Silverstars, HID or LED headlights??

[Don M]

I've made it no secret that my stock headlights eat Turtle Wax paste. They don't light up the road very well under optimum conditions, and if it's wet or raining at night, I might as well not even have them on.

I have a friend at work, who is a part-time automotive lighting specialist (installs and upgrades - or adds) nearly any light on your car/motorcycle. He personally has LED lights in the low beams on his Chevrolet truck and they seem (in the daylight at least) twice as bright as my stock halogens.

He has shown me that for my car (which takes H13 bulbs), he can get me LED-high/low beam bulbs, HID-high/low bulbs or HID low beam / Halogen high beam bulbs for a very tempting price (his shop orders direct from the manufacturer, so there is no middle-man markup (If I help w/the install, he'll get & install the kit I choose for his cost).

I've told him my concerns about uncontrolled light spray affecting on-coming drivers and he told me that my headlight buckets are fairly 'deep,' so the light will be concentrated, not splayed out (the lights ARE fairly tight, not much side illumination going on). And too-there is a 'shield' inside the headlight so that light coming from the top of the bulb is blocked and all light output is from the light coming from the sides of the bulb and aimed forward off the reflectors.

Now I've heard that the HID lights *can be* somewhat fragile and more prone to breakage/shorter life, but are the brightest option. And that LED lights, while not quite as bright, are much more durable and have a long lifespan.
About the Silverstars, I've heard that they are *night and day* better than the stock bulbs with some saying they have durability issues and others saying they last a long time.

The thing is, I don't have a clue what to do ... in the past, if I ever had a lighting issue, I've just added fog/driving lights to the car and adjusted them according to my needs (out of the line of sight for other drivers though). My only other option is to buy factory replacement lights and HOPE I can adjust them to where the light falls where it's needed, but that's a few hundred dollars that I don't have for unknown results.

[spazzz]

You know doubt would want to do a HID projector retrofit from the Retrofit Source(TRS).

The mini D2S4.0 is a really good option. I have the older D2S3.0 with the XB55 ballasts and XB 5500 bulbs.
I can see at night and the cutoff is beautiful.

[brettS4]

In my past A4 I had h7 halogens and tried Silverstars. They didn't seem any different from the Osrams I had been using other than maybe a slight color shift.

My S4 has HID and when it's set up well it's a huge improvement. Easily twice as bright. HID bulbs are not fragile but require care when installed. The downside is that they are expensive. I recently paid $160 for a pair of Philips Xtreme Vision D2S bulbs. They'll last 5-10 years, so it averages out to about the same as replacing H7 bulbs every other year.

LED setups are only now becoming feasible. The jury is still out on those. I personally would go with HID retrofit kit, using good components. Buying cheap ballasts or bulbs guarantees you'll be replacing parts in months.

Check out theretrofitsource.com for info. I've used their Morimoto ballasts and bulbs with limited results. It's always best to go with OEM if possible.

As for glare on oncoming cars, a good projector with well designed cutoffs, aimed properly, will actually make the lights less likely to annoy other drivers. Also pay attention to color temps. OEM is 4300k and is fairly yellow. Personally I find 5000k to be desirable because it's perfectly white. Even 4800k is slightly yellow, but not too far off. As you go higher in temp, the color gets blue then purple, and you lose lumens.

[brettS4]

spazzz, how have those XB55 ballasts been for you? I've been thinking of switching from my Valeo 35w to those, but the XB35 ballasts I tried once were terrible. Flickering within a week and one died within a month.

[Don M]

What does everyone think of doing a bulb replacement in the stock housings and not going to a projector housing, I can't afford $500-$600 for new housings

[spazzz]

spazzz, how have those XB55 ballasts been for you? I've been thinking of switching from my Valeo 35w to those, but the XB35 ballasts I tried once were terrible. Flickering within a week and one died within a month.

These are the newest Morimotos. The previous version was terrible. I went through 3 bad ones.
I said to hell with it and bought some potted Densos. While great startup and reliable, I couldn't see very well with 35 watts.

So when they brought out the new 55s I jumped on them. They have worked without one hiccup for 2 years.

[brettS4]

I have a spare set of Densos and agree. Slightly better than my Valeos but i was using them in another set of housings I decided I didn't like. Guess I'll order some XB55 ballasts soon. Thanks for the input!

Don, as I mentioned before, you won't see any significant improvement with different bulbs, other than if your current bulbs are more than 3 years old. Bulbs lose lumens every year. To see a major difference, it's going to require new projectors/bulbs. I'd guess about $250 minimum, plus labor. The idea is that you keep your housings but new projectors are installed into them.

It's worth it, imo. You'll be able to see 300 yards down the road at night and about 20 yards to each side of the road. Look up some videos on YouTube for d2s setups and you'll see.

[FUNX650]

What does everyone think of doing a bulb replacement in the stock housings and not going to a projector housing, I can't afford $500-$600 for new housings

In that case...
I'd do the bulbs.

I would think that your friend at work
should be able to set you up with a
couple of new ones for <$50.


Bob

[The Guz]

What does everyone think of doing a bulb replacement in the stock housings and not going to a projector housing, I can't afford $500-$600 for new housings

If you go with a bulb swap do not get the silverstars. They are junk. They blue coating on the bulb actually decreases the light output. I believe Philips makes the xtreme vision in the H13. Those would be a better upgrade over the silverstarts.

If you have the time and skill then the projector route is the way to go.

[AZpolisher15]

If you choose halogens-- I much prefer Philips to the Silverstars. I've used the +60's and +100's. Both much better than the OEM Osrams in my Toyota. The +60's will last a little longer than the +100's and are a nice balance. Neither bulb (nor the Silverstars) will last much longer than 1-2 years (probably closer to 1, depending on use).

Philips VisionPlus +60
Philips ExtremeVision +100.