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Is it me or are they rubbish these days?
Bought the expensive ones (Ultra bright) from Halfords (probably my first mistake) and one's gone after about six months.
Does anyone know of any better quality, bright car bulbs and where to get them from?
Edit: Mods, can you please move this to the Chat forum?
to burn brighter, you don't burn as long. Simples
I just changed mine for some Philips xtreme vision +130. They are so much better than the ones I replaced but I was surprised reading the packet that life expectancy is only 450 hours. They mention that this is a class leading lifespan but it doesn't seem very long to me. I had to replace as one of the existing had blown but prior to this I had noticed the light seemed really yellow. They were at the time top phillips model and probably lasted 2 years.
I pIcked up a pair in the bargain bin at Halfords fo 99p. They were all weather bulbs - an odd yellow colour, but by heck they irk in ailing down ran and mist. No idea of longevity.
Bosch Pure Light
Decent life, good light, sensible price.
Have had nothing but these for about 4 years in my car. Swapped them in after poor performance from halfords winter bulbs and standard bulbs based on a which review.
The difference in light quality considering all are standard ish halogens is quite marked and better life ime.
Bosch every time, you'll easily justify any extra cost if your bulbs are awkward to change as they've outlasted anything else i've ever fitted.
I used to use the Halfords +100% ones but they never lasted long.
Switched to Philips Xtreme Vision +100% or +130% and got a year* out of them, one went the other day.
*I tend to have my headlights on most of the time when driving, a hangover from commuting by bike I think.
Just changed to Osram Nightbreakers,seem to be well rated and have made a fair improvement.
I've ran them in various cars for the last 10yrs+
Philips seem to have the shortest lifespan.
Osram are better, I'd go for the Plus 50%'s
Ring 120 seem to be the best in terms of price/brightness and lifespan in my experience.
I recently got a set of Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited, seem very good, brighter and whiter.
I've been using Nightbreakers. They went recently after about 2.5 years of service (20k+ miles). Considering they cost little more than a tenner, it's nothing really, so I replaced with the same. But then it took me 5 mins to change them. After reading the thread on here recently about the difficulty in changing bulbs, I might opt for something with a longer lifespan if I drove a different motor.
+1 for Osram Nightbreakers. Check out eurocarparts for good offers on them.
I've switched over to the Halfords extra durable (or something) bulbs in a green cardboard pack (instead of yellow).
Light output is fine and they last loads longer than previously.
Round my way, sales of them appear to have fallen... 😯
Round here it people are so tight they only put one in at a time.
I've always used Osram- silverstars then nightbreakers. The motorbike seemed to shake most bulbs to bits, never did find out how long nightbreakers last but at least twice as long as anything else I ever used. Likeise in the cars, haven't had any die yet. But it's a mondeo so changing the bulb takes about a minute anyway so not too stressed.
I use the Osram Nightbreakers, lasted me about a year (Had 2 go last week!). The difference is definitely noticeable, compared to standard bulbs. As I have a 60 mile commute to work & back again, at this time of year it is in the dark.
"It's better to burn out than to fade away!"
Hid kits?
Those are illegal in the UK (unless you install self levelling headlamps and washers) and an MOT failure.
Osram Nightbreakers. Winner.
Oh, and most importantly, keep your lights clean! No point in snazzy bulbs if they're covered in cack, especially this time of year.
The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 19891. The headlamp unit (outer lens, reflector, bulb) shall be type approved to ECE 98 and be "e-marked" to demonstrate this. That can only be done by the headlamp supplier - Hella, Valeo etc. who must test the headlamp in an independent laboratory.
2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam.
3. The headlamp must be maintained in good working order, kept clean, and aligned/adjusted correctly like any other headlamp.
Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence to supply, fit or use vehicle parts which are not legal.
In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs. The entire headlamp unit must be replaced with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs and it must be installed in accordance with the rules stated above."
Aftermarket HIDs on mine. Passed 2 MOTs with them no trouble 😈
Passed 2 MOTs with them no trouble
Does that not make you wonder what other things have been missed/ignored? 😉
Is it me or are they rubbish these days?
Probably.
http://www.allaboutvision.com/over60/vision-changes.htm
The HID I put in the motorbike passed 3 MOTs and a couple of roadside police inspections- the verdict was basically "totally illegal, but totally safe, so sod it" Probably helped that I went for a low colour temp, no blue in it unlike the boyracers.
But mostly, it was just well set up- it was actually a dual but only one of the headlights would aim well, the other was scattery and could have been glarey so I took it out and went back to halogen. The other one was good.
But anyway- I wouldn't put one in a modern car, not like that anyway, my bike's headlights were crap so it made more sense.
Another Osram Nightbreaker user here.
Have had them for a few years. Bit better than standard halogen, and not expensive.
Glad to see it's not just me then!
Osram would have been my choice for bulbs (they seem to work well in the kitchen at home), but I'd not seriously looked at them. I think I will change that now and go and have a snoop at the Internets to see what's what.
Not keen on retrofitting HIDs. It's a diesel Passat, not a Corsa...
A lot the obviously retrofitted HIDs seem to be very badly aimed with far too much spread at eye level.
Probably because the actual headlight assemblies arent actually designed for it.
I got the Phillips bulb, uber bright things as they were given to me. The packaging did say that the lifespan is 50% sorter though. When i need to change i'll probably go for a HID conversion, after going on a night ride and then jumping on the car, the halogen lights appear to be so much dimmer.
I used the HIDs for 4 years in the previous car and had no problems with the MOT, there's a few car out there that have HIDs factory fitted as standard, but have neither washers or self leveling suspension, which muddies the water a bit.
Some of the OEM lights are crap. Mrs has one of those baby Range Rovers and the headlights were pretty poor in any case, but last week (rather too coincidentally for my liking) both headlamp bulbs failed. The car is not even 3 years old.
Anecdotally, I still see as many cars running with tail lights missing as ever and it is almost entirely on the 'bread & butter' car makes, which does suggest penny pinching.
Digga I'm amazed a RR didn't come with Xenons std.
My bugbear is the crap easily yellowed plastic lens covers they now all use. Yeah, you can polish it out but they're still shite.
I believe Halfords give their bulbs a 12 month warranty if they fit them, a mate just got his two replaced for free after about 11 months. Happy days.