Which Low beam bulbs

[Matt1280]

My drivers side low beam bulb keeps going out after a few seconds so it’s time for a new set.

ive got the se-l so I’m guessing it’s the hid bulbs I need. 

Which bulbs are decent for a good price? 

[OldTrout]

Matt,

That is the textbook HID failure mode so time for a new pair. I have one £8 bulb and one £55 bulb. I cannot tell the difference. Even if the £8 fails in two years (it has done four so far) it will take 14 years before the £55 is better value. You choose.

John

 

[Matt1280]

Thanks for the quick reply, that’s exactly what I was thinking with the price of bulbs! I’ve seen some for £20 for 2 so i’ll Probably go with something like that.

am I right in thinking it’s a d4S bulb? 6000k? 

[J Henderson]

D4S, yep. OEM colour temp is more like 4300K.

[AntC]

Make sure you don't touch the glass with your fingers, as the grease from the skin will stick to it and can shorten it's lifespan.

[Matt1280]

6 hours ago, AntC said:

Make sure you don't touch the glass with your fingers, as the grease from the skin will stick to it and can shorten it's lifespan.

I’ll make sure I put some gloves on when I fit them 👍

[LenT]

On 9/20/2021 at 7:58 PM, Matt1280 said:

Thanks for the quick reply, that’s exactly what I was thinking with the price of bulbs! I’ve seen some for £20 for 2 so i’ll Probably go with something like that.

am I right in thinking it’s a d4S bulb? 6000k? 

Well each to his own!

It’s worth bearing in mind that auto bulbs are among the most widely counterfeited of all car parts.  Personally I would be extremely dubious that a £10 Xenon HID off, say, eBay, is simply a cheaper version of a more expensive Philips or Osram equivalent - especially if it even comes packaged with the same brand name!

If Philips and Osram could profitably market their bulbs at £10 each, I suspect they might well do so.  They don’t because the development costs, the materials they use and the manufacturing technology demanded by the precision assembly of the finished item, puts it into a different price category.

The counterfeiters are not troubled by such considerations.  It is not difficult to assemble a bulb that appears to produce the same level of ‘brightness’, but that’s not the major factor.  There’s also the precision control of the light output, and the quality of assembly and materials that will ensure the bulb doesn’t dangerously overheat, with extremely damaging results.

Personally, auto bulbs - as with brake pads, which also attract counterfeiters - are not components on which I would seek to make savings.  I got my Osram D4S bulbs from autobulbsdirect because they are one of Osram’s authorised dealers and the bulbs come in certified packs.  I believe Philips operate a similar system.

I suggest that a few moments spent researching the subject of counterfeit auto bulbs might well prove…illuminating.

[Matt1280]

23 hours ago, LenT said:

Well each to his own!

It’s worth bearing in mind that auto bulbs are among the most widely counterfeited of all car parts.  Personally I would be extremely dubious that a £10 Xenon HID off, say, eBay, is simply a cheaper version of a more expensive Philips or Osram equivalent - especially if it even comes packaged with the same brand name!

If Philips and Osram could profitably market their bulbs at £10 each, I suspect they might well do so.  They don’t because the development costs, the materials they use and the manufacturing technology demanded by the precision assembly of the finished item, puts it into a different price category.

The counterfeiters are not troubled by such considerations.  It is not difficult to assemble a bulb that appears to produce the same level of ‘brightness’, but that’s not the major factor.  There’s also the precision control of the light output, and the quality of assembly and materials that will ensure the bulb doesn’t dangerously overheat, with extremely damaging results.

Personally, auto bulbs - as with brake pads, which also attract counterfeiters - are not components on which I would seek to make savings.  I got my Osram D4S bulbs from autobulbsdirect because they are one of Osram’s authorised dealers and the bulbs come in certified packs.  I believe Philips operate a similar system.

I suggest that a few moments spent researching the subject of counterfeit auto bulbs might well prove…illuminating.

I think he just meant a cheaper bulb as in a cheaper brand of bulb not a counterfeit bulb,

ive gone with D-lumina bulbs from amazon, even if they only last one or 2 winters that’ll do me. 

[Marleez]

On 9/20/2021 at 7:23 PM, Matt1280 said:

My drivers side low beam bulb keeps going out after a few seconds so it’s time for a new set.

ive got the se-l so I’m guessing it’s the hid bulbs I need. 

Which bulbs are decent for a good price? 

I had my left side go out, so I changed both bulbs and balasts.  Osram nightbreaker lasers. Got them from euro car parts. 

[dephrank]

Interesting. Got an SE-i as well. Wasn’t sure if they’re Xenon bulbs as there’s no headlight washer. Or am I wrong?

[AntC]

Generally HIDs should come with washers since their operating temperature isn't sufficient to melt off snow and ice from the headlights.

Although someone could have fitted an HID kit.

You can easily tell just by looking at the headlights when you turn them on.

If they turn on almost instantly, they're halogens. Xenons will ignite at first and get brighter over a 5-10 second period until they are at their maximum.

[Thelongterm]

I had a look at how to replace the low and high beam bulbs in the IS, seems like a right pain in the arse, comparing this with our other car (2010 Avensis) which has much easier access.

I got a couple of Osram Ultra Life as these are suppose to last a long time, the lights the car have now are fairly good but I can't tell what brand is buried down there.

[Marleez]

They are a pain to replace. I got the garage to do it. They took the bumper off and did it that way

[J Henderson]

No need to remove the bumper to change headlight bulbs, but you do need to unbolt and/or remove the air filter housing, plus the filler neck of the windscreen washer bottle to have sufficient access.

I swapped mine for Osram Cool Blue Intense 3.5 years ago, which improved light output. Supposedly, they have a shorter lifespan than normal bulbs, but still going strong.

[AntC]

Can confirm that you only need to remove the air filter housing. Taking the bumper off is only necessary to remove the entire headlight assembly.

Also, if you're aiming for better output, I would advise yellow bulbs in the 3k temperature range. Anything higher going into 4-5k and above will have less output.

You can check this website for a lot of useful info concerning different types of bulbs so that you can buy the ones with optimal output:

https://bulbfacts.com/halogen-bulbs/chart