Bulb "upgrades"

[s2avant95M]

I was thinking of getting a HID kit but was wondering if anybody had any comments/experience with buying alternative bulbs to the oem versions, such as can be bought from powerbulbs . i got there web address from last months audi driver.

[dan_b]

In my opinion, just do the HID kit. I changed mine to HID last autumn and the difference is fantastic. No complaints, and it's a straightforward task: took me about 3 hours.
One thing I did do was to change the sidelights/and H1s (my HID kit was an H4 as I don't have the later projector-style lenses) to the more "blue" coloured bulbs available just to make the colour match a bit more closely.

[mcandmar]

For normal bulbs i bought a set of the Osram Silver Stars to try and they were so good i ended up replacing the full beams and fog lights with them too.

There basically a standard bulb, except they are pure white as opposed to the yellow hue normal bulbs give out. The only reason i bought them was all the other options give a blue light which personally i dont like.

Would be curious to hear peoples opinions on the HID kits, We have an S4 with the projector lights and we find them utterly useless, almost dangerous there so bad.

Mark.

[s2avant95M]

Yes, a HID kit would be nice, of course, im just wondering whether the price difference/performance is worth it compared to these bulbs.

[dan_b]

My HID kit is great, I can now see in the dark, whereas before I couldn't, that's all there is to it. The "blue" colour is not really noticable either, only when the bulbs are warming up, or you compare it directly with an old filament bulb then you'll notice the latter is distinctly yellow.

[Pete_RS2]

HIDs make a big difference to appearance & light output. IMO uprated halogen based bulbs do not. I tried a lot of the PIAA bulbs (Extreme White, Super Plasma, etc) and when compared with HID they made very little difference to a standard halogen bulb. The only ones which came close to the HID look were Plasma Blue Spark. All the others still look yellow.

[martinjs]

My setup differs to the vagparts kit.
Im using these bulbs... http://www.powerbulbs.co.uk/product....=any&PT_ID=all

Got the kit from ebay.de, bulbs, ballasts, igniters and all wiring for £160.
But its not exactly 'plug and play', you have to take your lamps to bits to fit different seats for the bulbs. It wasnt such a problem though.
The results are awesome. In fact turning on the main beam doesnt have much effect.
Haven't had any autocheck beeps.

This is on an 'ellipsoided' 3B, btw.

[dan_b]

Ultimately, the only real way to get more light output from a filament bulb is going to be to increase the wattage, which is not a good idea. Go HID

[ericd]

I was thinking of getting a HID kit but was wondering if anybody had any comments/experience with buying alternative bulbs to the oem versions, such as can be bought from powerbulbs . i got there web address from last months audi driver.

I've used the powerbulbs website for a few years now (used to be called something else back then), great service usually next day delivery, plus free Philips wedge bulbs for the sidelights last time I ordered.

I've used the Philips Vision Plus or more recently the Osram Silver star , I never fancied the HID setup and I realise it's better, but spending around £40 to update the bulbs and a quick check/adjustment of the beam alignment is still a whole lot better than what you get as standard..


HTH