Nissan Leaf headlight bulb upgrade

quenching

Has anyone replaced the headlight bulbs in their Leaf with something that offers more light output? I've used Philips and Osram bulbs in other cars and they've worked well, but the H9 fitment seems to offer few options. Osram offer an "off road" 75W option which I'm not keen on at all, and Philps offer ones with 30% more light. Other than that PowerBulbs offer these PIAA bulbs with "up to 120% more light" , but I've never heard of them.

And they're expensive!

The Black Oil

Think some of the folks who have imported have changed theirs. Don't think are specific threads - might be just posts within their own import thread/journey.

quenching

Well I've just looked under the bonnet and the bulbs in my Acenta spec car are standard H4! So much for the online bulb selectors, I think the H9 are for cars with LED dipped beam cars?

feichin

Looking for recommendations for this also. The lights on the Leaf are crap!!!! both heads and dips.
There must be something out there that can improve the dismal range of light???

Orebro

The bulbs are pretty dire alright - really notice them these dark evenings.

I'm thinking of getting some Osram Night Breakers to see if they make any difference. I must pop out what is in there first though as I have no idea what is in there! These H4 ones should do the job

quenching

I've ordered some Philips X-treme Vision bulbs so I'll report back once they're in place. I've used them, and the Osram bulbs in other cars and they both improve things so hopefully they'll so the same for the Leaf.

goz83

Have a look at kceires thread “another new leaf owner” i think its called. He has a link to the Led bulbs a few of us bought from ebay. Includes led drls

quenching

goz83 wrote: »

Have a look at kceires thread “another new leaf owner” i think its called. He has a link to the Led bulbs a few of us bought from ebay. Includes led drls

I didn't think that included bulbs for dip/full beam headlights as his Tekna already has LED headlights. I've already replaced the DRLs with LEDs but its the normal headlights that could do with improving. I've seen LED "replacements" for standard H4 halogen bulbs but I'm not convinced yet by anything I've read, lots of them seem to have alignment/focusing problems.

Orebro

quenching wrote: »

I didn't think that included bulbs for dip/full beam headlights as his Tekna already has LED headlights. I've already replaced the DRLs with LEDs but its the normal headlights that could do with improving. I've seen LED "replacements" for standard H4 halogen bulbs but I'm not convinced yet by anything I've read, lots of them seem to have alignment/focusing problems.

I think the LED replacements are a disaster - you always know a car that has them coming against you as they spray light all over the place and are very blinding.

goz83

quenching wrote: »

I didn't think that included bulbs for dip/full beam headlights as his Tekna already has LED headlights. I've already replaced the DRLs with LEDs but its the normal headlights that could do with improving. I've seen LED "replacements" for standard H4 halogen bulbs but I'm not convinced yet by anything I've read, lots of them seem to have alignment/focusing problems.

Yes, you are correct. The Tekna comes with LED as standard. I also have a Tekna and upgraded the side lights and drls. I happen to have an acenta too and this has led mains which work perfectly. I had to upgrade the side lights and drls myself.

Orebro wrote: »

I think the LED replacements are a disaster - you always know a car that has them coming against you as they spray light all over the place and are very blinding.

They can be. But for cars that are designed for them, it’s fine. The Leaf light housing is designed for led bulbs and can take halogens too. The Mitsubishi fto is another good example. The VR spec had xenon headlights and the other specs had standard halogens which were really poor. The same housing was used in all models, so the other models could be upgraded to xenon.....but try tell that to an nct monkey with a flash light and a jump suit.

NIMAN

I had to take the Leaf to work this morning for the 1st time, and by Jez the lights are poor on that car in dark rural areas.

The nightbreakers are terrific , I had them in the Prius !

NIMAN

Nightbreakers?

Tell us more.

Edit: just had a search for them?
Are they worth buying for the Leaf?
What are they like to fit?

I never used them in the Leaf but had them in the Prius and they made a big difference and I almost forgot that I installed them in our old Honda CRV and also made a big difference.

In the Leaf I can't say, I have LED and Halogen High beam, haven't had to replace any bulbs so can't say about fitting.

I haven't had to replace a single bulb in nearly 3 years and 81,200 Kms !

NIMAN

Deleted User wrote: »

I never used them in the Leaf but had them in the Prius and they made a big difference and I almost forgot that I installed them in our old Honda CRV and also made a big difference.

In the Leaf I can't say, I have LED and Halogen High beam, haven't had to replace any bulbs so can't say about fitting.

I haven't had to replace a single bulb in nearly 3 years and 81,200 Kms !

I have a 2014 Tekna too, so am I meant to have good lights, cos I find them poor compared to my Golf.

I think the LED headlights in the Leaf are perfectly fine, the high beams are Halogen anyway which you can replace with better bulbs but I find the SVE/Tekns lights fine and I live in the sticks.

NIMAN

Deleted User wrote: »

I think the LED headlights in the Leaf are perfectly fine, the high beams are Halogen anyway which you can replace with better bulbs but I find the SVE/Tekns lights fine and I live in the sticks.

Maybe I need to visit Specsavers?

Perhaps, lol or it could be that what someone else thinks is fine the other does not like some people think the BOSE stereo sounds good I absolutely do not

NIMAN

The BOSE is worse than the headlights.

Yes the BOSE is absolutely terrible and they went with it again and probably will for the MK II.

peposhi

“Osram Nightbreaker +” for the win!

Had them in all my cars since 2004 apart from the last.
In the SV Leaf did make a difference but not as much as I would have liked to.
In the Audi was much, much better, but I had a friend with a Laguna who had both dipped and high beams with these bulbs ... it was like a day in front of the car

goz83

Deleted User wrote: »

Perhaps, lol or it could be that what someone else thinks is fine the other does not like some people think the BOSE stereo sounds good I absolutely do not

Seriously, could we stop the talk about the BOSE system? I’m starting to think you secretly love it.

goz83

goz83 wrote: »

Seriously, could we stop the talk about the BOSE system? I’m starting to think you secretly love it.

No !

goz83

Deleted User wrote: »

No !

Fine! When you wake up in the morning, you’ll not be wondering why you have TWO bose systems installed in your Leaf

Enjoy the superior sound quality twice as much :cool:

I tolerate it only because I have to ! :eek:

feichin

peposhi wrote: »

“Osram Nightbreaker +” for the win!

Had them in all my cars since 2004 apart from the last.
In the SV Leaf did make a difference but not as much as I would have liked to.
In the Audi was much, much better, but I had a friend with a Laguna who had both dipped and high beams with these bulbs ... it was like a day in front of the car

Just fitted two of these in a Leaf.
I'd have to agree with peposhi, they did make a difference but not as much as I would have liked, ie. they are still not as good as the wife's Corolla.
Having said that, they are now acceptable, whereas before they were borderline dangerous on unlit country roads.

NIMAN

Where did you order yours from?

Easy to fit?

feichin

Ordered from amazon (£15.74) so approx €18.
Ordered Saturday - Arrived tuesday.
Fitting took a bit of patience, but manageable. There is a spring clip that took a few attempts on both sides before I got it into place properly.
Probably took a half hour in total. I'm not a car DIY sort of person so anyone that is in to that sort of thing would probably do it a lot quicker.

zilog_jones

quenching wrote: »

Other than that PowerBulbs offer these PIAA bulbs with "up to 120% more light" , but I've never heard of them.

And they're expensive!

PIAA are a Japanese brand, and do a lot of motorsports-related lighting accessories. Never used their bulbs but I think the company are pretty highly regarded, I hear their wiper blades are supposed to be good too.

gunnerfitzy

I've got a 2015 Tekna/SVE.

The led dipped headlights seem okay (nothing more) however I feel that the halogen high beams are quite poor.

I would like to swap out the halogen high beam bulbs for leds. There are quite a few to choose from so I'd welcome any recommendations from those who have previously done this.

Never did this, I said I would when they blow but they haven't blown since I got the car , I find the LED headlights fine but the High beams not so good either.

Normally I wouldn't recommend LED's for dipped lights but they're fine for High beams because you will be turning them off when traffic approaches.

Stealthirl

I think Philips are the best iv used in most of my cars,mostly the 130% ones but there new 150% won the AE test recently

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/76760/best-car-headlight-bulbs-group-test

quenching

quenching wrote: »

I've ordered some Philips X-treme Vision bulbs so I'll report back once they're in place. I've used them, and the Osram bulbs in other cars and they both improve things so hopefully they'll so the same for the Leaf.

I fitted these over the weekend, they do improve things alright, enough to actually safely see things in front of the car but the Leaf headlights are still the poorest of any car I've ever owned. My '84 Mercedes is still much much better :eek:

Stealthirl

Might be worth getting the headlight alignment checked