Im gonna buy new bulbs for my 1997 960 to give them that white/bluish tint at night. Does anyone know what size i have to get? Also, if anyone has any suggestions of what brand of bulb would be good or anything like that, your feedback is appreciated here. Thanks guys
Your car's stock headlights and auxiliary lights are just fine for safe driving. If you "upgrade" the bulbs be careful about pulling too much power through the wiring, relays, switches and harness connections.
My stock headlights are fine right now, i just prefer the bluish/white colored lights to the standard yellow tint, and it'll also make my car stand out on the road. Anyway, how will i know the right wattage of bulb to get. In my drivers manual, it says that the current bulb's "power" is 65/45W. Does that mean that i get a bulb between 65 and 45 Watts? Also, the bulbs i looked at were broken down into sizes. My manual only gave the bulb's "trade no." which is HBI/9004. Is there a way to tell what size bulb i need from this number (maybe like a tire's size)?
Any 9004 will fit. When you get into the 80-100W area the electrical connections will begin to stink when the headlights are on and the relays may falter. Don't ask why I know this.
I've had the Silver Stars (Blue Tint) ($20 each) in my 740 and although the light was whiter, the quality of the light wasn't as good as the high powered clear lens bulbs. Also the life of the bulbs was about 15 months compared to normal 3 to 4 years on the old regular Halogens. I can't tell you how long the Extra Visions ($9 each) in there are going to last since they are only 9 months old. I like these head lights a lot better than stock halogens or the Silver Stars.
I pulled the old bulbs out of my 97 960 and replaced them with new Extra Vision bulbs and was surprised by how much brighter they were over the bulbs that were in the car than when I bought it (Jan 05 - 66k miles). They may have been the original bulbs who knows.
alright, i looked up in my manual again and found what i was looking for. It says that 9005 at 70W are my brights and 9006 at 60W are my low beams. I like the range my lights give me now so i think ill stick with those wattages (i also don't want my electrical lines to stink
). Also, do the bulbs come in single packs or packs of two ($20 per bulb sounds kinda steep).
Finally! I decided to just ride over to Advanced Auto Zone and the guys there helped me out. I bought some Sylvania Silverstars (low and high beams). They work great. I just put them in today, but even in the daylight it's so easy to tell they are much brighter. The slight color they give off when lit is pretty sweet, but for the most part, the light is blindingly white. So good. Can't wait till night time. Teehee.
The Sylvania Silverstars are nice but they don't put out a lot of usuable light.
Next time try a pair of Osram Silverstars from Europe. The brightest stock wattage bulb with the best output around. You can find them on the web here in the states.
i guess ill try them out next time i need some bulbs. Thanks man.
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