Headlamp Bulbs

Info on parts and accessories for the Mégane II, what to use and where to buy them.

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GTDave
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Headlamp Bulbs

Postby GTDave » Sun Nov 02, 2008 3:27 pm

Have seen a few cars recently that have quite blue/white colour lights... fairly sure they arent HID systems as some of the cars I have seen with them would not have come with HID lights...

I know philips, osram and a few other manufacturers do normal bulbs that they claim give a brighter whiter light... just wondering if anyone has used any of these more expensive bulbs and what results they have had, as I dont want to spend £20+ to find out they look the same...

cheers
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby andywills » Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:27 am

i've got the osram night breakers in mine, with the blue uv side lights that give you the blue tint. paid £30 for main beams, dipped beams and side lights off ebay.

and you can really tell the difference

after seeing on here how much of a pig it is to change a lightbulb i decided to do the lot in one go
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A13XDT
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby A13XDT » Mon Nov 03, 2008 10:23 am

I've got the Phillips Blue Vision in mine. Came with the same colour side lights in the pack for £22 in Spares World. In my eyes they are well worth it, i've parked my car up against a mates megane with normal bulbs and certainly a lot crisper light. Makes the car look a bit more modern too.
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TheFinn
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby TheFinn » Mon Nov 03, 2008 5:50 pm

A light that burns twice as bright lasts half as long..... But this is clearly stated on the bulb's package (a stopwatch symbol that only does half a circle) so hopefully doesn't come as a surprise to anyone.

I once had brighter-than-standard Philips Power2Night 150+ H4 bulbs on my Twingo, and they didn't last long. Were a lot brighter, though. You'll just have to accept the shorter life span as an exchange, mind you these are the only LEGAL way to improve on the light output of the original headlights.

I currently have Osram Nightbreaker H7 as high beams on my Megane.
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby steve the postman » Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:23 pm

I had some PIAA extreme white lights in mine before the HID conversion
Good but not as good as the HID
Steve
1.5 DCI 86 EXTREME, TUNING BOX, DAB DIGITAL RADIO/DVD PLAYER, HID HEADLIGHTS, PIAA HORNS, GT LEATHER STEERING WHEEL.

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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby GTDave » Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:57 pm

Hmm... interesting...

I guess the other option is a HID conversion then... how... and howmuch???
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby steve the postman » Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:59 pm

Got mine off shiny autos £55
Bumper off lights out after marking garage wall for alignment
Bolt the control box on, cut hole in plastic cap bulbs put in
Re fit took me 2 hours for whole job
easy really
Steve
1.5 DCI 86 EXTREME, TUNING BOX, DAB DIGITAL RADIO/DVD PLAYER, HID HEADLIGHTS, PIAA HORNS, GT LEATHER STEERING WHEEL.

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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby busternlouie » Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:39 pm

steve the postman wrote:Got mine off shiny autos £55
Bumper off lights out after marking garage wall for alignment
Bolt the control box on, cut hole in plastic cap bulbs put in
Re fit took me 2 hours for whole job
easy really
Steve


What happens at MOT time, do they fail? What colour have you got fitted? I heard 6000k was the best but i like the look of 10000k.
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TheFinn
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby TheFinn » Thu Nov 06, 2008 4:42 pm

busternlouie wrote:I heard 6000k was the best


*nerd-mode on*
4300k is actually the best when it comes to light output. They output about 3200 lumens while 6000k "only" outputs 2800-2900 lumens. The higher the color temperature the less light output. IIRC 10000k is only a little above 2000 lumens. The cooler (=bluer) color they want to produce, the more tint they have to put on the glass, meaning that less light gets through the glass to the headlight's reflector.
*nerd-mode off*

Another benefit of 4300k is that they are slightly less "obvious" than 6000k or above, especially if you're fitting HIDs to a regular, non-projector headlight. 4300k is also the OEM color so the police or MOT might buy them, thinking your car came with xenons from the factory. But 6000k or cooler especially in a regular reflector-type headlight should be pretty obvious to anyone: that's definitely aftermarket.

I personally first had 8000k H7-socket HIDs with the Phase 1 reflector-type headlights: Still very good light output despite the high color temperature, but had to give them up as they obviously blinded other traffic. (Tip: if you're buying HIDs for the Phase 1 reflector-type headlights, accept only H7R-type bulbs that come with the glare cutoff sectors. They might not blend others as badly as regular H7-socket kits without the glare shield.)

Now the car has Phase 1 OEM xenon projector-type headlights with cheap generic Chinese 6000k bulbs (that also most of the aftermarket HID kits use). A very nice discreet blue hue to them, but I've still purchased some 4300k OEM Osram Xenarc quality bulbs to replace them to get the max. benefit from the xenons.
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busternlouie
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby busternlouie » Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:34 pm

Thanks for the info The Finn. Another thing, off topic, how the hell do you average 40.6mpg??? I struggle to get 24!!
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TheFinn
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby TheFinn » Fri Nov 07, 2008 3:59 pm

busternlouie wrote:Another thing, off topic, how the hell do you average 40.6mpg??? I struggle to get 24!!

I've a very light foot. :D I usually upshift at 2500 rpm when starting from the lights. TBH I've neglected updating the consumption info for the calculator, currently the car's own computer displays 7.5 l/100 km average (no idea what that is in MPG...) so it's gone worse recently. Probably something to do with the fact that e.g. spark plugs and air filter were last changed at a"big" service at 60.000 km, and now the car's done another 53.000 km since that. Plus maybe the fact that the massive 19" tyres weren't the most fuel efficient... :D I'm expecting the consumption to improve after the next big service at 120.000 km.
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steve the postman
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby steve the postman » Fri Nov 07, 2008 8:25 pm

Sorry for delay (work)
MOT only keep a car for 24-30 month so not a problem
Everything i do can be put back to original easily
If i cut something i buy a new panel and put them all on same shelf in garage
I have the 6000k bulbs in light output is increased loads but drive with them adjusted down so not to dazzle
Hope this helps Steve
1.5 DCI 86 EXTREME, TUNING BOX, DAB DIGITAL RADIO/DVD PLAYER, HID HEADLIGHTS, PIAA HORNS, GT LEATHER STEERING WHEEL.

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busternlouie
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby busternlouie » Mon Nov 10, 2008 8:13 pm

Where have you mounted the ballasts? Do the bulbs fit the headlamp units or did you have to cut them to fit?
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby TheFinn » Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:23 pm

busternlouie wrote:Where have you mounted the ballasts?


Not sure if you meant to ask Steve, but here's where I had my aftermarket ballasts fitted before removing them in favor of the OEM xenon system.

Lefthand side:

Image

Righthand side:

Image

Double-sided extra strong sticky tape kept them in place as I didn't want to drill any extra holes in the sheetmetal. On the LHS a hole in the ballast holder went around a protruding length of thread from the body as an extra backup. But the RHS had only tape and was fine, too.

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busternlouie
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Re: Headlamp Bulbs

Postby busternlouie » Thu Nov 13, 2008 6:10 pm

Thanks for the pics. Is it definately a bumper off job or can you get away not removing it?
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