Everything you want to know about upgrading your headlights

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

Sylvania Xtravisions are very nice bulbs. They're basically a SilverStar minus the blue coating, high price, and ad campaign. They also live longer since they run cooler thanks to the clear glass letting more energy out.

Also, if you're dropping $70-75 on Xtreme Visions, spend the extra $25 and get HIR's. The HIR's are flat-out the best halogen bulbs available for our headlights. Nothing else compares.

[LeSabreUltra]

Sylvania Xtravisions are very nice bulbs. They're basically a SilverStar minus the blue coating, high price, and ad campaign. They also live longer since they run cooler thanks to the clear glass letting more energy out.

Also, if you're dropping $70-75 on Xtreme Visions, spend the extra $25 and get HIR's. The HIR's are flat-out the best halogen bulbs available for our headlights. Nothing else compares.

Weird, I was just coming back to this thread to post something about these bulbs!

Anyway, here's a little PSA from LeSabreUltra.

Replace your bulbs every couple of years, even if they aren't burned out!

I just got around to going through the lighting on my new Malibu, and thought I'd share my findings and choices since they relate to this thread. I found that all bulbs in the car were the original Philips Long Life bulbs that the car came with from the factory, putting them about about four years old. Bear in mind that my car uses H11 low beam bulbs, H11 foglights, and H9 high beams which are different than the 9006 low/9005 high and I think H3 (?) fogs that you will find in your Bonnevilles, but your results will be similar.

Anyway I'll cut to the point of all this. I'm sure you heard halogens dim over time, and that you should replace them every so often even if they don't burn out. But did you know that you can actually physically recognize a tired halogen bulb, and that it's not just a marketing gimmick?

Here is one of my four year old Philips Long Life H11 bulbs from my low beam headlamp:



And here is a relatively new H4 bulb:



Over time and with use, the filament will collect deposits. These deposits interfere with current flow and reduce output. See how the filament on the H11 looks much rougher than the H4?

Anyway, so those bulbs were obviously overdue for replacement. Just giving you guys a heads up for your own use. It's a good idea to replace every so often, I'd say two years for the low beam bulbs with average use, more frequently with high. High beam bulbs generally have a shorter life span and should be replaced every couple of years as well unless you never use them. Fog lights are going to vary with use. If you use them half as often as your low beams are used, then you could go with a four year replacement schedule, or something similar. But you get the idea. Even HID bulbs, if you have them, should be changed out on a similar interval since terminals within the bulb erode which dims the light output over time.

In any event, I replaced all my lights since it's an ordeal to change bulbs on the Malibu. It's necessary to remove both front wheels, the wheel liners, the front bumper, and a sight shield to get to the headlights. It took me four hours as a first timer from lifting the car to lowering it. It's extreme but unfortunately many new cars are like this, it's not unique to the Malibu. Should be faster now that I know the process.

Because of this I wanted a bulb that was both brighter than stock but had a decently long service life as I'd like to avoid having to go in there again until I'm ready to do a projector retrofit, which could be a while since I'm waiting for the warranty to expire before going in there...

So as I hinted with the first part of the post, I went with Sylvania Xtravision for the low beams. These offer something in between stock and Philips Xtreme Power (or in my case of choices, Osram Night Breaker) in terms of performance, but have a good lifespan as well. So, not a bad choice for your money and relatively inexpensive as well if you're looking for a cheap upgrade.

For the fog lights, I went with Osram Night Breaker (very much like Philips Xtreme Power, which is not available in H11) + 90 since the fogs don't require bumper removal for replacement, and aren't on as much.

The high beams got standard H9 bulbs. They're hard to find, and at 2100 lumens they're pushing HIR territory anyway. With modern optics these bulbs are amazing. But they're also short lived at 180 hours...so no hopes for a low beam version of these yet.

The difference between the new bulbs and the old bulbs was amazing. Additionally, I adjusted my headlamps upward since the Malibus for some unknown reason are aimed way below DOT specs from the factory. Now it's aimed in line with the specs and things are much better. So, on top of your bulb and wiring upgrades it's important to make sure that they are aimed right, as well!

Between these things, my output went from adequate to very good, with the only thing better being a proper HID retrofit. H11's are pretty nice, efficient halogens that a fair number of modern vehicles come with. Standard output of 1350 lumens, going up from there with various choices such as XtraVision (1600 lumens) or Osram Nitebreaker (1700 lumens).

Some examples of your choices with 9006 low would be standard (1000 lumens) XtraVision (1200 lumens) Philips Xtreme Power (1350 lumens) or HIR 2 9012 (1875 lumens).
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[Krenzy]

I've been considering going the HIR route, but don't want my foglights to look awkward because they're a different color or are too dim by comparison. Is there any HIR bulb, or equivalent, for the 880?

[LeSabreUltra]

Not really, and unfortunately you're sort of limited there as 880 bulbs just aren't very good for fogs. Try an experiment, turn on your high beams and flip back and forth between lows & fogs and the high beams. Your high beams are approximately the same brightness as the low beam HIR bulb. That will give you an idea on how they will look on together. Be sure to do it with new 880 bulbs, as halogen bulbs turn yellow and dim over time.

You may have another option, I'm sort of limited in knowledge here as I've never owned a Bonneville or any other H-body with factory foglights. But, you may be able to replace your foglight housings with some sort of aftermarket projector or reflector housing utilizing a different bulb. I think others have done this but I'm not sure. If you can find one in 9005 or 9006 that will fit, you can use an HIR bulb for your foglights.

Alternatively, if you can find one in H3, they are also decent foglights if you use a relay harness. I doubt you'll be able to find one in H11, but if you can it's also an excellent bulb that nears HIR output.
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[Sadden]

Krenzy Piaa 510 foglights are nearly a bolt in , you have to drill one hole in the factory bracket but after that you are good to go. Aside from that you WANT your fogs to look different from your high and lowbeams , your fogs should have some sort of yellow tint to reduce glare in inclement weather. If you really want them to match grab the PIAA 510 SMR model , they are free formed and feature piaa xtremewhite plus bulb , which is perfectly acceptable in terms of light output and color temp.

I have the 510 Ion plasma fogs pictured here

[LeSabreUltra]

I agree with almost everything. Ordinarily, I would say PIAA bulbs are junk (they are) and that they are overpriced (they are) and that you can get much better performance for less (you can) but with foglights, it matters somewhat less because foglights are simply supplemental lighting. If you want a certain color other than clear for your bulbs, I would absolutely agree with Sadden and say you should get yellow (ion plasma)...there's a reason that all OEM manufacturers use halogen bulbs for their foglights (even with OEM HID equipped cars) and why some of them tint them yellow.

That being said (regarding PIAA), I'm sure the PIAA housings would be a huge upgrade from your stock 880 housings. I don't have personal experience with them, so I will defer to Sadden's experience on this. Should you choose to go this route, the PIAA bulbs will do fine for you until you can get yourself a nice set of Philips Xtreme Power +80 (assuming they come in that bulb size). Or, you may find yourself completely happy with the yellow output of the PIAA, in which case there are more economical options for you to consider for replacement when they burn out.
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[Sadden]

The Piaas with least blue tint are good bulbs , but the dichronic yellow bulbs are the best "yellow" bulbs ive had experience with.
As far as the beam pattern with the 510's my set is not freeformed , but i have found it to be comparable to my h11 projector fogs in the gp in terms of light control. Not quite as wide , but very little if any glare. I believe they take an H3

[Mad Myche]

Sylvania Xtravisions are very nice bulbs. They're basically a SilverStar minus the blue coating, high price, and ad campaign. They also live longer since they run cooler thanks to the clear glass letting more energy out.

It's such a shame that the Osram SilverStars aren't made in "US" sizes, they are great bulbs that get the name tainted by the Sylvania blue crap

I agree with almost everything. Ordinarily, I would say PIAA bulbs are junk (they are) and that they are overpriced (they are) and that you can get much better performance for less (you can) but with foglights, it matters somewhat less because foglights are simply supplemental lighting. If you want a certain color other than clear for your bulbs, I would absolutely agree with Sadden and say you should get yellow (ion plasma)...there's a reason that all OEM manufacturers use halogen bulbs for their foglights (even with OEM HID equipped cars) and why some of them tint them yellow.

That being said (regarding PIAA), I'm sure the PIAA housings would be a huge upgrade from your stock 880 housings. I don't have personal experience with them, so I will defer to Sadden's experience on this. Should you choose to go this route, the PIAA bulbs will do fine for you until you can get yourself a nice set of Philips Xtreme Power +80 (assuming they come in that bulb size). Or, you may find yourself completely happy with the yellow output of the PIAA, in which case there are more economical options for you to consider for replacement when they burn out.

Agreed 100%



I wonder why HIR technology hasn't taken off in the automotive world; I've read all the techie stuff about the process and it is nothing super special in my eyes. In all reality it is very similar to the blue/yellow/red dichroic coatings except it uses one that rejects the IR spectrum.
And yes, I did say red dichroics; one of the major emergency lighting manufacturers use a pair of dichroic filters instead of a reflector & gel filter- so that the flash colors alternate from red to blue. This usage of external (from the bulb) dichroic implementation actually had me looking to see if an IR dichroic filter was available.

[BonneMe]

I've seen quite a few of both 97-03 and 04+ gen W bodies, and a 2000+ bonneville with plug 'n play HID recently.. ALL had serious glare.

[ImJJames]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PHILIPS-9006-HB ... 4349wt_952

this will work for my 96 bonneville right? plug and play? Also the color of the light will be white?

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

Are you doing both lows and highs, or lows only? The HIR low beams are about $20 more, and offer roughly double the light output of those bulbs.

[haro1225]

I just got done doing the 9012 low beams on my GP, they are on a relay harness as well. I'm very impressed with the brightness of them and that they don't seem to be be blinding anybody. Best thing I have ever done to one of my cars.

[natedawg061987]

I've gained a ton of knowledge from this thread and agree that it should be a sticky or in the Tech area. Thank you so much to everyone!

After reading through everything I think I'm going to go for HIR bulbs for both my highs and lows with a relay/harness.

Now as far as the relay/harness goes, I have a question. A couple of months ago I purchased a PnP HID set up and harness/relay for my 99 Monte Carlo from DDM. Now I know earlier in the thread it was noted that there will be one female connector and 2 male connectors, 1 power and possible 1 or 2 ground wires. My harness has 2 female and 2 male connectors. And I just want to know if I would just plug each female connector into its respective plug from the vehicle and the males into their respective lights or if I should invest in a different set up.

[J Wikoff]

http://www.powerbulbs.com/us/blog/2011/ ... sionAnyone havd experience with the new verios of the Phillips X-treme Power, now called X-treme Vision. I saw them at a store. They have the chromium coated tip, and a narrow strip of blue tint at the edge if the coating.

http://www.powerbulbs.com/us/blog/2011/ ... eme-vision

[Bad GXP]

Wow! Amazing discussion and lots of good feedback and personal experiences on various combinations.

I recently replaced my low beam halogens with a German made 55W ballast 4300K HID kit with warning cancelers (just in case I needed them). I must say based on what I had before there is a significant difference in usable light that is projected on the road ahead for my driving. Also noticed that this particular light set up does not offer any annoying glare to oncoming traffic, just whiter brighter light. No more heat emitted from these versus the halogens either.

I've noticed the difference in both dry and wet conditions. It was a bonus for installation for the ballasts and cables because of so much room in the front compartment of the N*. (probably the only time I could ever say that)

Must say my experience so far (about a month) is positive.