Hi there

Sweden is dark at wintertime, and beeing a rather new owner of a Marea 2.0 20v estate I get to see this with my very eyes... the main lights and full beam is really... lousy! I am thinking of fitting "auxillary headlights" from HELLA but was thinking perhaps I could do without the beautifully styled front of the car cluttered with ugly rallye 3000s?

SO... Can I fit 100w H1 bulbs in low and high beam, without any damage or risk of damage to either reflectors, glass or wiring? If not, can anyone supply pictures of aux light install that acutually look good? Also I have been thinking of HID conversion as the prices for this start to drop, but really, is there any real difference in "viewability" of the wet roads?

Cheers,

Tomas

a 4300k hid kit should light the road hell of alot more.

I think spots would be better for the conditions you will be facing, all my sweedish friends use spots, but i know what you mean about not looking so great.

The good thing is spots dont need to compliy with local regulations like headlights do, and 100w bulbs... might damage your loom/reflectors etc.

HIDs would be a good compromise, the legality over here is a bit of a sticky issue on cars without automatic self levelers, (rather than those on the marea's etc, manual level control).

Don't go for 100W bulbs - they'll melt the plastic reflectors and boil the loom.

If you really have to, go either for +something bulbs (like the new +90% Osram Night Breaker, Philips Extreme +80%, or the cheap Tungsram +60%) or get yourself a set of HIDs. The latter option is not so expensive and REALLY pays off (I know what I am saying, I have them).

First off upgrade your wiring, as there will be a big voltage drop by the time it gets to your headlights. Then consider changing the bulbs.

Yeah that!

Fitting relays to power the lamps straight from the accu is not a bad Idea either!

soopahfly said:

First off upgrade your wiring, as there will be a big voltage drop by the time it gets to your headlights. Then consider changing the bulbs.

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I would get a multimeter and check this as no point spending huge amounts of cash and time when its sitting at a decent voltage level.

Hi guys

Thanks for all you tips on this issue. I reckon putting 100w bulbs in there would be too hot yes, as I remember now that my old Volvo 240 had some issues with reflectors fading and glass dimmin when I had too hot bulbs in there... could be from finger-fat sticking to glass when i changed them and then the fat boils and turns to gas and sticks to the reflectors...

Anyhow I have been checking for HID-lights for a while here now, and they seem to be around 1350 SEK (£105-ish)for a H7 set (half beam) at 35W. Thinking about selling the car at break of spring, so it seems a bit too much. Guess I'll go for "stronger shining" standard H7-55w bulbs instead. Problem is they're so frikkin expensive! £10 for a single bulb! Not many changes later and I'll have my HID kit... to replace all 4 H7 bulbs would be £35-40 and then pronto that's almost half of a decent HID kit!

The brighter shining bulbs you're referring to, how about lifetime? Do they "shine bright and short" as opposed to regular bulbs? If I have to ch
ange all 4 within 6 months, well hey, then there's my HID kit right there...

New plans inlude a steel plate behind front regplate and a "light ramp"... Hm, if I wait long enough, soon spring and brigther days will be here

Think there H1 not H7 (Volvo's H7 if thats what your thinking), as for lasting i've had the philips 50+ bulbs in both my Bravo HGT and my Volvo S40 for well over a year now with no probs... so a good bulb will be bright and last the test of time, chepo ones might not...

Also never ever touch the glass on a headlight bulb, if you do clean it with a lint free cloth as its an easy way to burn them out quick.

good bulb is halfords super brilliance, they are buy one get one free here too
i fitted one on one side and left the standard one in on the other and the difference is noticable.

had them the philips ones are better..

TBMonsen said:

Anyhow I have been checking for HID-lights for a while here now, and they seem to be around 1350 SEK (£105-ish)for a H7 set (half beam) at 35W.

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Check again - one thing they're getting cheaper with time, second H1 bulbs are cheaper than H7 and you need H1.

Once you fit HIDs, adjust them well and that's it. I don't think you'll use high beam again. Also - it would double your cost in a Marea - high beam is a separate bulb.

TBMonsen said:

The brighter shining bulbs you're referring to, how about lifetime? Do they "shine bright and short" as opposed to regular bulbs? If I have to ch
ange all 4 within 6 months, well hey, then there's my HID kit right there...

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The "Extra" bulbs are supposed to live shorter - I had these cheapo Tungsram +60 bulbs on my Marea and they lasted for 1.5 years (until I installed HIDs), shining bright and well.

unonumero said:

good bulb is halfords super brilliance

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Do they have halfords in Sweden? I don't think so.

HId is the way to go

Tomasso said:

Check again - one thing they're getting cheaper with time, second H1 bulbs are cheaper than H7 and you need H1.

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You're absolutely correct, I've mixed the notations up. H1, not H7. I'll check again... £100 is okay I guess for a lot better lighting. Hopefully I won't get disappointed...

I've just noticed my Marea has 100w Main beam bulbs fitted. should I change them. The cars has HID kits fitted for dipped beam, not my idea came like that.

£10-12 for philips vision plus over here on H1 to be delivered... i ordered another set last night for a friends car.. thats about 4 i've installed now everyone happy... obviously it might be dearer over there. But HIDs are the way to go if you want to splash the cash.

Defo - and check for possible damage.

yipes