car headlights

[bobfitz14]

basically, i have a 2001 mercury sable ls premium, and i don't like the stock "yellow" headlights, considering a lot of people are turning to the pure white headlights and they look..well, pretty awesome.

my question is, do all cars support the ability to have "white" headlights? i've looked around (online) and it seems like the Sylvania Cool Blue's are enough for me.

according to Sylvania's website, I can use any of these:
2001 MERCURY Sable (Sedan)

High & low beam headlamp
9007LL
9007SU Silverstar ULTRA for Ultra Night Vision - The Whitest and Brightest Halogen
9007ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: The Whiter and Brighter Halogen
9007XV XtraVision Halogen - The Brighter Light
9007CB Cool Blue Halogen - The Whiter Light

obviously the Cool Blue is listed, but do those headlight bulbs require any wiring installation?


ALSO, if i replace the headlights with the Cool Blue's, i want to get rid of the "yellow" fog lights i have because they wouldn't match with the Cool Blue. according the Sylvania:

Fog/Driving light
899

that doesn't help me at all, but in the picture above the car (not mine) has fog lights that match perfectly with the Cool Blue headlights, so are there Cool Blue foglight bulbs too?


any sort of info/help is appreciated! thanks

 

[InvalidUserID]

OK, I'll chime in since I have quite a bit of experience with headlights.

YES - you can simply swap your existing bulbs from your car with any of those listed.
NO - you do not need any special wiring or do any modifications with regular bulbs. If you were to swap in 100w/75w bulbs, you would want to upgrade your wiring harness as the stock wiring is likely only rated to handle 55w.

YES - the light will appear more white, both in the way objects are illuminated from the lights and the way the light appears to other cars.
NO - you will not see any improvement in visibility.

Basically, all those blue/purple/blu-ish bulbs do is put a coating on the bulb to filter out the "yellow" but it also reduces the light output. Now if, when you mention pure white headlights, you are talking about cars such as the Lexus, Acura, Mercedes, BMW, etc cars headlights, those are special headlights called HID (high intensity discharge) lamps. Simply swapping the bulbs in your Sable will NOT have the same effect. Those systems involve special ballasts, bulbs and projector beams.

In my own personal experience with the Silverstar bulbs, I did have a whiter light but I saw no improvement in visibility and it actually decreased in the rain. If you are interested in them solely for the look and not functionality of them, they are what you are looking for. If you want something that will light up the road better, try GE Nighthawks. As for the two different color lights (driving and fogs), when I had an IS, I liked the way the fog lights were yellow and the HIDs were pure white. Oh, and white fog lights defeat the purpose.

If you are interested more about lighting, I'll send you a link.

 

[e²Studios]

If you want the white lights you see on some higher end cars they would be Xenon HID. There are a few places that make retrofit kits to go from Halogen to Xenon, but they are usually pretty expensive as well as difficult to DIY install. To get the white that Xenon lights produce they need a ballast as well as the bulbs themselves, the kit would provide the ballast and the bulb assembly.

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/lighting_tech/techpage.jsp?techid=131

http://reviews.ebay.com/Difference-...n-Gas-filled-bulbs_W0QQugidZ10000000004613590

Shop around and read reviews if you go for a conversion kit.

Don't buy the halogen lights that use a film or some sort of covering over the bulb to make the light seem whiter, they will usually do nothing more than reduce the light output.

 

[nickspohn]

get some 6000K's off of ebay

7000k might be too blue for your liking

(not my car)

 

[bobfitz14]

If you want the white lights you see on some higher end cars they would be Xenon HID. There are a few places that make retrofit kits to go from Halogen to Xenon, but they are usually pretty expensive as well as difficult to DIY install. To get the white that Xenon lights produce they need a ballast as well as the bulbs themselves, the kit would provide the ballast and the bulb assembly.

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/lighting_tech/techpage.jsp?techid=131

http://reviews.ebay.com/Difference-...n-Gas-filled-bulbs_W0QQugidZ10000000004613590

Shop around and read reviews if you go for a conversion kit.

Don't buy the halogen lights that use a film or some sort of covering over the bulb to make the light seem whiter, they will usually do nothing more than reduce the light output.

i guess i forgot to mention, i'm trying to avoid converting wires..but thanks for the info

 

[bobfitz14]

OK, I'll chime in since I have quite a bit of experience with headlights.

YES - you can simply swap your existing bulbs from your car with any of those listed.
NO - you do not need any special wiring or do any modifications with regular bulbs. If you were to swap in 100w/75w bulbs, you would want to upgrade your wiring harness as the stock wiring is likely only rated to handle 55w.

YES - the light will appear more white, both in the way objects are illuminated from the lights and the way the light appears to other cars.
NO - you will not see any improvement in visibility.

Basically, all those blue/purple/blu-ish bulbs do is put a coating on the bulb to filter out the "yellow" but it also reduces the light output. Now if, when you mention pure white headlights, you are talking about cars such as the Lexus, Acura, Mercedes, BMW, etc cars headlights, those are special headlights called HID (high intensity discharge) lamps. Simply swapping the bulbs in your Sable will NOT have the same effect. Those systems involve special ballasts, bulbs and projector beams.

In my own personal experience with the Silverstar bulbs, I did have a whiter light but I saw no improvement in visibility and it actually decreased in the rain. If you are interested in them solely for the look and not functionality of them, they are what you are looking for. If you want something that will light up the road better, try GE Nighthawks. As for the two different color lights (driving and fogs), when I had an IS, I liked the way the fog lights were yellow and the HIDs were pure white. Oh, and white fog lights defeat the purpose.

If you are interested more about lighting, I'll send you a link.

thanks for replying. but i'm wondering..
1. are you saying if it's just for look it's not worth it because the quality is worse? or just don't expect like improved visibility?

2. if i do wind up buying new headlight bulbs, should i leave my fog lights alone or switch them too? i know it would be two sets of bulbs if i do.

 

[Counterfit]

get some 6000K's off of ebay

7000k might be too blue for your liking

(not my car)

Don't do this. HID bulbs in halogen housings (either projectors or reflectors, but reflectors are far worse) are illegal, and will blind oncoming traffic. If you want a less-yellow bulb, get a pair/set of OSRAM-branded SilverStar Ultras, manufactured in Germany, not the Sylanias.

And for HID, there's a reason why nearly every OEM setup uses 4300k bulbs.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

 

[GSMiller]

Don't do this. HID bulbs in halogen housings (either projectors or reflectors, but reflectors are far worse) are illegal, and will blind oncoming traffic. If you want a less-yellow bulb, get a pair/set of OSRAM-branded SilverStar Ultras, manufactured in Germany, not the Sylanias.

And for HID, there's a reason why nearly every OEM setup uses 4300k bulbs.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

Can't they cause the lens (if plastic) to melt also?

 

[iGav]

Isn't this a bit like painting your drum brakes?

 

[thecritix]

Isn't this a bit like painting your drum brakes?

you can't polish a turd...

 

[SactoGuy18]

By the way, be VERY careful if you switch to a bulb like SilverStar. The reason is simple: regular headlamp housings are designed around the light characteristics of conventional halogen bulbs, and switching to the different color temperature of SilverStar could result in lower visibility in some cases.

 

[Counterfit]

Can't they cause the lens (if plastic) to melt also?

More so because of the beam pattern. Halogens and HID bulbs orient to light source (filament or arc) differently,so the light won't be reflected or refracted (I think projectors use a fresnel lens, but I'm not sure) correctly, usually leading to excess glare.

By the way, be VERY careful if you switch to a bulb like SilverStar. The reason is simple: regular headlamp housings are designed around the light characteristics of conventional halogen bulbs, and switching to the different color temperature of SilverStar could result in lower visibility in some cases.

Those would be the Sylvania Silver Stars, which are bad. The OSRAM Silver Stars don't have the stupid blue glass, produce the correct amount of light, and last longer.

Again, I'm going to link everyone to http://www.danielsternlighting.com. Read his stuff before you even THINK about changing anything in your headlamps.

 

[LumbermanSVO]

Coming from someone who does a ridiculous amount of night driving: Please, please, please, read the Daniel Stern Lighting website before "upgrading" your headlights.