LED lamps.

davetherave · Post by **davetherave** » 16 Feb 2011, 09:33

Get some xenon HID's on it! They seem to last pretty well and are fairly inexpensive.

GB · Post by GB » 16 Feb 2011, 09:43

myglaren wrote:Anyone know the difference between 477 and 499? (Apart from 22 )

Apparently it's some old British standard (related to the packaging, not the bulb itself), 477 and 499 are both identical H7.

Used Osram Nightbreaker in my old Xanita a few years back - the only noticeable difference was slightly more light, more white.

I'm currently using Philips Extreme Power in my C5 - they are superb. Apart from being much brighter, they give different/better beam pattern, more light where you need it. Just need to be very careful not to touch the glass bit when replacing them - they are more compact than standard H7, therefore running much hotter, so any fingerprints and dust on the glass will significantly reduce their lifespan. My first set of H7's lasted just over 2 years (one bulb failed 5 minutes after getting through 2010 MOT). You can find them on Ebay for around £18 a set delivered.

Cheers,
GB

GB · Post by GB » 16 Feb 2011, 09:49

davetherave wrote:Get some xenon HID's on it! They seem to last pretty well and are fairly inexpensive.

Are they MOT-friendly?

davetherave · Post by **davetherave** » 16 Feb 2011, 09:52

Mines been through with no problem! I have not heard of anyone having problems.
I think if you started going for daft colours like purple then they may question it.

GB · Post by GB » 16 Feb 2011, 16:22

My new H6W sidelight LEDs arrived today - 5 SMD, no canbus. Ebay, £3.49, UK based.

Installed in half an hour (had to partially remove front bumper bar to get to the offside sidelight bulb), no canbus errors, so it seems sidelights are not connected to canbus.

They appear slightly brighter than regular H6W bulbs.

I hope they last longer than the standard bulbs - last set lasted only two months.

GB

Post by **myglaren** » 16 Feb 2011, 18:00

davetherave wrote:Get some xenon HID's on it! They seem to last pretty well and are fairly inexpensive.

I wouldn't fancy those unless they were real ones Dave and I don't like blue lights at all, rather fit gaslamps

GB · Post by GB » 16 Feb 2011, 20:00

GB wrote:I hope they last longer than the standard bulbs - last set lasted only two months.

Well, NOT HAPPY!

World record: O/S sidelight LED lasted 15 minutes, NS just over half an hour - two short trips, and they are both kaput!

I'm pretty p***** off after having to remove front bumper bar and all...

Back to standard H6W then, will replace them day before MOT to make sure they work...

GB

Xantidote · Post by **Xantidote** » 16 Feb 2011, 22:13

Is it my imagination from reading Forum postings, or do C5s like blowing bulbs, particularly the front lights?

Deanxm · Post by **Deanxm** » 16 Feb 2011, 22:21

thats what i was thinking and why? surely the bulbs life is down to its self and the only outside affect the car itself could cause that that could kill a bulb is voltage spikes? if this is the case surely there is a major design fault with the lighting circuit.
Vibration could be an issue but not to an LED............

The XM is weraing the same rear bulbs that it had when i bought it around 7 yeas ago, the front were only changed because i fitted HID's

D

Old-Guy · Post by **Old-Guy** » 17 Feb 2011, 14:24

Deanxm wrote:The XM is wearing the same rear bulbs that it had when i bought it around 7 yeas ago, the front were only changed because i fitted HID's

D

Can beat that:- when the Xantia's (Jan 96 reg) N/S/R indicator light went in 2007, I discovered it was the original bulb. How do I know? Because the muppet who fitted the towbar to the car when new didn't leave any slack in the wiring so I had to replace all the cable ties to make some slack - and the bulb had lost almost all the yellow coating. Also replaced the brake/tail light bulb as a precaution.

addo · Post by **addo** » 17 Feb 2011, 19:28

Xantia break Jan '99 - I believe all but one, of the bulbs outside the headlight housing, are original. Ambers are turned to white now...

CitTone · Post by **CitTone** » 08 Mar 2011, 13:49

On the subject of HIDs, does anyone other than me see the fringe colours as a problem? What I mean is that, as your view of an HID beam moves laterally (as you approach an oncoming car thus equipped) the colour of the light can be blue or orange depending upon the angle.

Probably not an issue most of the time, but I have on occasion been convinced that I was being followed by a police car because the HIDs combined with a "sporty" suspension on a lumpy road gave a blue flashing effect.

I also nearly slammed on the brakes a couple of nights ago when an HID-equipped car following a halogen-lit motor coming towards me, kind of "peeped-out" from behind, and I caught a momentary glimpse of orange, and thought he was about to overtake into my path!

I understood that headlights were, by law, supposed to emit a white light, not white-depending-on-which-way-you're-looking-at-it light....

Post by **Paul-R** » 08 Mar 2011, 14:12

Old-Guy wrote:Can beat that:- when the Xantia's (Jan 96 reg) N/S/R indicator light went in 2007, I discovered it was the original bulb.

Don't BMWs go to the scrapyard with their original indicator bulbs totally unused?

CitTone · Post by **CitTone** » 08 Mar 2011, 15:31

....along with their courtesy lights.....

Post by **c.morewood** » 18 Mar 2011, 12:10

I tried to replace my sidelight bulbs with these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

They were bright enough but the pcbs of the leds don't fit through the hole in the headlight reflector on the Xantia ....pretty disapointed!!
Previously I'd tried these
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2x-Car-LED-501-T1 ... 19c3d7971c

But they just projected light forward and because of the design of the headlight reflector in the Xantia, which seems to rely more on the light emitted from the side of the bulb, they didn't give out a lot of light.

Any other success stories for 501 sidelight leds?