I see many of you have changed the front headlights into the "blue bulb" xeon headlights. I am considering doing this but I wanted to know what kind of bulbs people have had sucess with. The brights still operate normally if you change the bulbs right? or is there a special type of "2 way" bulb.

Thanks
Nicole

GG EX 4WD

[quote:22988fa802="dreamskape"]I see many of you have changed the front headlights into the "blue bulb" xeon headlights. I am considering doing this but I wanted to know what kind of bulbs people have had sucess with. The brights still operate normally if you change the bulbs right? or is there a special type of "2 way" bulb.

Thanks
Nicole

GG EX 4WD[/quote:22988fa802]

the element uses H4 bulbs that have 2 filaments, one for high beam one for low beam contained in the same bulb... i replaced mine with 80w hyper whites and it's works fine.

I used Sylvania Silverstars, and have been very impressed. I think H4 bulbs have integrated hibeams, so you don't need to worry about that.

did mine the other day ..
sylvania silverstar..
one bulb has high n low inside

took about 10 minutes..
well

had to drink a beer in between
the passenger side should be first.. so you will know what you are doing..

the driver side is blocked a little by an air intake..you can remove.. and the battery
you work a little blind
it was easy though
and ...they are bright @@!!!!!

A few questions -

Do you find that people flash their brights at you or honk or flip you off because of the increased brightness?

Do you find there's a positive difference in your visibility at night?

Do you find there are any drawbacks to them?

How much did they cost?

Thanks!

I bought a couple Sylvania Silverstars at Pep Boys for $24.99 each (9003 ST). Easy install although the driver side is a little awkward. I didn't remove anything and had no real difficulty. Do the passenger side first, as was mentioned by others, so you know the steps. It's a 10 minute project.

These bulbs are selling like hotcakes - but unfortunately few people install them correctly. If you throw a xenon bulb into your stock housing, you're diffusing the beam just like a normal "yellow" bulb. This is what most people complain about when you hear gripes about blue bulbs.

Proper installation costs much more than $25, because you need a new housing that focuses the beam into a very narrow path. Also, you should have a leveller, which directs the beam down. Both these things are for the sake of other drivers, to keep the intense beam on your path and out of their vision. There are manually adjusted levellers and auto-adjusting.

Properly installed HIDs will produce less glare and better driver illumination than regular bulbs. However, few people do it right because the costs are typically upwards of $500 for DIY, a grand or so for a shop to do it.

Since the Elements head lamps are up so high, you should expect to blind everyone in your path. You might as well just flick on your brights.

True HID lamps are not able to be swapped out 1:1. The Sylvania Silverstars, Cool Blue, and other direct replacement bulbs are not xenon and are not HID. There's a reason the option costs $500 on BMW, Mini, etc. not just based on profit. True xenon HID requires high voltage and self leveling system to prevent blinding oncoming traffic.

I changed to the Silverstars and I like that the light is bright white, not yellow. I have not had any issue with oncoming traffic being confused about how bright they are. While they are definitely brighter than the OEM bulbs, they are not so bright that they get other drivers PO'd at you.

If you get a lot of ppl flashing brights at you, then you should check the leveling of the headlight assy. Note that your lights will appear brighter to oncming traffic if you have a heavy load in the rear that causes your E to ride lower in the back which points the headlights up slightly.

[quote:e1c622c126="TheLusciousHellcat"]

Do you find there are any drawbacks to them?

Thanks![/quote:e1c622c126]

Only one.

I put in a couple of 80w "xenon-type" bulbs and have found that they introduce a small (but noticable) amount of alternator whine when the lights are on and the radio is turned down.

Take the bulbs out and replace with stock and the noise goes away. :?

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/announce/press/pressdisplay.cfm?year=2003&filename=pr21-03.html

You may want to make sure that you're legal.

I replaced the 55/60 watt bulbs with 80/100's for only CDN $ 14.95
a piece. The white PIAA bulbs were an incredible CDN 110.00 for
the pair. Rip-off !!!!
The same bulbs I use on my Mercedes for a few years now and I never
had anybody flash their head lights at me because they are too bright.

Wolfgang