headlight bulbs

[JulieEx]

I want some advise guys, please. Can you tell me if its worth replacing the headlight bulbs with some of the aftermarket ones? I have seen them from $14 to about $80 - is there a difference in their brightness? Are they legal? How hard are they to put in?

 

[Dannyboy]

Juilie,
In the words of my father, You get what you pay for. I am running Xenon bulbs. PIAA makes some, so do other cheap companies like Street Glow. I opted to get a budget buster pair and they look good but suck for lighting. The PIAA's are supposed to work well. These are the bulbs that look like the ones on the new BMW's and Benz's. The ones that look really white. Hence the name Super whites. As for a regular yellowish headlight bulb, I wouldnt know if there is an upgrade.

 

[edlmann]

Originally posted by JulieEx
I want some advise guys, please. Can you tell me if its worth replacing the headlight bulbs with some of the aftermarket ones? I have seen them from $14 to about $80 - is there a difference in their brightness? Are they legal? How hard are they to put in?

The only "legal" ones that seem to deliver are the various xenon types, which can be had for about $10 each at Wal-Mart and NAPA.

You also want to read this carefully:

http://lighting.mbz.org/faq/#replacable

You can use a relay harness setup to increase power to the bulbs, but because of the tiny pins used in the 9007 bulb, it's difficult to increase wattage without melting/burning something.

Ed

mailto:edlmann@earthlink.net

 

[DocVijay]

PIAA bulbs.

The bulbs that PIAA makes (and some others, I have Hiper) are not really higher wattage. They are still 55 watt bulbs, but perform like a higher wattage bulb. I have hadmy bulbs in for a year and a half and have had no problems. I also installed some in my Toyota Avalon, and also have ahad no problems there. I did replace my backup lights with 50 watt bulbs, which is double the power, but I guess since they are not on for a long time it's hard to see if there'e a problem.

Just go to the PIAA website. There you'll see that the bulbs are 55/60 watt that perform like 100/110 watt bulbs. There are some companies that make real 100 watt bulbs, but witht hose there may be a heat problem.

 

[Stephen S]

I have the PIAA Superwhite 9007 bulbs and I have been impressed with their performance. They are not cheap, but they are much brighter and whiter than the stock ones. Plus, the 9000 series are street legal.
If you are interested, talk to Matt Adams in the Group Purchases Forum and see if he can get you down for a set of them. They'll likely be about $60.

Here's a link so you can look at them on PIAA's website:Dead Link Removed