Uprated bulbs for C5 Mk III

[splinternet]

I bought some Philips X-treme Vision +130% bulbs for my Mk III C5 (3.0 HDi Tourer) and asked local Citroen dealer if he would be good enough to fit them. The head mechanic (who had worked many years for Citroen) strongly advised against it. He said (something like) the extra brightness would draw too much current and create too much resistance in the lighting circuit and the car's management system would interpret this either as a blown bulb or a short circuit and would close the circuit down. I put this to the people selling the bulbs who replied "We are unable to fully agree with the mechanic's diagnostic as the bulbs run at the same voltage and wattage as standard, therefore should not draw any more power."

Who's right?

Interestingly, since fitting Halfords Ultra Brilliance 120% about 18 months ago, I've had three failures (in the 3 years previous to this, I had none with standard bulbs) so might there may be something in what the mechanic says?

And for good measure, are these easy to fit myself? Judging from other posts/forums, would I need slender wrists, hands and fingers and be double-jointed to boot? Has anyone put C5 Mk III bulb change on Youtube?

[myglaren]

I have run Philips X-Treme vision for the past three years and have had not the slightest problem with them.
As the person who advised that they are the same voltage and wattage as standard and therefore draw the same current as standard bulbs.

As for changing them, can't really help but they aren't the easiest to change.

The easiest way is to drop the bumper and pull the lamp unit. Sounds a lot of work but is easy enough.

[Paul-R]

The bulbs run hotter using the same voltage and current as standard bulbs to give the brighter light. By definition they cannot take more than the specified 60W - this is why 100W bulbs are only legal for off-road use.

As they run hotter they are more fragile and the great trick is make coiling of the very thin wire robust. The shape of the coils is very important for this to be effective. That's what you're paying for with a branded bulb compared to a no-name. This directly equates to the lifespan of the bulb.

[white exec]

Philips X-treme Vision, and Osram Night Breaker, are both extremely high quality lamps. As confirmed above, they are the same wattage and draw the same current as standard OE halogens, and will not place any additional load on the wiring.

They have been used successfully by many XM owners for some years, in order to greatly improve the somewhat indifferent dip-beam output.

The whiter light comes from a higher filament temperature. In practice, I haven't found service life to be noticeably different from standard types, but light output is greatly improved.

Not sure who actually manufactures the Halfords items. You may be able to tell from close examination.

There are no end of "high brightness" lamps on the market, many of dubious quality and construction. The Philips and Osram products both have UV-stop glass, which protects any plastic optics in modern headlights. Recommend them highly.

[GiveMeABreak]

Agree with all the above - he probably thinks you intend to put higher wattage bulbs in - which will cause overheating and other problems. It is possible to create additional light with the same wattage. I know you have halogen's, but I have Xenons with D1S bulbs and replaced the standard Osram bulbs with their new Osram Xenarc Nightbreaker series. These provide up to 70% more light and up to 20M additional beam range with a 5% whiter light. Major improvement.

[Stickyfinger]

up to 20M additional beam range

LOL, the MAX with the Xantia dip beam

[GiveMeABreak]

oh, the pain....

[Stickyfinger]