Brighter lights required

[taz069]

A little help needed on this. I have a 1996 c280. Looking to run brighter bulbs in the factory housings. Just not for sure what to use. These are the #'s on the back of the existing bulbs. Hi/low, osram hb2 dot 9003 cb germany bilux 12v 60/55w h4u 37r(e1)00801 w4c4. What i believe is the running light's, osram 12v 55w h3 37r(e1)00620 6415 germany 15y4,3. If I'm not mistaken the housing is glass. Can i run Higher wattage bulbs'. If i can might someone be able to tell me what would be the best bulbs' to use. Just don't want to overload the lighting system. Thanks again all.

[michaelmrbenzy]

What you need is an HID Kit if that's the case. You can get it from various places. The three places I would suggest you get it from is either ebay, ddmtuning.com. or ijdmtoy.com. Personally I have the Apexcone Raptor HID Kit in the 6000K Color Temperature. So far I haven't had any problems and it's been a year! I would not recommend running higher wattage bulbs because it's a pain in the kneck to deal with.

[Kropf]

I don't know about your 1996 (pre-facelift model) but speaking regarding the 1998-2000 (facelift) models, You may notice a nice, easy improvement by using Sylvania's SilverStar bulbs for both the Low Beams and the High Beams. The light pattern will be the same as the OEM Halogens, so no scattered light problem to oncoming drivers.
HID/Xenons have a different bulb and light source shape, hence a different light pattern that can be offensive to oncoming drivers if keeping the original Halogen Lenses. Even converting the lenses to OEM Xenon (as I have done) will not produce the same quality as the OEM Xenon assemblies produce.
I have many photo comparisons on my http://kropf.net/w202/headlamps/ Headlamp Migration page.

[ypkx]

your website is very useful kropf, thanks for sharing! It might actually influence me to get some newer headlights.

[taz069]

Amen!!!! Just haven't had a chance to go thru all the pics yet!! Some one should sticky Kropf's comment . It answers so much and very detailed!! Thanks!!! Alot of searching has ended.

[ypkx]

out of curiousity what did you go for in the end? a set of HIDS?

[taz069]

I'll more than likely go with the Sylvania silver stars. Unless I run across a great deal.

[michaelmrbenzy]

HIDS are not that expensive... they're like $50 with shipping and everything. I would recommend doing that instead, but it's up to you.

[taz069]

Are hids non ballast powered? Are the hids the ones with the 4000-9000 rating? Will be replacing 4 bulbs total.

[taz069]

Morning all. Have found a site that sheds a little more light on the bulb subject. haha. It goes into the halogen bulb and the blue coating. It's www.acarplace.com/cars/headlights.html . Two name brands stand out as american made. Philips extreme power, and Ge nighthawk platinum. The article also covers running a higher wattage ballast with a lower wattage bulb(i.e 55 watt ballast with a 35 watt bulb and vise versa). Still some interesting reading none the less. I'll more than likely pick between these. In watching some you tube videos' on conversion to hid and projector assemblies. The old unplug and plug in is more to my speed for now. Still have more work to do on the car now. Just got my cross drilled rotors installed yesterday. Thanks a ton all.

[Sulaco]

I used standard sylvania silverstars in my 1994 C280 with great results. I find it odd that you need more light. In my experience, the headlights were better on my 1994 C280 than on my 1999 C43. They were brighter, had a better beam scatter, and farther focus down the road. I'll eventually go OEM HID on both cars, but not now--they are so expensive!

I'd avoid aftermarket HID with stock housings and lenses. Yes, you'll notice a massive improvement in visibility, but there are some serious negatives. From head on, the beams are just scattered and blurry because of the stock halogen lenses and housing--thus they look kind of cheap/trashy. But most importantly, you'll have no way of stopping them from blinding oncoming traffic. You might even get a citation for having your lights too bright.

First things first, I'd test the levels on the lights you have now. Get the car level and point the lights at a blank wall so you can look at the beam pattern. Kropf's site has a good example of this. You need to get your beams as high as possible without blinding oncoming traffic. Might take a few days/weeks of carefully experimenting to get it right. If that's not satisfactory, simply buy the normal sylvania silverstars (not the SUPER ULTRA MEGA SUPREME waste of moneys). The normal silverstars are a higher wattage, but not high enough to start impacting longevity. The OMG SUPER BAD ASS ONES are simply such a high wattage that they don't last long and burn themselves out often (plus the color looks way too cheesey most of the time).

Being a '96, I'm not sure which headlights you have to be honest. Some 96's came with the updated ones. If your headlights have ONLY 2 bulbs then you're running the pre-update ones. The outer bulb is hi/low beam, the inner bulb is running/fog. I much prefer that setup to the stock ones in my C43. The C43's beams are aimed right, but they hardly look down the road compared to my C280.

[Sulaco]

PS, I removed the aftermarket HID kit from my C43. Still works fine. I'd let the whole thing go pretty cheap.

[taz069]

Not for sure on the updated or later version of headlight assembly on mine. It has the glass lens cover and 2 bulbs per side for a total of 4. Drop me a pm sulaco on price for them hids!!!!!!!