Head light bulb upgrades , any recommendations

[Bertie]

The Knowledge Base article on upgraded bulbs is rather old . Does any one have recommendations for more recent upgrades??
I simply want to change out the bulbs, I don't want to modify the original lights .
Cheers
Bertie

[Gazza]

I read an article recently about bulbs and the claims of brightness.
It seems the claim of ‘50% brighter’ is in comparison to old worn out bulbs.

Basically if you replace your bulbs with the equivalent they will be much brighter than the old ones.

There is a rather long winded video on YouTube comparing Halogen vs HID vs LED https://youtu.be/TJ7nqrRv7Ww

[Bertie]

I am looking for a review of the current halogen replacement options . I have no wish to install advanced death ray optics .
There are several makers claiming improvements on standard replacements of OEM halogen bulbs, at multiples of the OEM replacement cost .An independent test to sort out real life performance on the road as opposed to advertising BS would be welcome .
Bertie

[Robert T]

I can testify that the upgrade bulbs are noticeably brighter than new OEMs, having swapped them a few years back. I have since had to replace the ones I fitted then and I am on Philips Nightbreakers IIRC.

I did recently see some 200% brighter bulbs being advertised by AutoBulbs Direct that might be worth investing.

So it's not to say that bulbs don't degrade over time, and that any new bulb will be an improvement, but the brighter bulbs definitely offer a cleaner whiter light with more intensity that really helps with driving on unlit roads.

Cheers R.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[Bertie]

Thanks
Philipps seem to be the way to go .
Bertie

[wonderloaf]

+1 for the Nightbreakers Osram not Phillips).

[137699]

PIAA Xtreme White Plus - simply the best bulbs I have ever used.

[LaRy]

The Osram Nightbreakers is the strongest legal bulb accoding to tests, but my personal experience is that the lifetime of those are short. But you can definitely see the difference.

[137699]

The Osram Nightbreakers is the strongest legal bulb accoding to tests, but my personal experience is that the lifetime of those are short. But you can definitely see the difference.

Which is why I recommend the PIAA bulbs. They're as bright, if not brighter than Nightbreakers, but are extremely long life.
I have a pair currently that I bought 4 cars and 300,000 miles ago and they're still going strong & lighting up incredibly well.

[Mike Fishwick]

If you want bulbs which are in the top league by the best from either Osram or Philips. Other brands seem to have caught up with them (they probably re-badge Osram or Philips products) but charge more.

I bet PIAA are in this category, as they do not make bulbs, and used to be notorious for producing dazzle. Their bulbs now have a better reputation, but cost far too much for their performance of what is doubless a badge-engineered product.

If you want really wonderful H7 bulbs - at a price - buy the Philips LED type, but ask yourself if you really need them for the usual motoring procession which passes for night driving in the UK.

[Bertie]

Thanks Mike and all the other contributors
Autumn is on us and the car is about to go into winter hibernation , -30 C , snow and rear wheel drive are not ideal driving conditions for a convertible . I will put new Osram or Phillips bulbs on my Christmas list and spend the winter stripping out the front end to change them.
Cheers
Bertie

[Mike Fishwick]

'Strip the front end?' - you are dealing with an old design, so all it takes is to remove the air box and then follow your nose - and easy job.

If you have a newer design like the Z4 then things are more involved, and a VW Golf handbook states that 'It is no longer possible to replace the headlamp bulbs!' This means -Take it to the dealer and pay £120 plus the price of the bulb - You would think they could give the bulb free . . . how penny-pinching can you get? In fact it takes about half an hour and two torx keys to remove the apron and the offending headlamp, altough some heros claim to have changed the bulbs in situ.

[Bertie]

I'm used to older cars where it's literally a 5 minute job tp change a light bulb
Removing a load of fragile looking plastic on one side and a 5 litre plastic jug of washer fluid on the other , just to get at the back of the head lights ,and even more to access the fog lights and little twinky lights on the bumper is a bit like one of those old
" How many BMW engineers does it take to ***** " jokes
Cheers
Bertie

[tigerdog]

A little late to the discussion, but I *highly* recommend replacing the stock 9005/9006 bulbs with 9011/9012 HIR equivalents. You need to be a little crafty, since the base needs minor modification to fit, but it's worth it. Because the radiating pattern is similar to the stock halogens, the Z3's nifty sharp low-beam cutoff is retained, while the quality and quantity of light is considerably upgraded. I bought mine at candlepower.com, but it seems they're going through an extended change of ownership. The site is still up and shows available 9011 and 9012 bulbs as of earlier in 2020.

This link gives a general discussion of HIR bulbs: https://store.candlepower.com/9011hir.html
This shows how to make them fit: