# Which headlight bulb



## Ratchet (Dec 30, 2011)

Looking to upgrade from a standard bulb, to something that gives a whiter, brighter light, which gives me a clearer view ahead, as the bulb I have in at present seem to give poor vision at night.

So far I'm torn between 3 options, and though maybe yo could be of help.


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

Osram nightbreakers


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## gregb (Feb 1, 2009)

HID conversion assuming you've got projector headlamps, vast improvement. You can even see the road ahead :lol:


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## Hasan1 (Jul 1, 2011)

I've only used Osram nightbreakers so I have to say them


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## Blackroc (Dec 10, 2012)

Ring Xenon Max 120s - very good bulb


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## jlw41 (Jun 5, 2011)

Only used the Osram and Philips, but IMO the Osrams are much better :thumb:


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## IanG (Nov 21, 2007)

Used the Philips Xtreme 100% and the Ring 120% and the Ring just edge it for me


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## DJ X-Ray (Sep 2, 2012)

I've used all three and they are all good,but i prefer the Nightbreaker Plus.Tbh you can't go wrong with either of the three though


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## Callummarshall (Oct 19, 2012)

Had the night breakers but just changed to the phillips would say the phillips has the edge, just. although im not sure they are worth the extra over the night breakers.


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## rob3rto (May 23, 2007)

Osram Nightbreaker Plus H7 on EuroCarParts' eBay are £12.50, free delivery AND you get a free Osram torch.


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

rob3rto said:


> Osram Nightbreaker Plus H7 on EuroCarParts' eBay are £12.50, free delivery AND you get a free Osram torch.


Linky??


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## DJ X-Ray (Sep 2, 2012)

Comes up @ 17.99 for me without link


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## Ratchet (Dec 30, 2011)

rob3rto said:


> Osram Nightbreaker Plus H7 on EuroCarParts' eBay are £12.50, free delivery AND you get a free Osram torch.


Thanks, just had look and don't have any H4 which is what I need.


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## streaky (Dec 2, 2006)

Phillips extreme for me. Fitted some to my T5 van which have notoriously poor lighting and it has transformed night time driving. Two mates who have had the same van for a lot longer than I have also changed to these and are very impressed.


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## Ratchet (Dec 30, 2011)

streaky said:


> Phillips extreme for me. Fitted some to my T5 van which have notoriously poor lighting and it has transformed night time driving. Two mates who have had the same van for a lot longer than I have also changed to these and are very impressed.


How long you had them in for?


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## Vossman (Aug 5, 2010)

Osram Nightbreaker Plus H7 on EuroCarParts - I got them in November on offer with the torch, two sets of H7 cost me 17 quid, I think that offer has expired now though.

Brilliant bulbs though.


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

I've fitted all 3 brands to previous cars and they all offer an improvement over a standard bulb..obviously!

All much of a muchness in my opinion and also depends on what car your fitting them too. 
For example the difference when fitting to my old E46 was night & day (excuse the pun)
Skoda Octavia mk2 less noticeable!

Currently running the Ring +120 in the Mondeo.

I think a more important factor than which bulbs you buy is once you've fitted 'x' bulbs that you get the car on an MOT beam tester to make sure they're pointing in the right direction & are at the right height etc

:thumb:


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## Ratchet (Dec 30, 2011)

Chris_Z4 said:


> I've fitted all 3 brands to previous cars and they all offer an improvement over a standard bulb..obviously!
> 
> All much of a muchness in my opinion and also depends on what car your fitting them too.
> For example the difference when fitting to my old E46 was night & day (excuse the pun)
> ...


Cheers fella, :thumb:.

Will be going in my C2 VTS, which has not long been test so alignment is spot on, but that is a valuable point thank you.


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## rob3rto (May 23, 2007)

Vossman said:


> Osram Nightbreaker Plus H7 on EuroCarParts - I got them in November on offer with the torch, two sets of H7 cost me 17 quid, I think that offer has expired now though.
> 
> Brilliant bulbs though.


Post #10  but £12.50 a set.


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

tbh i have tried various philips and now have osram night breaker plus's as i havent been able to have the two together to compare i dont think you would really be able to tell the difference that much if i put a set in and asked which are these no one would be able to tell me. id go with which ever is cheapest imho


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## gti fly (May 19, 2011)

on my Fabia I've used both Nightbreakers and Extreme Vision.


IF you get nightbreakers, make sure it's the PLUS version. The original Nightbreakers only ever lasted me 6months or less...

But in terms of power, both nightbreaker+ and extremevision were very good over the bulbs that came with my car when I bought it.


Either get my vote.



Currently using the Phillips Extreme ones (touch wood, 12months or more and still going strong)


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## spursfan (Aug 4, 2009)

gti fly said:


> on my Fabia I've used both Nightbreakers and Extreme Vision.
> 
> IF you get nightbreakers, make sure it's the PLUS version. The original Nightbreakers only ever lasted me 6months or less...
> 
> ...


Also have the Phillips extremes and they have lasted 3 years now, that's good value i reckon.


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## bero1306 (Jan 24, 2011)

Im using Osram Hypers and they are very white with a hint of blue.


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

I use the Phillips xtreme visions and find them much better than standards. 
I dont find them that white but I did have hids which made the headlights superb but due to mot regs I changed to the Phillips. 

They are certainly better than standard bulbs though


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## DeeTailer (Aug 13, 2009)

I've just swapped my H4 Philips Extreme Vision and fitted new Osram Nightbreaker plus in my wife's Yaris.

Theee was a definate noticeable brightness improvement - but that's possibly just because the old bulbs were 2-3 yars old and the light output of any bulb does drop off after time.

As others say - you can't really go wrong with any of these three options - they always come out in the top 3 of any tests - just with the order varying from time to time...

Interestingly, one of the headlights did need readjusting after fitting the nightbreaker pluses, which I've never had before with any other bulb - the flat part of the beam was at a different level in one light from the other despite how much I jiggled the bulbs to make sure they was fitted properly into the headlight housing...

But still very happy with my new H4 Nightbreaker pluses....


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## Rodriguez (Apr 5, 2011)

I'm thinking about buying Nightbreaker Plus. What side/parking lamp do you use with them.


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Rodriguez said:


> I'm thinking about buying Nightbreaker Plus. What side/parking lamp do you use with them.


Just white Led ones that I got off eBay.


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## Rodriguez (Apr 5, 2011)

I need a W5W lamp, not led.


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Rodriguez said:


> I need a W5W lamp, not led.


I also use W5W or T10 etc
Why not Led?
I don't think you will get a decent white sidelight from a conventional bulb


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## R5 MEE (Oct 14, 2011)

Using NB+ for the last 2 years without any problems but interested in the ring version if only I knew what they were 120% of


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## pug207 (Jun 22, 2012)

only used night breakers out of this lot. found them far superior to standard bulbs, much whiter and brighter. you wont be dissapointed.


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## mr v6 (Jun 29, 2007)

Be careful with some of these bulbs. They may burn brighter & whiter, but check the manufacturers website & bulb packaging, the life of the bulb is somewhat a lot shorter.

Osram, for example.


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

I have Osram Night breaker plus. They're pretty good.
They were £11 for H1 bulbs from Amazon.



Dannbodge said:


> I also use W5W or T10 etc
> Why not Led?
> I don't think you will get a decent white sidelight from a conventional bulb


I tried LED sidelights, they lasted about 30 seconds. They made my other lights look really yellow and crap.


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## shaqs77 (Jun 10, 2008)

Ring automotive 110%


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## bero1306 (Jan 24, 2011)

Ive just changed every bulb in my car. Osram Hypers in Main & low beam + Fogs. Osram Ledriving in side and number plate & White LEDs in every interior bulb inc puddle lamps. 24 bulbs.


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## josadler (Jul 14, 2010)

Osram Nightbreaker Plus 1534 Lm
Osram Off-Road 'Super Bright', H765W 2100 Lm
4300K Xenon 3200 Lm


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## streaky (Dec 2, 2006)

Ratchet said:


> How long you had them in for?


Had them in for just over the year so far


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Philips ones in the Mini are very good not tried the others


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

PugIain said:


> I have Osram Night breaker plus. They're pretty good.
> They were £11 for H1 bulbs from Amazon.
> 
> I tried LED sidelights, they lasted about 30 seconds. They made my other lights look really yellow and crap.


That's odd. Mine are still going strong after 3 years


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## WP-UK (Apr 24, 2011)

I use Phillips Diamond vision which I find very good. Would be interesting to see some comparison shots.


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=247688&page=4&highlight=osram
Check out post 35.


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## ON3 Z3RO (Dec 12, 2011)

I bought two pairs of Nightbreaker Plus bulbs last year to upgrade my dip and main beams. Initially I was impressed with the extra brightness over the standard fit bulbs, although after a few days actual use it didn't seem to be that much better.

However, within a week of fairly light use I noticed a slight discolouring of the reflector dishes directly above the bulbs that I'm sure was not there before. It appears that despite Osrams claims, the bulbs do produce more heat than standard bulbs and this has caused discolouring and loss of reflectivity on my reflector dishes.

I've put the original ones back in and the discolouring has not got any worse since. I had it checked at a recent MOT and the light intensity, spread and pattern was perfectly fine, but if I had left the Osrams in then over time it might have caused enough loss of reflectivity to fail an MOT.

Personally, I would steer clear of these bulbs, or any of the other 100%+ brighter bulbs, unless you car was designed to take these sort of bulbs as standard. I understand that different filament types and gasses inside the bulbs can produce a brighter and whiter light, but surely they all must produce more heat too if there's simply more energy released?


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## Rodriguez (Apr 5, 2011)

Dannbodge said:


> I also use W5W or T10 etc
> Why not Led?
> I don't think you will get a decent white sidelight from a conventional bulb


Not every cars are ready for led lamps, am I right?


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## IanG (Nov 21, 2007)

IanG said:


> Used the Philips Xtreme 100% and the Ring 120% and the Ring just edge it for me


And one of the Ring 120% bulbs went last night after less than two months 

Back to Philips Xtreme 100% for me


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## millns84 (Jul 5, 2009)

IanG said:


> And one of the Ring 120% bulbs went last night after less than two months
> 
> Back to Philips Xtreme 100% for me


They've got a year's guarantee haven't they?


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## IanG (Nov 21, 2007)

millns84 said:


> They've got a year's guarantee haven't they?


Bought them from a popular auction site and seller no longer active and could try dealing direct with Ring but need to get them sorted asap

And as I drive on a lot of unlit country roads need to get the bulbs changed today

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## millns84 (Jul 5, 2009)

Fair enough mate. 

I had Ring Xenon Max in my old car for around 18 months with no issues. Might have just been a bad bulb...


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