably as good as you can legally get.

Steve B
 
Last edited:
Always use Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited,only trouble is they only last about a year.
Gives me plenty of practice changing them less than 10 minutes to change both
Best place to buy is Amazon.
 
leehallum said:
Hi, Apologies if this has already been covered, I have had a look in past posts but couldn't see anything...

I have what I think are pretty standard headlight bulbs and I find them to be a bit poor when driving at night. Can anyone please recommend any decent replacement bulbs that will be more effective?

I have had a quick look online and found some that boast being 50% brighter and give off a whiter light... but I am not sure which ones to go for.

Any help or advice would be appreciated : )

Also I guess its worth changing the side lights as well if there are brighter bulbs out there?


Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi,

A few threads to read:

http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?26787-Headlight-dipped-beam-upgrade-bulb-comparison

http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?23787-Light-Recommendation

http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?21691-What-headlight-Bulb

The simplest upgrade is to replace the filament bulb with another (rather than LEDs which can be hit and miss and projector HID which requires taking the headlight apart). I would personally not recommend direct replacement (reflector) HID lights as the headlights aren't designed for bulbs that bright and the light directed a other motorist's eye level is too high.

A brighter 55W bulb is a direct swap replacement. Higher wattage bulbs are available but they are "for off-road use only" - i.e. they are illegal.
A brighter 55W bulb will last a shorter time than a standard bulb but a quality brand should have a good life. My RING 120% brighter bulbs lasted 3 years. OSRAM bulbs are also popular and have a good reputation.

If you want to upgrade the sidelight bulb in the headlamp unit, don't fit a higher wattage filament bulb as the extra heat will discolour and melt the plastic of the tubes that surround the bulb. Try LEDS instead, they will look whiter, brighter and won't damage the tube.

regards

Andrew
 
Ok, thanks again for all the advice

I have gone for:

Osram Night breaker unlimited H7
Osram Night breaker unlimited H3
And a pair of Canbus Error Free (no flicker) Led side lights

The best prices I found was the link from Steve (thanks) and the others were from ebay sellers as well, so hopefully these will all be Ok and I will try and post a before and after pic when I fit them

Thanks again
 
Philips Xtreme Vision are quite good and legal, but my illegal five quid 100W no-name super-whites are much better so I use them.
 
daniel_se said:
Philips Xtreme Vision are quite good and legal, but my illegal five quid 100W no-name super-whites are much better so I use them.
Click to expand...


A "friend of mine" has a white A2 and his wife has a white A2 90 and both cars are fitted with illegal / cheap super-white 100W headlight bulbs.

They both find them to be the best light from any used and they both think that because the A2 headlamps are not very bright as standard, the 100w bulbs balance that out and are not illegally bright, and they certainly don't dazzle anyone (vitally important)

Steve B
 
Birchall said:
A "friend of mine" has a white A2 and his wife has a white A2 90 and both cars are fitted with illegal / cheap super-white 100W headlight bulbs.

They both find them to be the best light from any used and they both think that because the A2 headlamps are not very bright as standard, the 100w bulbs balance that out and are not illegally bright, and they certainly don't dazzle anyone (vitally important)

Steve B
Click to expand...

Agree. I don't know if the MOT in Sweden is less stringent but it has never been an issue.
 
daniel_se said:
Agree. I don't know if the MOT in Sweden is less stringent but it has never been an issue.
Click to expand...


The MOT is ok here, they do not remove bulbs to check them (I don't think they are even allowed to do that) , they carry out a sensible check to make sure that the bulbs are aimed correctly and not obviously over bright and are safe.

At the end of the day we all want cars to be safe, not just for the driver but also for oncoming traffic etc.

Steve B
 
Birchall said:
A "friend of mine" has a white A2 and his wife has a white A2...
Click to expand...

Off topic, but related to Steve's post above...
On other online forums that I've fallen upon, I've seen people use the acronym SWIM (someone who isn't me) as a means of discussing something illegal. So, for instance, one might say "SWIM keeps his container of benzene in a well-ventilated area". I wonder to what extent the use of such terms provides any legal protection or whether terms like SWIM are simply taken to be synonymous with the pronoun ‘I'.

Please note this is completely hypothetical and academic. I do not have any benzene. :)

Tom
 
I'd be concerned about overloading the light switch and wiring due to almost double the current draw (heat in the wiring is proportional to current squared)

I've not checked the wiring diagrams but don't think the headlights even have relays to reduce the load on the switch contacts.

Other concern is the bulb quality as the positioning of the light filament is key to accurate beam pattern. OK, you may be lucky but the next set of bulbs may be rubbish - possibly not a problem since they are so cheap.

A good compromise would be some 80W 'branded' rally bulbs like these Osram ones - http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...46422e3f51a3a7c8238ae487075d7795o0&ajaxhist=0

Cheers Spike
 
spike said:
I'd be concerned about overloading the light switch and wiring due to almost double the current draw (heat in the wiring is proportional to current squared)

I've not checked the wiring diagrams but don't think the headlights even have relays to reduce the load on the switch contacts.

Other concern is the bulb quality as the positioning of the light filament is key to accurate beam pattern. OK, you may be lucky but the next set of bulbs may be rubbish - possibly not a problem since they are so cheap.

A good compromise would be some 80W 'branded' rally bulbs like these Osram ones - http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...46422e3f51a3a7c8238ae487075d7795o0&ajaxhist=0

Cheers Spike
Click to expand...


All good points.

"My friend" has been using these for 4 years now and no visible sign of any electrical problems, melting etc. but as you say, this is something to be aware of.

The beam pattern has been fine on the 5 or more sets that have been used across 4 dirfferent A2s. Bulb life has been fine too. Super cheap too.

I agree that the 80w Osram bulbs may be a much better compromise.

Steve B
 
timmus said:
Off topic, but related to Steve's post above...
On other online forums that I've fallen upon, I've seen people use the acronym SWIM (someone who isn't me) as a means of discussing something illegal. So, for instance, one might say "SWIM keeps his container of benzene in a well-ventilated area". I wonder to what extent the use of such terms provides any legal protection or whether terms like SWIM are simply taken to be synonymous with the pronoun ‘I'.

Please note this is completely hypothetical and academic. I do not have any benzene. :)

Tom
Click to expand...

I fear that those on here that are against "text speak" etc. might class SWIM as text speak and we do not want to increase text speak.

On here we have to be careful about condoning the use of anything illegal, so I would never do that, but SWIM might.

Steve B
 
daniel_se said:
Philips Xtreme Vision are quite good and legal, but my illegal five quid 100W no-name super-whites are much better so I use them.
Click to expand...

Every time I'M driving in Norway and Sweden,amazed at 2,3 or 4 Halogen spot lamps on the front of cars
You can see about 1/2 mile up the road and into the forest for Reindeer and Moose
 
A2! said:
With regards to best bulb I have used I'd recommend these Philips Diamond Vision bulbs.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Dia...r=1-1-spell&keywords=H7+Philips+DiamondVision

I've tried everything from halfords hid style to osram night breakers and these are my favourite mostly due to colour if your especially if your not going for LEDs etc.
Click to expand...

Yeah using these at the mo and very happy with them. Much improved light output and seem to be lasting well. The problem with Osram Nightbreakers is they don't seem to last very long.
 
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