Xenon Bulb Advice

131spanner

I'm looking at swapping the dims and parking bulbs on the Corolla in favour of white Xenon bulbs. HID's aren't an option at the minute, so I figure a straight swap for Xenon's will do for now. The dims are 55w H7 and the parking lights are little 501's.

What number H7's should I be looking for to get a pure white light? (4300k? 5000k? 6000k?) I'd rather not have any trace of blue in them as I love the look of a nice crisp white

Just said I'd ask as Googling it has left me with about 5 different shades of white/blue for each number

colm_mcm

HIDs shouldn't be considered either way as the Corolla has old fashioned non-projector lamps.

Set of osram nightbreakers would be worth getting.

challengemaster

FYI, 4300K is OEM Xenon colour temp, 5000K is closer to "pure white". It removes what little yellowish tinge the 4300K has

tossy

I think you are slightly confused as to what's involved in fitting a xenon bulb OP.

You won't be able to fit a 4300K bulb into a standard headlight, you might get some bulbs advertised as "xenon look" with halogen filaments but to fit a 4300k bulb you will need to change your headlights to xenon units from a higher spec model or fit a HID kit. HID stands for High intensity discharge the require a higher voltage rating to ignite and then require ballasts to regulate the flow of voltage to the bulb to keep it within a narrow range of parameters.

joujoujou

4300K mentioned by OP is a colour, not a bulb type.

tossy

joujoujou wrote: »

4300K mentioned by OP is a colour, not a bulb type.

4300k is the Kelvin rating of a bulb, it is VERY much a bulb type, in that you would ask the man for a 4300k D2S bulb. :rolleyes::p

OldmanMondeo

colm_mcm wrote: »

HIDs shouldn't be considered either way as the Corolla has old fashioned non-projector lamps.

Set of osram nightbreakers would be worth getting.

Night breakers will give more light and not a whiter xenon effect. Get a set of Philips Bluevision bulbs, they give the Xenon effect, which is a clearer light. Not sure if Osram do a blue version.

OldmanMondeo

tossy wrote: »

4300k is the Kelvin rating of a bulb, it is VERY much a bulb type, in that you would ask the man for a 4300k D2S bulb. :rolleyes::p

Xenon bulbs come in D1, D2, D3 & D4, followed by either S or R, projector or reflector system. They then are available in different colour types, 4300k, 5000k etc.

joujoujou

tossy wrote: »

4300k is the Kelvin rating of a bulb, it is VERY much a bulb type, in that you would ask the man for a 4300k D2S bulb. :rolleyes::p

It is VERY much a colour given by a bulb only, not related to its shape at all. :P

131spanner

tossy wrote: »

I think you are slightly confused as to what's involved in fitting a xenon bulb OP.

I think you're right there! I had assumed that fitting bulbs like these or these would be a straight swap, out with the old, in with the new. Am I wrong to assume so?

Spike Witwicky

131spanner wrote: »

I think you're right there! I had assumed that fitting bulbs like these or these would be a straight swap, out with the old, in with the new. Am I wrong to assume so?

They will be a straight swap. Get the Nightbreakers. Very good light from them.

Get Phillips bluevision for your sidelights. The name is misleading they are not blue at all but a nice clean white

OldmanMondeo

OP, just to give you an idea, I looked into changing them light in my car from halogen to Xenon. I would need to replace the complete headlight unit to start with. Since a Xenon unit for my car is around €400 plus Vat each, I decided to give it a miss. The bulbs themselves are completely different to Halogen, they cost, for a decent bulb, €80 + depending on the bulb type. Add in the balist to change the power from 12v to 85v (I think) you would be looking at well in excess of €1000.

As far as Osram and Philips bulbs go,

Osram Nightbreakers / Philips Extreme vision give 100% more light on the road. There is no real colour change on these

Philips BlueVision / Osram (not sure if they have a version) will give 60% more light and it is a whiter light, I think it is around 4000k, I would have to confirm that.

This would be far the cheaper option, costing around €30 - €40.

Bpmull

As said go for the osram nightbreakers they are a great bulb. I've had them in the astra, focus and will put them in the golf when one of the bulbs blows as I have a set for it and all but the current bulbs are surprising good so no point changing them yet. The nightbreakers give a serious amount more light and it is slightly whiter even when you look at the bulbs. Now there not xenon white standard but aren't as yellow as normal bulbs. There 20 euro in micksgarage for a pair and tbh it's probably the best 20 quid you'll ever spend on the car I'd never buy any other bulb now.

131spanner

Having done a bit of googling, I settled on the Philips BlueVision H7's and W5W's from Micksgarage, in the post as we speak. Hopefully they'll strike the right balance between light output and light colour I'm looking for.

Thanks for all the replies, lads!

Eric Cartman

not to jump in on this topic but the e38 has dipped xenons which are great , but the full beams (H7) and the parking lights (w5w) are both yellow in comparisson , does anyone know where to get a nice set of H7's and a nice set of canbus-error free w5w led's that would be 4300k or as close to it as possible.

Spike Witwicky

131spanner wrote: »

Having done a bit of googling, I settled on the Philips BlueVision H7's and W5W's from Micksgarage, in the post as we speak. Hopefully they'll strike the right balance between light output and light colour I'm looking for.

Thanks for all the replies, lads!

Pics when you install em?

Eric Cartman wrote: »

not to jump in on this topic but the e38 has dipped xenons which are great , but the full beams (H7) and the parking lights (w5w) are both yellow in comparisson , does anyone know where to get a nice set of H7's and a nice set of canbus-error free w5w led's that would be 4300k or as close to it as possible.

Personally i use Amazon for the H7 (Osram Nightbreakers) and Ebay for the LEDS (W5W/501)

LEDS didnt really match the colour of the Nightbreakers so i switched to Phillips Bluevision for the 501s

131spanner

Spike Witwicky wrote: »

Pics when you install em?

Sure thing! 2-10 days for postage, watch this space

OldmanMondeo

131spanner wrote: »

Sure thing! 2-10 days for postage, watch this space

You should have them very quickly, I know their supplier and they have them in stock...

OldmanMondeo

Eric Cartman wrote: »

not to jump in on this topic but the e38 has dipped xenons which are great , but the full beams (H7) and the parking lights (w5w) are both yellow in comparisson , does anyone know where to get a nice set of H7's and a nice set of canbus-error free w5w led's that would be 4300k or as close to it as possible.

Simple, Philips have a W5W led bulb in 2 different colour types, 4000k & 6000k I think. They also sell a cambus canceller, simple to install. Stick these in with the 100 brighter bulbs or the Bluevision like the OP and you should have nice matching lights. Again Micksgarage do them, so if you can not find them on the site, contact them about it, they will be able to get the information that day.

131spanner

Bulbs were ordered Wednesday, delivered Friday, brilliant service. Replaced the bulbs in the side-lights and number plates, was too dark to do the dims but I'll put pictures up when I change them tomorrow!










^^ Must replace the missing fog light surround

Spike Witwicky

Nice! Such an improvement over the candles in there originally and not too blinding.
Bluevision is so misleading though

Spike Witwicky

Found a pic of my old mondeo with nightbreakers



LED in number plate light

TJJP

Here's Nightbreaker (left) vs Standard (right) and I wasn't that enamoured. Nightbreakers lasted 9 months at best, a right pain when you pretty much have to take the wheel off to change them. Better than standard, yes, sure.

131spanner

Bit of an update!

I had the H7 dims put in on Saturday morning at the garage while I was in paying a bill. Had a look at the headlights just there today and the inner light has two small patches of fog, just above where the H7 bulb is. What's the craic with that?

I've put the original dims back in to stop the damage spreading, but left the parks as I assume they aren't the source of my problems.

Are the bulbs too hot for the headlight casing or something..? Any ideas or solutions?

Edit: Searched the web and have concluded the Bluevision watt might be too high? They're 55w.

Spike Witwicky

That's a stange one. Wattage is the same as Nightbreakers which i've never had an issue with until i went to put black headlights in the Mondeo. After installing them they fogged up for about a day and were fine after that

Maybe leave them in for a few days and see if it dissappears?

131spanner

Spike Witwicky wrote: »

That's a stange one. Wattage is the same as Nightbreakers which i've never had an issue with until i went to put black headlights in the Mondeo. After installing them they fogged up for about a day and were fine after that

Maybe leave them in for a few days and see if it dissappears?

I think I might actually I'll get the Toyota H7's out again and if they're also 55w then I'll take my chances and stick the Bluevision in again

edit: Yep the originals are 55w too! I'll get around to putting the BlueVision's back in Thursday evening, and maybe it's just a case of allowing them time

corks finest

colm_mcm wrote: »

HIDs shouldn't be considered either way as the Corolla has old fashioned non-projector lamps.

Set of osram nightbreakers would be worth getting.

hi ref to above,i reolaced my standard headlights with osram night breakers,and theres a hell of a difference,all for the good(fabia 1.2 driver)

OldmanMondeo

131spanner wrote: »

Bit of an update!

I had the H7 dims put in on Saturday morning at the garage while I was in paying a bill. Had a look at the headlights just there today and the inner light has two small patches of fog, just above where the H7 bulb is. What's the craic with that?

I've put the original dims back in to stop the damage spreading, but left the parks as I assume they aren't the source of my problems.

Are the bulbs too hot for the headlight casing or something..? Any ideas or solutions?

Edit: Searched the web and have concluded the Bluevision watt might be too high? They're 55w.

The wattage and voltage is the same as the original bulbs. Unless some water got in when replacing?? Did you open the bulbs when you got them? Could they have gotten a little damp on the glass before fitting?

131spanner

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

The wattage and voltage is the same as the original bulbs. Unless some water got in when replacing?? Did you open the bulbs when you got them? Could they have gotten a little damp on the glass before fitting?

IIRC they didn't come into contact with any dampness. I did open them when I got them to a have a quick look and take the W5W's from the box, but this was inside in my bedroom and only momentarily. If any dampness did get on them it would've been completely minuscule. What would the effect of dampness on the bulb be?

Is it possible that it's just condensation of some sort? If that's a possibility, I'll try giving the patches a gentle wipe with some dry cloth and a pipe-cleaner or something similar, just to see if they wipe off.

If the lights are the same wattage and voltage and they were installed correctly I can't see them causing permanent damage, hoping it's just condensation or something similar

Edit: Thanks for all the replies everyone, I'm determined to get to the bottom of it

JohnBoy26

are these patches on the lights like a mist etched into the plastic. If so its a common problem with those corolla's. Usually cutting compound does the trick, failing that a very fine wet and dry sandpaper should sort it out.

131spanner

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

are these patches on the lights like a mist etched into the plastic. If so its a common problem with those corolla's. Usually cutting compound does the trick, failing that a very fine wet and dry sandpaper should sort it out.

I was just going to throw this picture up they can be seen there just above where the H7 bulb should be (it was out at the time). I've left the new Philips bulbs in to see if they make it any worse or not, keeping a close eye! The white patches are on the reflective housing, not the outer casing, if you know what I'm trying to say


The headlights are the smallest bit foggy and I've a restoration on my mind, so if the headlights are coming out for that I'll be sure to get onto the white patches

JohnBoy26

it was indeed the outer casing I was referring to.

131spanner

I'm hoping it's just condensation as if the bulb was just burning off any moisture that was on it (not sure if that even makes sense...)

Either that or the bulb is burning the reflector, which doesn't make sense as the original was also 55w and I would've thought Philips would be a trust-worthy replacement

They're back in again so a few days driving should see some answers arise, good or bad.

Spike Witwicky

I'm wondering are the new lights just showing more of the fog/condensation/big white mark than the old ones did

131spanner

Spike Witwicky wrote: »

I'm wondering are the new lights just showing more of the fog/condensation/big white mark than the old ones did

That's very, very true :eek: I never paid any great attention to the headlights before changing the bulbs, I'd never considered that they just might be illuminating what was already there to a greater effect!

After a few days of driving with them, I'll know for certain. Thanks for the help and suggestions guys, keep them coming

OldmanMondeo

OP, philips supply their bulbs to many car manufactures, it could well be the OE bulbs in your car are philips. Other than the blue vision colouring and the extra distance of light, these would be the same as OE bulbs. The would not generate any extra heat that might cause the problem your having.

131spanner

Having driven with them in for the best part of a week now, it turns out the white patches are just some kind of fog or condensation that has settled above the bulbs it's gradually becoming smaller the more use I make of them.

Thanks for the replies, all done and dusted now!

Spike Witwicky

Good to hear OP. Any plans to change the fogs?

131spanner

Spike Witwicky wrote: »

Good to hear OP. Any plans to change the fogs?

Definitely, must get on to them in the next few days or weeks