And the lord said let there be....

[BER-LINGO]

light!

Actually, to be more specific... bulbs!

We live in a very dark part of the UK and our standard bulbs are cack! So looking for recommendations for the best, brightest headlight bulbs. Someone mentioned Osram Nightbreakers, but Ive no experience of them. Not sure if LED is an option? Not looking to spend loads on big kits and want to stay within legal parameters.

Any recommendations would be appreciated...? Ta.

[boop]

Nightbreakers are legal.

Philips Ultinon p6000 LED are not legal in the UK but are so in Germany, certified for use in the K9 Berlingo.

[BER-LINGO]

Looking on ebay at LED, there are literally millions of different makes and types. How your supposed to know whats best is crazy.

I want bright white light, but I want the bulbs to throw a beam further than a standard bulb. Osram Nightbreaker are probably the best halogen bulb outhere, but Ive been told LED is miles better than them. Some give errors on CANbus etc. Wish I knew what that meant haha!.

Maybe I should think of adding some spotlights in addition, dont know.. Anyone 'enlighten' me further..?

[Matt Haigh]

I understand that the reason LED lights aren't approved in these applications is because the light from them isn't correctly focussed and dipped as it is would be with the standard halogen bulbs, which makes the LED bulbs illegal in these applications no matter what the advertisers say. They may also cause problems with the Car Area Network (CAN) that controls the light.
The Osram Nightbreakers and some competitor brands do provide increased light output and range while maintaining correct dipped beam cut-off and are legal, the compromise is slightly reduced life and this is clearly explained on the Osram website.
I've used Nightbreakers on 2 B9's and current K9 and have been satisfied with the results.

[BER-LINGO]

Ok so I went with the Osram Nightbreakers 200%.

Marked improvments to say the least. Better for beam, brightness and colour. But I would recommend complimenting the them with blue 6000k side lights for brighter whiter light.

Pics are side lights, main beam and full beam.

Hope this helps...

[ffrenchie]

Ok so I went with the Osram Nightbreakers 200%.

Marked improvments to say the least. Better for beam, brightness and colour. But I would recommend complimenting the them with blue 6000k side lights for brighter whiter light.

Pics are side lights, main beam and full beam.

Hope this helps...

Dip and main ? Sidelights only get used for parking these days.

[Drummond]

With hotter bulbs, beware the headlight reflectors. Mine were already burned black above the bulb from the first owner. Despite rather low mileage and car being otherwise bone stock (i.e. the lady owner probably not did not have upgraded bulbs).

[Sol]

The thing is, that legal bulbs no matter what they do, or a called, are 65W max. The non road legal ones are 80W to 100W and as @Drummond says can melt the modern plastic headlights as well as stress the wiring.

Even the night breaker 200s which I personally like a lot, are still 65W. The trick is to get more light output and less heat. Enter the laws of physics which unfortunately means that Watts is Watts. Power without heat is not possible.

As the other Scotty would say "ye canny bend the laws o' physics captain"

[BER-LINGO]

Nightbreaker 200 are nominal 60/55w @ 12v as required OEM.

As an engineer, Id never fit stupid wattage bulbs for many reasons. The reason for trying these bulbs is over time, the original bulbs had become so fatigued that light was very poor. These offer brighter lux through light colour filter design rather than power.

I can only speak for myself here. They are obviously only used at night in winter moreso, and I do approx 6000k miles per year, mostly summer. So with minimal use, Im not concerned about heat dissapation, especially at current external temps lol. Im happy with them..

[Sol]

Sorry yes 55/60w of course. Those nightbreakers are good and they don't cause extra heat but there are Osram "off road" bulbs available off the shelf at 80-100w, those were what I was referring to.