S40 (New) Electrics : HIDs for S40

[Harvey1512]

Flanaia1 - I had the Osram Nightbreakers and they do not last as DLR bulbs. I went through 3 bulbs in a total of 4 months, 2 only lasted 2 months each, 1 lasted 4 months. Osram themselves accepted they are not suitable. Discount them straight away.

The Philips bulbs seem to get a better right up with regards to longevity so I will be interested to see the answers that you get. You WILL still go through them quicker than standard bulbs though although the trade off is better visibility. If you get them don't bother fitting them until the end of September, why waste them during the summer.

I did see an improvement with my Nightbreakers but even then I would get in my wife's Fiat 500 and her standard dipped lights still outperformed mine. I think the whole light set up in the Volvo is just poor.

[Harvey1512]

Originally Posted by Flanaia1

Also is the light output whiter than the standard bulbs through the projector lenses?

I really want to change mine but am unsure which wat to go, already swapped the side lights and numberplate lights for high intensity LED. I now want white light at the front

The light is much whiter but not as white as LED's.

Is it possible to play around with the lights and have your sidelights, LED's as you have them, as the DLR lights and then you only switch to your stronger dipped headlights when it is dark, as per a non DLR car? It would mean the car would run DLR similar to how Audi have it set up. This would need a little tinkering around, the sidelights currently stay on even when you take your key out, but it would improve the situation in my opinion. We could then have the stronger bulbs, 90% extra etc, but they would last longer as they would not be permanently on.

Any thoughts on this?

[Guru]

Not that i would want to, but we're obliged by law to have the lights on all the time all year long here, so yes i am using DRL.

Looking at the receipt, i've had them on the car for 74 days now and 4200km /2610miles/ so can't really comment on their life span just yet.

The light is definetely whiter and brighter, can't be compared with the regular "yellow" bulbs, some people even think i have xenons bulbs... Once they burn out, i'll buy another pair, no going back to regulars, if i find time in the evening, i'll take a pic and post it /one side regular, the other P. extreme/

OSRAM Night Breaker are equivalents to the Phillips Extreme btw, seen them on a friend's car and they're exactly the same, so if you find Osrams to be cheaper then go with them, but can't go wrong either way

[Harvey1512]

Originally Posted by Guru

OSRAM Night Breaker are equivalents to the Phillips Extreme btw, seen them on a friend's car and they're exactly the same, so if you find Osrams to be cheaper then go with them, but can't go wrong either way

Guru, You are right about the Nightbreakers being equivalent to the Philips Extreme but from personal experience and also from Osram themselves they just do not last in DLR cars. The Philips seem to last longer and so if you are going to go for brighter bulbs then I would go for them.

I have no link to Philips but that is from my experience and from what other forums and threads on this one have stated.

[biggs312800]

i bought my 55reg s40 2.0d on november the 1st, noticed that the lights were well you no s%^t, i think there was something on here comparing bulbs at the time, like night breakers vs phillips and so on, i thought i might go for a pair of halfords bulds near enough the same and i still havent changed them after 7k miles strange really but still a brill bulb

[Welton]

I've been running the Phillips Extreme's for 4 months now every day (about 50mins a day on average) and they're still fine I just leave them on all the time (got fed up with leaving the side lights on! - damn lack of 'lights on' buzzer).

The originals were yellowy and dull but after I fitted the Phillips and had the beam lifted professionally on an MOT beam-checking doodad then the light output is great I think. Nice crisp white/bright with a sharp cut off in fact I'd only consider proper HID's now if I felt like treating myself etc.

The Phillps are far different to standard bulbs for sure.

BTW I tried Nightbreakers on my previous car and they didn't last very well.

[fenton_jd]

HID/projectors are like clear, crips spotlights with a perfect line cutoff point.
Halogen reflectors are like floodlights. You'd just get a big pool of light infront of the car.