Good headlight bulbs..

vikingaero

rev_henry wrote: »

I put some no name cheapo ebay xenon things in our corsa last year and they were much better. Is there anything wrong with them? I've heard they might cause trouble come MOT time...
What should Philips Xtremes cost approx? Are ones at £15 a set on ebay going to be fake?

There shouldn't be anything wrong with Xenon bulbs. Xenon bulbs are standard bulbs with Xenon gas around the filament to help cool it when they run hotter to produce the extra light output.

I wouldn't be surprised to find Philips Xtremes for £15 on eBay. Check the internet retail price on sites such as https://www.powerbulbs.com or Regal Auto Bulbs.

vikingaero

ohreally wrote: »

PIAA lamps are good but a bit pricey. I have H113 however the current equivalent is H291

http://www.piaa.co.uk/bulbs/bulbshow.asp?ID=xtwhiteplus

I find PIAA bulbs confusing. At £75 they are expensive. But friends who have fitted them rate them. Others friends don't. And I think Auto Express tested some and found them to faulty or had a bad light output.

CHR15

There is a reason a Xenon upgrade on new cars costs so much money!!

Having High Intensity lamps requires an automatic levelling system fitted to the car to prevent dazzling oncoming drivers, specific shutter arrangements (for Bi-Xenons where both dippped and High beam are Xenon), washer systems fitted to clean the headlights.

These are all fitted, not to help you see, but to stop you from dazzling the bejeesus out of oncoming drivers.

It may seem like an achievement to have oncoming drivers flashing at you because they think you are on high beam (wow! look at that guy with super lights, I wish I was like him!!) but it is dangerous to other road users.

The Xenon lamps are fantastic, I would hate to go back to halogen lamps now, but the sooner they clamp down on these naff Ebay Psuedo Xenons the better.

I'm sure at the moment this is akin to italic number plates, we all know they are illegal and you can be pulled over, but cars often fly through MOT's with them, and not always get pulled over.

roddydogs

No wonder driving at night is such a pain, it seems that every other driver is flashing at you, especially when there are humps.

harveybobbles

Misaligned headlamps are my pet hate...

rev_henry

CHR15 wrote: »

There is a reason a Xenon upgrade on new cars costs so much money!!

Having High Intensity lamps requires an automatic levelling system fitted to the car to prevent dazzling oncoming drivers, specific shutter arrangements (for Bi-Xenons where both dippped and High beam are Xenon), washer systems fitted to clean the headlights.

These are all fitted, not to help you see, but to stop you from dazzling the bejeesus out of oncoming drivers.

It may seem like an achievement to have oncoming drivers flashing at you because they think you are on high beam (wow! look at that guy with super lights, I wish I was like him!!) but it is dangerous to other road users.

The Xenon lamps are fantastic, I would hate to go back to halogen lamps now, but the sooner they clamp down on these naff Ebay Psuedo Xenons the better.

I'm sure at the moment this is akin to italic number plates, we all know they are illegal and you can be pulled over, but cars often fly through MOT's with them, and not always get pulled over.

I think you're mistaking proper HIDs and just upgrading bulbs to Xenon gas ones. HIDs require all the things you mention - levelling etc, but just putting better Xenon bulbs in does not, all that is required is for them to be 'E' marked. They shouldn't dazzle other drivers - only badly fitted aftermarket HIDs will do that. Theoretically.

bartman

vikingaero wrote: »

I wouldn't be surprised to find Philips Xtremes for £15 on eBay. Check the internet retail price on sites such as https://www.powerbulbs.com or Regal Auto Bulbs.

Powerbulbs sell on Ebay - as Powerbulbsdirect.
I can recommend the Phillips Xtremes I got from them.
H4s are currently just over £17 inc p&p, H7s about £21.

ohreally

vikingaero wrote: »

I find PIAA bulbs confusing. At £75 they are expensive. But friends who have fitted them rate them. Others friends don't. And I think Auto Express tested some and found them to faulty or had a bad light output.

I accept your point. I thought long and hard before buying them as it was difficult to justify the price, all i can say is despite the cost the difference is noticable is it worth the premium, only you can decide.

I also tried ring sportzblue which were much cheaper but the colour given off didn't suit my eyes - too blue, so they were ditched quickly.

harveybobbles

230426045082 any good or are they too cheap to be good?

harveybobbles

I bought some Philips from ebay for 16 quid. although they look a little bit brighter, I was wanting to get some icey white ones..