Looking For Recommendations..H7 Bulb upgrades

[scotta]

Osram Nightbreakers used to be the daddy but according to reviews GE Megalights 130's seem to be best now.

Any real world opinions before i spend £25 x2 on them?

Said review - http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessorie ... group-test

[Beany]

Osram Nightbreakers used to be the daddy but according to reviews GE Megalights 130's seem to be best now.

Any real world opinions before i spend £25 x2 on them?

Said review - http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessorie ... group-test

Pretty sure that's what I have in the Mondeo - I spotted I had a bulb out, went to Halfrauds and got them to wang them in because I forgot to take a Torx driver with me. Also, they struggled a bit so didn't charge me fitting

Beam pattern is strong around the centre/hotspot so I can believe the distance claims, but frankly I've not driven the car at night yet so no idea if it's noticeably better in the actual dark

It does seem to splash more light down in front of the car than whatever tat was in the lamps beforehand, which is something the HIDs in the Puma did too, and I found it annoying because it affected night vision. Not sure if these will have the same effect on me, due to aforementioned lack of night driving as yet.

[DaveE]

I think I used some Philips "bright white" type ones - they seemed to be a good balance between colour temp (nice and white, not blue) brightness, and not blowing up too frequently (which I found to be a problem with quite a few higher power bulbs)

[unzippy]

To go in what? Projector or reflector?

[scotta]

To go in what? Projector or reflector?

Reflector so HID is out.

[nuttinnew]

LEDs? I bought some that integrale evo recommended on the old forum, getting better results with them in reflectors than projectors iirc. I can't add anything yet because it doesn't get that dark atm

[scotta]

LEDs? I bought some that integrale evo recommended on the old forum, getting better results with them in reflectors than projectors iirc. I can't add anything yet because it doesn't get that dark atm

I had wondered about LED. Wasn’t sure if the were up to scratch yet.

Got any links?

[integrale_evo]

I still use led high beams in the reflector units in both e36s with great results.

The trouble at the moment is the market is flooded with so many Chinese variants that it's pretty impossible to confidently reccomend a certain type.

Even the two sets I have and have recommended before have slightly different colour outputs.

There are proper branded leds out there but they're still expensive and no idea how they compare to generic unbranded stuff.

I've not tried any in an aimed reflector light so no idea what their beam pattern is like so again would be reluctant to reccomend, in a high beam you just need as much light chucking out as you can and they work really well.

[nuttinnew]

Have you bought anything yet?
Although I think the headlight aim needs adjusting, I'm not convinced by the LEDs. I've not been flashed, mostly I think because the beam is too low, but I don't think it's low enough to cause the short brightspot to be as close to the car as it is (judged by main beam being reasonable). The helpful chap down the road with a beam gauge hasn't been about so I haven't checked and tweaked the aim, but I don't think it's out enough to be transformative.
In the past I was happy with the light out put from Osram Nightbreaker + - and that I could get them in H3 for the main beam - but they never seemed to last long in the A2 (longevity seemed much better in the Passat and Golf however). I was hoping for similar light with a better life span with the LEDs but I don't think it's going to happen.

This thread has reminded me I've got some Osram 64217 I've tried in the Passat to put in my foglights. I should try them in the dipped in the A2 (not sure if they do similar H3s for the mains, though that's got nothing to do with your question ).


Standard Osram H7 55W 1500 lumens 550 hours life
64217 Osram H7 65W 2100 lumens 500 hours life



Putting a relayed loom in would probably make as much difference as that on it's own. Having done that to older VAGs I should know better

[scotta]

Have you bought anything yet?
Although I think the headlight aim needs adjusting, I'm not convinced by the LEDs. I've not been flashed, mostly I think because the beam is too low, but I don't think it's low enough to cause the short brightspot to be as close to the car as it is (judged by main beam being reasonable). The helpful chap down the road with a beam gauge hasn't been about so I haven't checked and tweaked the aim, but I don't think it's out enough to be transformative.
In the past I was happy with the light out put from Osram Nightbreaker + - and that I could get them in H3 for the main beam - but they never seemed to last long in the A2 (longevity seemed much better in the Passat and Golf however). I was hoping for similar light with a better life span with the LEDs but I don't think it's going to happen.

This thread has reminded me I've got some Osram 64217 I've tried in the Passat to put in my foglights. I should try them in the dipped in the A2 (not sure if they do similar H3s for the mains, though that's got nothing to do with your question ).


Standard Osram H7 55W 1500 lumens 550 hours life
64217 Osram H7 65W 2100 lumens 500 hours life



Putting a relayed loom in would probably make as much difference as that on it's own. Having done that to older VAGs I should know better

Haven’t done the main bulbs yet. No rush until winter gets nearer. I have done the DRL bulbs with LED cheapos from The bay. Someone on a Bmw forum recommended them and they were only £8 delivered. They work well enough with no dash warnings.

[nuttinnew]

Going along the M2 and M20 tonight I started ngaf about glare etc, so many shite lights, fog lights, lights pointing in the air because people haven't wound them down when loaded up for holiday...it'll pass, I won't get dragged down to their level.

When I was little my father had a '66 VW Variant with 6v electrics. He could drive round all the time with main beam on and never get flashed

[robin_cox]

As the Osram 65W bulb was deleted 3 years ago or thereabouts, there is talk on the headlight forums of another batch of H9 (bulb) / H7 (plug format) bulbs being ordered from Germany to replace them by the lightbulb guru Daniel Stern - but they are at the whim of the manufacturer production lines so not available yet (@June 18). The A2 headlight is notoriously weak as a reflector. I tried some cheap H7 LED (Ebay chinese - £10 ; much whiter / brighter to look at but worse in fog and questionable efficient range on dark roads as well as horrible radio noise), enhanced 55W Philips +130% (better than original but still a bit 'empty' in the exact place you're looking at), and 80W Osram Rally bulbs (much better contrast than LED owing to the yellower light, clearly better than most incandescent in terms of "filling the light space"), although I wouldn't want to run them on the road due to current draw and legality. The new 65Ws would be an interesting comparison. Osram H4 +110 on our Citigo is a different animal altogether - they are very white, and very bright, but probably indicates a better reflector/lens design rather than the bulb being intrinsically better.

[nuttinnew]

As the Osram 65W bulb was deleted 3 years ago or thereabouts...

Time flies, I thought I got them more recently than that (I might have just got lucky with some old stock). Hopefully they'll make a new version, they worked well in the Passat I had them in (H7 dipped and mains).
Interesting to hear your experiences, even if it's 'A2 headlights? You're doomed.'. At least I now know tadts.

[mik]

As the Osram 65W bulb was deleted 3 years ago or thereabouts, there is talk on the headlight forums of another batch of H9 (bulb) / H7 (plug format) bulbs being ordered from Germany to replace them by the lightbulb guru Daniel Stern.

Wha?

[robin_cox]

As the Osram 65W bulb was deleted 3 years ago or thereabouts, there is talk on the headlight forums of another batch of H9 (bulb) / H7 (plug format) bulbs being ordered from Germany to replace them by the lightbulb guru Daniel Stern.

Wha?

is my middle name ..

for slightly more illuminating links to the info about the 65W and their potential replacements -
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=467477