HID headlight bulb recommendations

wharfhouse · October 14

One of my HID headlight bulbs gave out over the weekend - car is 10 years with 152K miles so I've been expecting that I'll need to replace them before long. Does anyone have some recent experiences of what replacement HID bulbs currently deliver the best performance (and what is the colour temperature of the OEM bulbs if anyone knows, I have seen in other posts 4300 kelvin?). The price on Lexus Parts Direct for a pair D4S Xenon OptiWhite bulbs is £238.70 so I'm not planning on going to the dealer for replacements. Also don't want to switch out to LED bulbs - so just interested in HID. Thanks

Edited October 14 by wharfhouse

ColinBarber · October 14

15 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

and what is the colour temperature of the OEM bulbs if anyone knows, I have seen in other posts 4300 kelvin?

That's correct, 4,300K.

IS300FSPORT · October 14

I recently tried Osram Night Breaker returned them & got a refund from amazon. The Visibility was improved over OEM but for me the yellow light output wasnt for me. I prefer the more modern look white with a hint of blue light output so changed too Osram Cool blue boost. Note this bulb is rated as 'Off road' use only. I have had them in a couple of months now with no ill effects driven past many Police cars & nobody has flashed me unless I have them on full beam which is understandable. Beam pattern is set from factory so no issues with the auto headlight adjustment taking control.

Osram night breaker (fitted & removed)

Osram cool blue

wharfhouse · October 14

3 hours ago, IS300FSPORT said:

I recently tried Osram Night Breaker returned them & got a refund from Amazon. The Visibility was improved over OEM but for me the yellow light output wasnt for me. I prefer the more modern look white with a hint of blue light output so changed too Osram Cool blue boost. Note this bulb is rated as 'Off road' use only. I have had them in a couple of months now with no ill effects driven past many Police cars & nobody has flashed me unless I have them on full beam which is understandable. Beam pattern is set from factory so no issues with the auto headlight adjustment taking control.

Osram night breaker (fitted & removed)

Osram cool blue

Thanks - I'll have a look at those.

IS300FSPORT · October 14

26 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

Thanks - I'll have a look at those.

No problem. They are on a small discount at the min £97.99 & only 3 left in stock.

BTW the originals I took out of mine were Osram not sure what spec they are or if they are a factory install?

These are what I have in now

OSRAM XENARC® Cool Blue Boost, D4S, Xenon Headlight Lamps, 7000K, Duo Box, offroad use only
https://amzn.eu/d/c77iCqT

DBIZO · October 16

On 10/14/2024 at 2:21 PM, IS300FSPORT said:

I recently tried Osram Night Breaker returned them & got a refund from Amazon. The Visibility was improved over OEM but for me the yellow light output wasnt for me. I prefer the more modern look white with a hint of blue light output so changed too Osram Cool blue boost. Note this bulb is rated as 'Off road' use only. I have had them in a couple of months now with no ill effects driven past many Police cars & nobody has flashed me unless I have them on full beam which is understandable. Beam pattern is set from factory so no issues with the auto headlight adjustment taking control.

Osram night breaker (fitted & removed)

Osram cool blue

My eyes hurt just looking at the photos. Still likely better than those sodden matrix leds.

IS300FSPORT · October 16

29 minutes ago, DBIZO said:

My eyes hurt just looking at the photos. Still likely better than those sodden matrix leds.

From the factory the standard light output is ridiculously poor. At least on the pre-face lift maybe the later versions are equipped with LED Lamps & have a better light output.

Having done reaarch prior to purchase Osram or Phillips bulbs are about as good as you will get in terms of improving brightness without blinding other drivers. Yes accept there are plenty of cheap HID bulbs online but the beam pattern is criminal. I guess you get what you pay for overall im happy with the light output & would recommend it if your looking to replace the OEM bulbs.

matt8 · October 17

Do these off road bulbs pass MOT? And do police pull over?

IS300FSPORT · October 17

1 hour ago, matt8 said:

Do these off road bulbs pass MOT? And do police pull over?

Yes I have had no trouble passing a recent MOT & no not been pull over by Police.

Source

https://www.hids4u.co.uk/d4s-osram-cool-blue-boost-xenarc-35w-6000k-xenon-hid-bulbs-pair.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqbTZRmHX0-QIHLdc5Qa7w9p_O-DpwuypsGOp-atdjogfJx1oKY

matt8 · October 18

Great! Thanks.

So if they pass MOT then that makes them road worthy I’d assume. What does the lack of an e-mark mean?

IS300FSPORT · October 18

European certification mark. Although we are no longer part of EU I wouldn't allow them to certify/dictate what's legal. Genuinley don't intend to open up a debate as its not my area of expertise but just my view since it passed an MOT that's good enough for me :thumbup:

https://www.tralert.com/en/lighting-terms/e-mark/

DBIZO · October 18

1 hour ago, IS300FSPORT said:

European certification mark. Although we are no longer part of EU I wouldn't allow them to certify/dictate what's legal. Genuinley don't intend to open up a debate as its not my area of expertise but just my view since it passed an MOT that's good enough for me

https://www.tralert.com/en/lighting-terms/e-mark/

It's not about opening anything, the product likely doesn't meet the certificate's standard or perhaps the vendor never sought it because it's not worth it for the expected sales. A practical question is I guess what happens, legally, when you drive a non-compliant headlight onto the continent. I do that several times a year.

J Henderson · October 18

Well, there's also the Cool Blue Intense variant from OSRAM, which would be fully-legal, MOT-compliant etc, if that's a concern.

The output won't be quite as blue/white as the 7000K bulbs that @IS300FSPORT has, since they're "only" 6200K, but they're still way bluer/whiter than stock bulbs.

I was considering getting a pair of these Boost bulbs for my high beam, so I could better punish these idiots that don't dip their headlights for oncoming traffic. 🙄

matt8 · October 18

Great!

Longevity is the final question. My HIDs are originals and so have lasted 11 years. Will these last at least 5 years. They ought to, right?

J Henderson · October 18

The Cool Blue Intense? Absolutely. Mine are 6 years old now and still fine.

IS300FSPORT · October 18

1 hour ago, matt8 said:

Great!

Longevity is the final question. My HIDs are originals and so have lasted 11 years. Will these last at least 5 years. They ought to, right?

I can't comment on longevity J Henderson mentioned 6 years which is brilliant got your moneys worth if they last that long.

On the 'bright' side (haha sorry) ... if you did purchase them & keep the working originals in the car as a spare or for a European trip or MOT etc they can be swapped out in less than 20 mins bothsides if you can be bothered. These are one of the easiest cars to change a bulb on without taking the front end off!

wharfhouse · October 18

After looking around for a bit and some reading up I went for Osram Night Breaker 220 Xenarc - apparently for HIDs 4300K is actually the best colour temp for visibility with anything higher (or certainly over 5000K), although whiter/bluer which might suit personal choice, is scientifically (slightly) less good (given the same power etc.) for absolute visibility... They were £109 for the pair - 3 year guarantee on them but hope they do a bit more than that.

Fitted them this morning and they look whiter than the ones I took out, which were original OEM and had been in the car 10 years before the first one expired. The OEM I took out were stamped Osram Xenarc on the base of the bulbs.

The side next to the windscreen washer fluid was relatively easy to fit (after removing the washer fluid filler nozzle) although the plugs were really hard to get out of the socket as the tab to be pressed on the plug wasn't in an easy place and after 10 years they were well stuck! For the other side next to the air box I couldn't get enough leverage to open the case with the air box in place so had to unbolt it and pull it up to have it floating free to give me enough room to get my hands in and have enough leverage to rotate the case. Again, all probably easier when everything is new or recently opened, but after 10 years it needed a bit more effort...

Anyway, all done now - will see if they are any different when next out at night.

Thanks for all the advice and thoughts.

wharfhouse · October 21

Just to round this off - I'm pleased with the new Osram Xenarc 220 bulbs having now done a few long night drives. The illumination is certainly better than the OEM originals but that may be due partly because the original were 10 years old! Dipped beam in paticular seems to have a better spread of light - not so much longer as that has the same cut off but generally better lit and particularly to the sides making it easier to follow the verge and miss the potholes...! Personally I like the colour temp as I find it illuminates well but is not tiring on the eyes. Full beam seems a bit longer but TBH the original OEM bulbs weren't too bad on full beam, it was the dipped beam that always seemed a bit lacking in spread and illumination.

Anyway - anyone thinking of new HID bulbs should see an improvement with these over OEM original HIDs.