Thetomsk
Member
Halfords are doing a 2 for 1 sale on Bosch & Halford brand headlight bulbs.Ideal time to cheaply upgrade your lights for winter
Tomsk
Tomsk
General 2 for 1 headlight bulbs at Halfords.
- Thread starter Thetomsk
- Start date
Currently reading:
General 2 for 1 headlight bulbs at Halfords.
Sweetsixteen
Established member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2014
- Messages
- 1,109
- Points
- 205
If you're going to upgrade, go for Osram Nightbreaker Lasers - way ahead of standard replacements.
do they last in Panda's,
a friend had 1 last 54 weeks and the other last 56..( VAG junk)
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2009
- Messages
- 19,899
- Points
- 3,413
Get some cheap standby halogens. Replace the old bulbs with the latest LED bulbs. They have an external fan or heatsink so take care which type you choose.
Sweetsixteen
Established member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2014
- Messages
- 1,109
- Points
- 205
This is what I've recently learned:
Headlights and the components in them must by law be e-marked to prove conformity with the appropriate UNECE regulations that make up our lighting and Construction and Use laws.
To that end you cannot legally fit any kind of H7 lighting element that is not halogen. So no HID conversions or LED conversion using the original housing and bulb mounting is legal.
You can fit complete HID or LED conversions which include the entire headlight but again you need to comply with regulations. So for LED units that means headlight washers if output is above 2000 lumens. For HIDs headlight cleaning systems irrespective of output.
Finally light colour must be 'white' and as the K temperature goes higher the light colour tends to Blue. OEM are usually 4300K to 5000K. The 4300K is often more efficient and provides more light than higher K values.
The beauty of the Nightbreakers is that they are completely legal, and just plug and play. Mine are now almost three years old, fitted in three vehicles, without a failure. Having said that, they'll all blow next week!
Headlights and the components in them must by law be e-marked to prove conformity with the appropriate UNECE regulations that make up our lighting and Construction and Use laws.
To that end you cannot legally fit any kind of H7 lighting element that is not halogen. So no HID conversions or LED conversion using the original housing and bulb mounting is legal.
You can fit complete HID or LED conversions which include the entire headlight but again you need to comply with regulations. So for LED units that means headlight washers if output is above 2000 lumens. For HIDs headlight cleaning systems irrespective of output.
Finally light colour must be 'white' and as the K temperature goes higher the light colour tends to Blue. OEM are usually 4300K to 5000K. The 4300K is often more efficient and provides more light than higher K values.
The beauty of the Nightbreakers is that they are completely legal, and just plug and play. Mine are now almost three years old, fitted in three vehicles, without a failure. Having said that, they'll all blow next week!
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2009
- Messages
- 19,899
- Points
- 3,413
I have H7 HID-50 units in the bike headlight. They give at least 3x the light as the original halogens. Colour is 5000K. The usually available LEDs at 6000K are too blue and so are less effective. The human eye struggles to work at that level of blue.
I also have some LED spots that are 6000K. They do add to the main beam but regardless of the advertised lumens, 75% of the useful light comes from the HID.
Illegal? Maybe but the mot has never been a problem. The dipped cutoff is slightly less sharp but does not cause dazzle. I've never been flashed for causing dazzle.
BMW 1200 bikes like mine don't have quite enough angular separation between dipped and main beams. Rather than risk dazzling people I use the additional long range spots.
I also have some LED spots that are 6000K. They do add to the main beam but regardless of the advertised lumens, 75% of the useful light comes from the HID.
Illegal? Maybe but the mot has never been a problem. The dipped cutoff is slightly less sharp but does not cause dazzle. I've never been flashed for causing dazzle.
BMW 1200 bikes like mine don't have quite enough angular separation between dipped and main beams. Rather than risk dazzling people I use the additional long range spots.
Last edited:
Sweetsixteen
Established member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2014
- Messages
- 1,109
- Points
- 205
BMW 1200 - nice machine!
Hogs for me!
Hogs for me!
I wouldn't trust Halfords bulbs as far as I can chuck them. Massively overpriced, and last far less than any other brand.
As for the Bosch bulbs, they have a hell of a markup on them, so even at half price, they are still not cheap.
Ebay will be your best bet for decent bulbs, Osram Nightbreakers get excellent reviews and considered the best by a lot of motorists. If you're unsure of what to get, other members will happily recommend a decent set.
But, if you value the contents of your wallet, DON'T buy bulbs from halfords
As for the Bosch bulbs, they have a hell of a markup on them, so even at half price, they are still not cheap.
Ebay will be your best bet for decent bulbs, Osram Nightbreakers get excellent reviews and considered the best by a lot of motorists. If you're unsure of what to get, other members will happily recommend a decent set.
But, if you value the contents of your wallet, DON'T buy bulbs from halfords
do they last in Panda's,
a friend had 1 last 54 weeks and the other last 56..( VAG junk)
I don't think they last in anything; from what others have posted, they generally last about a year, or 52 weeks, whichever comes sooner
. They're also not that cheap, so the real question is whether you're prepared to replace a relatively expensive pair of bulbs annually in return for better lighting.I think it is probably more justifiable if you live in the countryside. It's cheaper than a deer strike.
Had 2 or 3 fairly near deer misses since the clocks went back, and there's an owl missing some tail feathers. An extra few yards of light means a lot in Norfolk lanes at night.
I do tend to stock up with H4s when they are on sale, usually Philips WhiteVision or Osram Nightbreakers.
The second generation bulbs seem to be lasting a lot better (nearly 2 years so far) than the early ones (7-18 months).
Most of the budget brighter bulbs I have bought struggle for 6 winter months.
Had 2 or 3 fairly near deer misses since the clocks went back, and there's an owl missing some tail feathers. An extra few yards of light means a lot in Norfolk lanes at night.
I do tend to stock up with H4s when they are on sale, usually Philips WhiteVision or Osram Nightbreakers.
The second generation bulbs seem to be lasting a lot better (nearly 2 years so far) than the early ones (7-18 months).
Most of the budget brighter bulbs I have bought struggle for 6 winter months.
Last edited:
The cheap ones just blow, usually on a wet night when miles from home.
A couple of them had cracked glass. I suspect they failed by coming into contact with moisture.
The Philips and Osram ones haven't gone yet, but don't seem dimmer than when new.
The standard ones I took out of my 1.2 gave out very yellow light, and not much of it.
A couple of them had cracked glass. I suspect they failed by coming into contact with moisture.
The Philips and Osram ones haven't gone yet, but don't seem dimmer than when new.
The standard ones I took out of my 1.2 gave out very yellow light, and not much of it.
I'm hoping Ford's OEM bulbs came from the same factory as yours. My Mondeo has 5 halogen bulbs each side, and some of them swivel! That's about £200 of premium bulbs at full price. Don't even want to think how much of a b***h they will be to change when the time comes.
Ouch!
Ouch!
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2009
- Messages
- 19,899
- Points
- 3,413
My bike with one headlight and HID bulb puts considerably more light down the road than the car does. Main beam come on with dip rather than switching out the dip beam.
Add in the two narrow beam spots and night time driving is a joy. The HID has a slight delay compared to instant on LEDs but the volume of light is huge. The LEDs make up for the delay and the headlight having to be set slightly low to avoid dazzle when on dipped beam.
Add in the two narrow beam spots and night time driving is a joy. The HID has a slight delay compared to instant on LEDs but the volume of light is huge. The LEDs make up for the delay and the headlight having to be set slightly low to avoid dazzle when on dipped beam.
