Need better, brighter bulbs for USA DOT headlights

[mbzgurl]

Moderator edit: Copied this post from a different thread with new subject line.

Also, I'd like to get super bright headlamps. My eyes are sorta old and I like the road to be 'lit up' when I drive at night on the I-17 freeway through the mountains on my way to Sedona so I can go faster. Which ones are the the super bright light bulbs?

 

[gsxr]

Also, I'd like to get super bright headlamps. My eyes are sorta old and I like the road to be 'lit up' when I drive at night on the I-17 freeway through the mountains on my way to Sedona so I can go faster. Which ones are the the super bright light bulbs?

Do you have standard / stock USA headlights, or "Euro" headlights? The bulbs are completely different, need to know what you have before recommending anything. Also, are you looking for better low beams, better high beams, or both?

 

[mbzgurl]

Do you have standard / stock USA headlights, or "Euro" headlights? The bulbs are completely different, need to know what you have before recommending anything. Also, are you looking for better low beams, better high beams, or both?

Hey thanks for the info. You're the best!
I think my headlights are US bc they don't have the chrome insert. I got rid of the Xenon lights that came with the car. I need better low and high beams, the brighter the better.

 

[gsxr]

@mbzgurl - Do your headlights look like this, with a separate glass rectangle for the main lamp, and a plastic section close to the grille that also "frames" the glass rectangle?

 

[doolar]

If you have the Euro lights, then make sure that the reflectors and front glass lenses are good. When they are, if you put Osram Night Breakers or other high quality H4 bulbs in, the output from these lights are quite good to be honest. I was really surprised when I renewed the headlight lenses and put in Night Breakers in my previous E420, really impressive. I didn't think my headlight lenses were that bad, but boy was I wrong.

Our cars are 30 years or older now, and wear and tear over the decades slowly degrades stuff like this. It's quite difficult to see the how degraded a reflector is through a sand blasted headlight lens. Only when you have them side by side it's very visible.

 

[gsxr]

The USA DOT lights have funky 9004 (HB1) main bulbs... totally different than the Euro main bulb (H4). There are fewer options for the 9004 bulbs. I wanted to double check what lights mbzgurl has, to verify the needed bulb. And, the USA glass lens is not replaceable separately - need to replace the entire reflector+lens assembly, which is of course NLA new (as are the plastic lens/door/frame thingy).

The auxiliary high beam bulb is H3 for both USA and Euro.

It's a real shame all the lenses are NLA now, as it's not easy to fix this when you can't install new lenses (with Lamin-X protective film to keep them from getting sandblasted again).

 

[doolar]

Hopefully they will make a new batch of lenses, I really hope so. The left lens on my car is in excellent condition, the right one is way past its normal lifespan tbh. I have bought PPF for both that I will apply, hopefully before I get a stone chip (not Lamin-x though, I utterly refuse paying what they ask in Sweden, it’s borderline criminal).

 

[jhodg5ck]

Also, I'd like to get super bright headlamps. My eyes are sorta old and I like the road to be 'lit up' when I drive at night on the I-17 freeway through the mountains on my way to Sedona so I can go faster. Which ones are the the super bright light bulbs?

I'd look for LED's that have internal adjustable shrouds And an adjustable diode so you can change what direction the light is coming from in addition to covering the top to prevent unwanted scatter.

Stick with as LOW a kelvin as you can find, ideally 3000 or so..the super white/blue lights just look Silly IMHO (5k and up)

I had a hard time finding anything on Amazon but I did find more option on AliExpress. I have a couple sets I need to play with but haven't had the time yet.

 

[gerryvz]

Hopefully they will make a new batch of lenses, I really hope so. The left lens on my car is in excellent condition, the right one is way past its normal lifespan tbh. I have bought PPF for both that I will apply, hopefully before I get a stone chip (not Lamin-x though, I utterly refuse paying what they ask in Sweden, it’s borderline criminal).

I sell real Lamin-X + headlight and foglight templates for less than half what they sell same stuff for, FYI.

I have a thread for it in Parts for Sale. Happy to ship internationally.

 

[Mercedes>BMW]

Under glow neon helps to be seen too.

Everything seems to be NLA..

 

[73eldorado]

I have a 1995 R129 with US spec headlights that are notorious for being shite. A member of one of the facebook groups I'm on recommended a 9004 LED bulb from Auxito. Both of my Halogen bulbs died recently so I purchased a set off of Amazon. The short term review is 10 out of 10. The difference is quite impressive I actually had to readjust my headlights because I was getting flashed by oncoming traffic. I would prefer something less blue white (these are 6000K) but I'll take this over the old bulbs.

 

[gsxr]

The difference is quite impressive I actually had to readjust my headlights because I was getting flashed by oncoming traffic. I would prefer something less blue white (these are 6000K) but I'll take this over the old bulbs.

I've got the same problem (blinding oncoming traffic) with the Auxito H4 in my E420. And, I don't like the high color temp (blue/white). We can see better, but blinding other drivers is not good. A properly designed bulb wouldn't do this. I've been too lazy to look for a better solution. In the meantime I need to adjust the lamps downward and hopefully reduce the frequency of getting flashed.