philips h7 x-treme car light bulbs

avantra

Do you have any experience with those, I think I was conned a bit.
Last January I went to to our local car bits shop and asked for a good pair of bulbs, they recommended the above model which claim to give up to 80% more light for the price of almost £30.

I had a pair of 30% stronger before (made by Ring) and saw very little improvement with the Philips. Anyway one year down the line they both expired within a week between them.

Are these just an expensive con? Surely should last a bit longer after all my pair of 30% more lasted almost 3 years.

djheath

I have had philips xtreme and extreme plus bulbs and I rate them very highly. I found a definite noticable increase in visibilty compared to standard bulbs.

It's not just down to the bulb though. The beam pattern has to be set right and angled correctly in the first place. I noticed a lot of cars have one light shining up and the other down for example. This just doesn't help their visibilty.

The lens has to be clean and the reflector clean and shiny too.

I buy my bulbs from either http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/ or get genuine ones from ebay for a third of the cost.

All the high performance bulbs I have got have lasted at least two years on my cars.

I usually the first thing I change when I get a new car and find it makes a world of difference.

forgotmyname

My bulbs last for many years, You probably use yours. :rotfl:

If you use them you expect them to wear out.


High power bulbs do seem to wear out faster though, Some manufacturers have brought our high power eco bulbs which do not get as hot and last longer.

Makes you wonder if they are genuine or fakes.

dannymccann

Dont bother buying branded ones, just buy the cheapest ones off ebay or poundland and replace them when they go. They can last from 2 months to 3 years and at roughly £2 a bulb delivered on ebay its worth it, unless youve got one of those stupidly designed cars where you need 3 techs to remove the bumper before you can change the bulb!

carlosboy

I've always upgraded the bulbs in my car due to the fact that the standard ones are generally appalling!

Tried many different brands over the years. Always found Philips to be generally reliable and performance was good. Halfords ones have been mixed and can be quite pricey so tend not to use those now.

Recently I tried Osrams Nightbreakers as they won the bulb test in Autoexpress. They claimed to be 90% brighter, not sure if they're quite that good, but they're a lot brighter than the standards. Can't comment on lifespan yet as only just put em in.

Powerbulbs were doing a 10% off in Autocar which I used (code was AENOVDEC10) but this may have expired now as it was a few months ago, worth a try though!

bengalknights

Ive got philips on the headlight and osram on the fog lights you can see the difference as they have a much longer range in lighting.So far ive had them on 6 months but they are suppose to last at least 1200 hours or so i think.

marty-401

There's numerous choices of bulb on the market. They recently had some in Lidl which were good quality (German made) at £3.99 a pair (you might still get some if you are lucky). The best bulbs I have used in the past have been Phillips Motovision (yes I know they are supposed to be used on motorbikes) but they give a good quality driving illumination and have extra support to cope with vibration (which kills most bulbs), plus they look mean/unique.
One word of warning to purchasers of Chinese Ebay specials...DO NOT buy the illegal 100w super bright version they can damage your vehicles wiring and (if you have them) plastic headlight lenses, due to extra current draw and heat generated!

forgotmyname

Cheap budget bulbs are not always a good idea. My MOT guy said he gets loads of cheap bulbs failing the test
rubbish beam pattern.

Wig

forgotmyname wrote: »

Cheap budget bulbs are not always a good idea. My MOT guy said he gets loads of cheap bulbs failing the test
rubbish beam pattern.

I fail to see how a bulb can affect beam pattern? As long as there is a deflector built in they should be fine H4 have deflectors. But certain bulbs don''t have deflectors H1 & H7 with those ones a cheapo would not and could not affect beam pattern IMHO

My bulbs are 50p each from poundland H1 H4 H7 etc all available.

trets77

Which magazine did a test on this while back .

Bosch standard bulbs beat everything ( not Xenon) . Osram Nighbreakers bulbs were a well rated and came 2nd .

i have Bosch's and they are good

jase1

Wig wrote: »

I fail to see how a bulb can affect beam pattern? As long as there is a deflector built in they should be fine H4 have deflectors. But certain bulbs don''t have deflectors H1 & H7 with those ones a cheapo would not and could not affect beam pattern IMHO

My bulbs are 50p each from poundland H1 H4 H7 etc all available.

Agreed re H1/H7 bulbs.

IME the cheap, standard 55W bulbs are all much of a muchness. The light output from them is all similar. I bought a Ring H7 as a distress purchase from an accessory shop for £4 when away from home (having stupidly forgotten to put some bulbs back in when I cleaned the car out), and it is no different to the £3 for 10 bulbs I bought from an online supplier (Consumabulbs I think).

The Philips bulbs do make a marked difference though. I tend to use them in cars that take H4 bulbs, as the light output from such cars never seems to be quite enough. As the output on the Focus is more than adequate, I've never felt the need to spend £15 on them.

All I would say is that, whatever you do, don't be tempted to buy the cheap blue-tinted bulbs from ebay. They're not illegal, they don't dazzle, and they are whiter, but the tint filters some of the useful light out, and as a result they don't light up the road as well as the standard, yellowish bulbs do. The reverse of what a lot of people seem to think.