The E uses 9004 bulbs which I believe are the same as H4.
If you want bright without going HID, get the SilverStar Ultra bulbs. Just be prepared to replace them more often than the standard halogen bulbs because they do burn up faster.
If you want to go bright, go HID. I just did the conversion and it wasn't as expensive as you'd think. A full drop-in replacement kit only ran me about $80 shipped and then you have the choice of color temperature and intensity. The kit I purchased can work with both 35W and 55W bulbs and has a number of colors. Check out the thread at
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61986 and you'll get a really good idea of the work that's involved and how much it will cost.
Trust me that you'll be much happier with the HID upgrade than with replacing really expensive SilverStar Ultra bulbs. After two pairs of SilverStars you could have purchased a HID kit anyway.