Which H7 headlight bulb?

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chrisk2010

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Morning All,

I thought I'd start a new thread but the last one was a couple of years old.

Something I have been meaning to do for a while is change the headlight bulbs any recommendations?

My two cents:
I have been looking at Osram NB laser as recommended by autoexpress but the reviews on them lasting are a bit here and there as with the Phillips racing vision even though I had racing visions for a couple of years though they do dim fairly quickly.

Halfords GE are getting great reviews as do the Osram Cool blue but as we know matching the side light bulb to a white/blue colour is near impossible.
 
If your main beams are switched via a relay - fit 100W bulbs.
If your main beams aren't switched via a relay - fit a relay then 100W bulbs.

55W bulbs pimped for more output just don't last. 100Ws do. Just don't have them switched on when car is stationary as the lens may overheat.
 
Osram Night Breaker Laser Next Generation .

This is what I was going to go for until I read about the short life. How are they working out for you?

If your main beams are switched via a relay - fit 100W bulbs.
If your main beams aren't switched via a relay - fit a relay then 100W bulbs.

55W bulbs pimped for more output just don't last. 100Ws do. Just don't have them switched on when car is stationary as the lens may overheat.

It's an option but I don't like messing about with car electronics it's always been a slippery slope for me. My dad did try the above once and melted his headlight glass, I was the poor fella that had to pry the old lenses off and mastic new ones back lol.

To add my lights are permanently on auto so they switch on when there needed.
 
It's an option but I don't like messing about with car electronics it's always been a slippery slope for me. My dad did try the above once and melted his headlight glass, I was the poor fella that had to pry the old lenses off and mastic new ones back lol.

.

Fair point and it is a risk though even when I did leave them on with the car static the (polycarbonate) lens showed no distress. Varies car to car I guess. Relay is the bigger concern I think if there's not one there already.

If I couldn't do it this way, I'd just run with normal 55W bulbs. The 'higher' output ones aren't worth the grief.
 
Well this is what I'm thinking and the Cool blue ones seem to have mixed reviews for an 80w bulb when it comes to night time driven, more for posing me thinks.

Firms up the decision for night breakers which are 55w. The short life is a bit of a put off and it seems hit and miss to how long they last.

It's all flooding back to me after two years when I start thinking is a halogen bulb just a halogen no matter how it's dressed up.
 
I seem to recall reading that the 55W bulbs masquerading as something more powerful achieve their initial brightness by using thinner filaments. If true, it would explain why they are so short lived.
 
It's a trade off between brightness and life, if you chose the brightest you get the shortest life. I use Osram Silverstars which are brighter than standard but have lasted 5 years so far. I think they are now discontinued but the principle still applies to whatever is current on the market.
 
I use Bosch Gigalights. They are <£20 a pair, last quite well (2 years and counting) and did pretty well in the Autoexpress tests.

They also have an 'Optimised Wendelgröße' which is obviously essential ;)
 
I have Osram Night Breaker 55W (Mini) and they give much brighter light than the standard H7 which were like driving with the candles at the front.
 
Well I'm all about the Wendelgröße lol!

They did do pretty well and have them in my basket against the night breakers.

The reviews are entertaining though and I do think biased in some cases because you fit a new bulb it's always going to be brighter so the pictures people take on amazon and so forth "left is new, right is old" is a bit like a picture of me in my 20's and one of me now half a dozen kids later.

The tech sheet states 150-250 hour lifespan for the NB's something 20 year old me wouldn't look at.

The interesting thing on Autoexpress test is this year the Phillips racing visions operated beyond EU regulation so they didn't rate them ?! (probably the only interesting thing to come of all this) so what's changed as I recall them previously winning?

Maybe Osram had a fatter envelope and threw in the use their light tunnel :rolleyes:
 
I have NB Unlimiteds in dip and Lasers in main, dips are on full time and have so far lasted over 2 years (touch wood rapidly!). I do not find the Lasers any better than the Ultimates so IMHO not worth the extra money, however the Laser NG are supposed to be better but I haven't tried them yet. For sure the NB's are a heck of a lot better than the standard bulbs the car came with!!

I have a feeling there's law about headlight wattage and anything over 55W is illegal and an MoT fail if discovered - which is why the 100W sellers state "for offroad use only".
 
I currently have the Nightbreakers in the 124. So far lasted 2 years. I keep them on day and night when the car is in use so they seem to last pretty well in my opinion.
 
I have NB Unlimiteds in dip and Lasers in main, dips are on full time and have so far lasted over 2 years (touch wood rapidly!). I do not find the Lasers any better than the Ultimates so IMHO not worth the extra money, however the Laser NG are supposed to be better but I haven't tried them yet. For sure the NB's are a heck of a lot better than the standard bulbs the car came with!!

I have a feeling there's law about headlight wattage and anything over 55W is illegal and an MoT fail if discovered - which is why the 100W sellers state "for offroad use only".
100w are not for road use, however, I did buy some more than once and was bitterly disappointed to find that they only lasted a few weeks.
I ended up with a box full of mismatched H7 100w bulbs.
 
I have a feeling there's law about headlight wattage and anything over 55W is illegal and an MoT fail if discovered - which is why the 100W sellers state "for offroad use only".

Correct in all respects. But as the MOT concentrates on alignment, I've never had a problem. Only ever used on main beams. Wouldn't consider going beyond 55W for dipped.
 
All these after market bulbs are the same wattage as standard and here is the really weird bit, they even have to comply with the same lumen output which under ECE regs a H7 bulb has to be between 1350 and 1650 lumens at 13.2 volts. Even on the high output types the data sheet will still typically say 1500 lumens +or- 10% which means they can't be more than 1650.

So how is it they manage to appear brighter and how to they get away with the up to 60% more light claims etc ?

One fact and perhaps the biggest is that the light is whiter because the filament runs hotter.

The rest is down to a smaller and more accurately positioned filament that perhaps does put out the claimed extra light but only in specific parts of the beam. They are probably pushing the measuring techniques too.
 
I retail Osram Nightbreakers so a little biased lol, but they are a brilliant bulb as all Osram's are.
 
One fact and perhaps the biggest is that the light is whiter because the filament runs hotter.

Seeing as running hotter is the main objection to 100W bulbs...... I'll go with the 100W bulbs everytime for the reliability.
 
Seeing as running hotter is the main objection to 100W bulbs...... I'll go with the 100W bulbs everytime for the reliability.

Thankfully you're in Scotland not down south, so I won't be lighting up my main beams at you as yours are blinding as well as illegal. Just hope there are coppers in your neck of the woods who are not so accommodating.
 

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