Best Choices Headlight Low Beam 9006 Bulb

[bagekko]

Maybe some day I will convert my lights to ellipsoids or something better but for now I am just looking to put in a good bulb thats better than what I have. Will have to check whats in there now, but likely something OEMish bought maybe 6+ years ago by the PO.

I want something that is compatible with the existing framework with no mods, but I do not want something that is going to burn out in a year.

I was thinking about getting these.

HELLA H83300092 HB4 9006 12V 55W High Performance 2.0 Bulb Kit
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O616M6K/?coliid=I1Z54RQ608AGGI&colid=1BPR9LH0YSCR6&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Other good options?

[bluptgm3]

SYLVANIA - 9006 SilverStar Ultra

I’ve been a die hard Sylvania fan, but those Hella’s bring me back to the days of my Lucas Tri-Bar/Hella lights of years past.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[demetk]

I went from 9006 to 9012 bulbs with just a small mod and got almost double the light output.

[bagekko]

Arent the SilverStars prone to shorter life than other high performance bulbs or is it about the same across the board on life of Sylvania, Phillips, Hella, etc.

Definitely wont stick one of the cheap china brands in there.


SYLVANIA - 9006 SilverStar Ultra

I’ve been a die hard Sylvania fan, but those Hella’s bring me back to the days of my Lucas Tri-Bar/Hella lights of years past.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bagekko]

Details on the mod? Is there a thread on it. Did a little searching and perhaps everyone just gets a kit that has everything you need?

Thanks


I went from 9006 to 9012 bulbs with just a small mod and got almost double the light output.

[demetk]

Details on the mod? Is there a thread on it. Did a little searching and perhaps everyone just gets a kit that has everything you need?

Thanks

You simply need to file or cut down one tab for the bulb to fit. I think there are youtube vids on the mod.

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Like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iviAlp6x3m0

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And for high beam bulbs you can go from a 9005 to 9011 with the same mod.

[demetk]

This site has a good pic: https://store.candlepower.com/mohirbuba.html

[bagekko]

Thanks


This site has a good pic: https://store.candlepower.com/mohirbuba.html

[m60power]

Ehh, Sylvania Silverstars are garbage. Any bulb that has a colored coating on it provides less brightness than the clear bulbs. A 9006 bulb is limited by specification to a certain amount of wattage and brightness. All those gimmicky headlight bulbs claiming "Xtra performance" are total bullshit.

If you stick with the standard incandescent bulb design for the stock headlights (without going to HID or some type of higher wattage halogen bulb) the best option is 9012 "HIR" bulbs made by Philips, Osram, Toshiba or Vosla. They come with an untrimmed upper tab that you cut to size for 9006 fitment. Everything else is the same (including wattage) but the design allowable lumens is ~50% higher than standard 9006 bulbs. Same goes for using 9011 HIR bulbs in place of 9005 high beam bulbs.

[ross1]

[QUOTE=m60power;30176842]Ehh, Sylvania Silverstars are garbage. Any bulb that has a colored coating on it provides less brightness than the clear bulbs. A 9006 bulb is limited by specification to a certain amount of wattage and brightness. All those gimmicky headlight bulbs claiming "Xtra performance" are total bullshit.

QUOTE]

Agreed. I tried them after hearing rave reviews they also burn out with alarming regularity. There was a class action suit against them I remember cashing a small check after all was done.
The 9012s sound interesting.
There is such a thing as TOO bright. Your increased safety ends after you've blinded the oncoming drivers. I could write several paragraphs about some newer cars.

[Hofmeister]

55W HID or bust. my setup has the same output of a new bmw. my high beams are some fancy LED with light bar output and you can still see the low beams clearly through all of that.

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[QUOTE=m60power;30176842]Ehh, Sylvania Silverstars are garbage. Any bulb that has a colored coating on it provides less brightness than the clear bulbs. A 9006 bulb is limited by specification to a certain amount of wattage and brightness. All those gimmicky headlight bulbs claiming "Xtra performance" are total bullshit.

QUOTE]

Agreed. I tried them after hearing rave reviews they also burn out with alarming regularity. There was a class action suit against them I remember cashing a small check after all was done.
The 9012s sound interesting.
There is such a thing as TOO bright. Your increased safety ends after you've blinded the oncoming drivers. I could write several paragraphs about some newer cars.
theres more to that than simply how bright your car is. for example how high off the ground your lights are, having projectors, properly adjusted beams, etc. Having the best possible lighting isnt easy but imho its 100% worth it. if everything is set up right theres no such thing as too bright

[JoeyBimX5din]

Is there any way to fit an LED bulb in the OEM place for the 9006 bulbs? I have HID's and I think I may want to remove them as about 25% of the time I turn the headlights on my tach drops out due to the HID ballasts in my car the PO installed.

thanks

[ross1]

Is there any way to fit an LED bulb in the OEM place for the 9006 bulbs? I have HID's and I think I may want to remove them as about 25% of the time I turn the headlights on my tach drops out due to the HID ballasts in my car the PO installed.

thanks
Pretty sure the 9012s discussed ^ are LED. Might need to address the check control as it may not agree with those bulbs.

[m60power]

Pretty sure the 9012s discussed ^ are LED. Might need to address the check control as it may not agree with those bulbs.

The 9012 bulbs are a normal halogen (wire filament) bulb that is designed for higher light output. I've never looked into LED bulbs for the 9006 fitment. They probably exist but I wonder if the light would play nice with the stock projector geometry.

[5mall5nail5]

Dude it's 2019, spend $75 on an HID kit or LED setup

[JoeyBimX5din]

Dude it's 2019, spend $75 on an HID kit or LED setup

The HID kits backfeed into the cluster / tach on these cars. I don't know if there is a way to get around that or not. Maybe a diode(s)? in the wiring?

They do make LED bulbs for the 9006's, but I wonder what bulbs may work the best. The prices seem to vary wildly from about 15$'s to around 100$.

[Jblue200]

I installed 9012 hIr at the suggestion of this thread and they are awesome. 30 seconds with a dremel and they went in just fine

[Hofmeister]

The HID kits backfeed into the cluster / tach on these cars. I don't know if there is a way to get around that or not. Maybe a diode(s)? in the wiring?

They do make LED bulbs for the 9006's, but I wonder what bulbs may work the best. The prices seem to vary wildly from about 15$'s to around 100$.

yea, relay them straight to battery. Mine used to backfeed really bad and that fixed it for good.

[5mall5nail5]

The HID kits backfeed into the cluster / tach on these cars. I don't know if there is a way to get around that or not. Maybe a diode(s)? in the wiring?

They do make LED bulbs for the 9006's, but I wonder what bulbs may work the best. The prices seem to vary wildly from about 15$'s to around 100$.

Weird I've had HIDs on 4 E34s for over 10 years without an issue.

[JoeyBimX5din]

Weird I've had HIDs on 4 E34s for over 10 years without an issue.

well this gives me some hope, maybe it is in how the HID's are wired. They are bright and nice, so I do like them.

[JoeyBimX5din]

yea, relay them straight to battery. Mine used to backfeed really bad and that fixed it for good.


so your saying bypass all the OEM BMW stuff, but still run the control through the switch?

[Hofmeister]

so your saying bypass all the OEM BMW stuff, but still run the control through the switch?

That is correct. As soon as i did this i never had feedback issues again. You will have to mod the LKM to not give bulb out error but youre gonna have to do that with HID anyways.

[JoeyBimX5din]

The HID's were done by someone else. I don't get a bulb out warning, so it may already be moded.