Weak dipped lights

[johncherokee]

I drove my car in the dark yesterday evening and was surprised how poor my dipped lights were. Main beam is fine but lights are awful on dip. Is it worth changing the bulbs to bluish ones, or a higher wattage. Can’t afford to replace the light units, and the existing lenses seem clear. Any ideas?

 

[alecmascot]

Osram Nightbreakers help a lot.

 

[johncherokee]

Osram Nightbreakers help a lot.

Thank you, much appreciated.

 

[DSM10000]

I drove my car in the dark yesterday evening and was surprised how poor my dipped lights were. Main beam is fine but lights are awful on dip. Is it worth changing the bulbs to bluish ones, or a higher wattage. Can’t afford to replace the light units, and the existing lenses seem clear. Any ideas?

Blue light is not going to increase the lumens and you cannot legally increase the wattage above 55w, plus, if higher wattage bulbs you could overload the lighting circuit and cause a fire.

Lights outputting a spectrum above 4200 K (in the blue range are also illegal for road use.

Bulbs degrade with use, hence the full beam being OK. As suggested, try Osrem Nightbreakers or Philips equivalent.

 

[johncherokee]

Blue light is not going to increase the lumens and you cannot legally increase the wattage above 55w, plus, if higher wattage bulbs you could overload the lighting circuit and cause a fire.

Lights outputting a spectrum above 4200 K (in the blue range are also illegal for road use.

Bulbs degrade with use, hence the full beam being OK. As suggested, try Osrem Nightbreakers or Philips equivalent.

Thank you, that’s clear. I won’t bother with the LED bulbs, they seem excessive.

 

[DSM10000]

Thank you, that’s clear. I won’t bother with the LED bulbs, they seem excessive.

LED bulbs would also be illegal

 

[OneForTheRoad]

I drove my car in the dark yesterday evening and was surprised how poor my dipped lights were. Main beam is fine but lights are awful on dip. Is it worth changing the bulbs to bluish ones, or a higher wattage. Can’t afford to replace the light units, and the existing lenses seem clear. Any ideas?

Best bulbs at the moment are Phillips race gt200. I tried night breakers , but these were better .

 

[markjay]

Upgraded H7 Halogen bulbs tend to not last as long as standard bulbs. Osram Nightbreaker come in different versions, and I found the 'Silver' ones to be a good compromise between increased brightness and life-span.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Upgraded H7 Halogen bulbs tend to not last as long as standard bulbs. Osram Nightbreaker come in different versions, and I found the 'Silver' ones to be a good compromise between increased brightness and life-span.

Lifetime depends also on how many hours you drive at night , the wife's ford Kuga had the same set for over 3 years before selling it . So that's hardly a consideration tbh. If he wants brightness and distance there is no compromise. I also tried the silver ones , they are only slightly better than standard, the difference in the gt racing ones is night and day .

 

[ALFAitalia]

......the difference in the gt racing ones is night and day .

LOL....I see what you did there!!

 

[MSG2004]

Osram Nightbreakers help a lot.

I had those fitted or very similar over 12 years ago to the last c class I owned - they look a a lot brighter but the impact IMO was not that great but it improved. I guess technology has moved on so go for newer bulbs
Often a search in Google re bulb reviews in the ikes of AutoExpress is often a good guide and I'd be surprised if these bulbs are not in the top 3.

 

[DSM10000]

I had those fitted or very similar over 12 years ago to the last c class I owned - they look a a lot brighter but the impact IMO was not that great but it improved. I guess technology has moved on so go for newer bulbs
Often a search in Google re bulb reviews in the ikes of AutoExpress is often a good guide and I'd be surprised if these bulbs are not in the top 3.

It may not be the bulb, the reflector and the lens can degrade.

 

[Petrol Pete]

How are the lenses ? do they need a polish ?

 

[MSG2004]

It may not be the bulb, the reflector and the lens can degrade.

I thought that too and I had it in my head but forgot to post that it could be a combo of both, The headlight needs a good clean depending on how old the car is and/or just a dirty headlight full of salt/grime etc. A combo of new bulb and headlight clean if the OP does not have led or the other powerful lights the name escapes me.

 

[BlackC55]

Since LED and xenon lights have been more common the amount of my customers complaining about their halogen headlight being poor as increased hugely.

 

[Pontoneer]

Since LED and xenon lights have been more common the amount of my customers complaining about their halogen headlight being poor as increased hugely.

I find that my H4 halogen lights give a far better spread of light and illuminate far more of the road ahead than the very poor lights fitted to newer vehicles .

Brighter is not better if all it does is to create a bright narrow pool of light in front of the car , which desensitises the eyes to the unilluminated area beyond .

 

[ALFAitalia]

I'm amazed how much brighter the lights (dip and main) are on my W212 compared to my old ALFA 159 with H7 bulbs....to be honest Ive not even looked at what type of bulbs I have (not mentioned on the data card)....but it has auto high beam (which is good) and intelligent lighting with the cornering lights (which is rubbish and annoying so I turned it off!). But its a much brighter, crisper light with a sharper cutoff than the old car. The 159 was only a slightly older design of car too.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

I'm amazed how much brighter the lights (dip and main) are on my W212 compared to my old ALFA 159 with H7 bulbs....to be honest Ive not even looked at what type of bulbs I have (not mentioned on the data card)....but it has auto high beam (which is good) and intelligent lighting with the cornering lights (which is rubbish and annoying so I turned it off!). But its a much brighter, crisper light with a sharper cutoff than the old car. The 159 was only a slightly older design of car too.

Your vin lists your bulbs as

xenon lamps 35 watts. Part no.​

N910139000002​

 

[MSG2004]

I had those fitted or very similar over 12 years ago to the last c class I owned - they look a a lot brighter but the impact IMO was not that great but it improved. I guess technology has moved on so go for newer bulbs
Often a search in Google re bulb reviews in the ikes of AutoExpress is often a good guide and I'd be surprised if these bulbs are not in the top 3.

Having read the latest posts I was intrigued to see what was now on the market.
Call me foolish but I do trust AutoExpress reviews to a great degree.

Best car headlight bulbs 2024 | Auto Express

Which car headlight bulbs will brighten your night?

www.autoexpress.co.uk

 

[DSM10000]

Having read the latest posts I was intrigued to see what was now on the market.
Call me foolish but I do trust AutoExpress reviews to a great degree.

Best car headlight bulbs 2024 | Auto Express

Which car headlight bulbs will brighten your night?

www.autoexpress.co.uk

A perfectly respectable review site