The dipped beam on my wife's 65 plate 500C that she bought this summer is pathetic. I had no such issues with the 2011 500 I owned, although I did fit Osram Nightbreakers to improve the high beam on that car.
Part of the facelift that was done on the 500 a few years ago appears to have been to change the dipped beam lamp units from a conventional reflector to a "projector" style unit. Whoever signed off this "improvement" should be sacked.
The only legal way I can see to possibly improve things is to fit the brightest road legal bulbs I can find. Probably try some Philips X-treme vision when Eurocarparts opens tomorrow. Halfords only seem to stock their own branded bulbs.
I'll give feedback when I've tried them.

TrevC said:

Part of the facelift that was done on the 500 a few years ago appears to have been to change the dipped beam lamp units from a conventional reflector to a "projector" style unit. Whoever signed off this "improvement" should be sacked.

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I've yet to see a Halogen projector that works as well as a conventional reflector style, this suggests to me projector style units were always intended for HID, and cost cutting on cheaper cars in the range, using Halogens in the same/similar design simply fails to work? my Mazda's dip lights were dreadful main beam great, guess which type of design each are?

That's interesting, something to watch out for when I change cars. Certainly the projector units with HIDs on my 500X give excellent illumination.
Will try some brighter bulbs in my wife's little 500 anyway, can't make it worse!

I installed Phillips xtreme renina blasters in my 2008 500 which made a worthwhile difference. I then raised the beam slightly by adjusting the outside hex screw in each headlamp unit, 3 turns anti clockwise. So far so good and no complaints from oncoming traffic.

wardpaa said:

I installed Phillips xtreme renina blasters in my 2008 500 which made a worthwhile difference.

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I too use Philips Extreme +130% 55w Halogens in the wife's (59 plate) 500 and yes they're very good, life seems good too.

Well, I was passing an old fashioned car accessory shop yesterday, and on impulse bought some Ring bulbs that claim a 150% increase in light, and higher colour temperature. Unbelievably, I never had to change a dipped bulb in 6 years of owning my previous 500, and was impressed how easy it was - some cars bring forth colourful language!
Have yet to try them in anger yet.

Went out in the 500 last night with the Ring Xenon 150 bulbs fitted. A noticable improvement, the dipped beam projects much farther down the road. Remains to be seen whether they last well. A relatively cheap upgrade for £30 and 5 minutes. Eurocarparts sell Phillips or Osram equivalents for around £20, which probably give a similar hike in performance, but as I said above, I was passing a shop.