H4 Bulbs

[picklebpaul]

Anyone have experience with Osram's 70/65 H4 bulb? I've been running a Philips 100/55 in a 83 R65 and just burned out a PIAA in a 87 R80.  I have not upgraded with a relay, yet.  Here's a link to a lighting source: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

[Bob_Roller]

Thanks for the link, I've been looking for replacement lamps for the PIAA, and Phillips, I've been using for about the last 5 years.
 
I havn't been real satisfied because of the 'glare' aspect of the upgraded blue tinted lamps.

What kind of service life are you getting out the aftermarket lamps ?

I get about 24 months on the H4's, and 18 months on the H3's.

[picklebpaul]

The PIAA  60/55 Super White(with a blue coating) was not that great.  The light output was not as good as claimed and notably worse during wet weather. The low beam burned out around 7000 miles. The 100/55 Philips is a different story. The light output on high is a definite improvement over a standard bulb. The stock wiring has handled the extra load of the 100W high beam just fine, however, I have not run it for any long periods of time. A relay would be good insurance. 25000 miles and counting on this bulb.

The 'Tech" section of DanielSternLighting has some good information under the 'Bulb' section regarding blue lights superwhites etc. I've  been educated on the value of upgrading the stock systems with a relay kit (Eastern Beaver from a previous thread... thank you very much) and, again, DanielStern's 'Tech' Relay section. Never thought about upgrading my car with a relay, as well,  but it appears to be something to think about.

[Bob_Roller]

I've been using the PIAA 'Superwhite', and the Phillips 'Silverstar', and they are better than OEM, but the cost isn't justifiable.

Have you done any business with the company you provided the link to ?

It looks like you email him and state your request for parts, and then he looks at the application and makes recommendations based on his experience.

[picklebpaul]

I have not done business with DanielStern. While researching bulbs, links to his website kept showing up on different blogs. He seems to have a good reputation.

[Ed Miller]

Stern (unless he's changed his mind since I read his web site) sure doesn't have much use for the retrofit HID bulbs.  The cynic in me wonders if that's because he doesn't sell them, but he obviously could if he wanted to.

[Justin B.]

Who knows, Ed, but I have bought an HID kit and will install and test once I have the time...

[Ed Miller]

Who knows, Ed, but I have bought an HID kit and will install and test once I have the time...

Cool!  Is that the H4 version?  My only concern with it is that it has a moving part to go between low and high beam.  I will await your report.

[Justin B.]

Yeah, I got the bi-xenon variety.  I was looking at it earlier and I am now wondering if everything is gonna fit in the bucket - I plan on putting it in my RT.

The moving part is a shutter assembly that partially shrouds the discharge tube when in low-beam mode.

[NC Steve]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but can anyone speak to using a set of small, high-intensity driving lamps?

Are they even available with switchable high/low beams. low for daytime city and high for incinerating deer in the countryside?  

[Bob_Roller]

Steve,

All of the driving lights I have seen are single wattage, no high beam.

I personally have high praise for the PIAA 510 driving lights, they are about a 4 inch diameter light, they have a stud mount, so they need to be bolted to a 'crash bar' type arrangement.

I have them on my oilhead , kinda wish I hadn't gotten the PIAA 40's for the R65, but they were only $85 at the time, seemed like a good idea at the time !!