I have a Y reg Layrent & Clement with Xenon lighting, side lights only. I'd like to swap the current yellowish Halogen bulbs for Halfords Extreme H1- blue=-ish colour.

Garage advises not doing so as" they are so much hotter than the ordinary bulbs that they will damage the plastic lens" I had them on a V reg 20 valver & did not see the lens melt.

Is this just an old wives' tale ?

Edited 28 March, 201016 yr by newshound

I have a Y reg Layrent & Clement with Xenon lighting, side lights only. I'd like to swap the current yellowish Halogen bulbs for Halfords Extreme H1- blue=-ish colour.

Garage advises not doing so as" they are so much hotter than the ordinary bulbs that they will damage the plastic lens" I had them on a V reg 20 valver & did not see the lens melt.

Is this just an old wives' tale ?

Hi newshound

I don't think fitting bulbs like halfords extreme will be no hotter than standard, as long as they are the same wattage, but if you was to put something like 100watt lamps

these will poss melt the plastic lenses.

So poss not a old wifes tale,

Radiotwo

I have a Y reg Layrent & Clement with Xenon lighting, side lights only. I'd like to swap the current yellowish Halogen bulbs for Halfords Extreme H1- blue=-ish colour.

Garage advises not doing so as" they are so much hotter than the ordinary bulbs that they will damage the plastic lens" I had them on a V reg 20 valver & did not see the lens melt.

Is this just an old wives' tale ?

Why not just pay £12 a year and join Briskoda Freedom. That way you get a discount code for Powerbulbs and another company that I can't remember! I have got Phillips Extreme Power bulbs in mine and they are fantastic. Also with the Powerbulbs discount code you get free delivery and free Phillips Bluevision sidelights! I think I paid about £23 for all the bulbs! I can highly recommend the extremepower and the blue vision bulbs, they are bright white and look great (and they won't melt your car!!)

Thanks for info, Radio2 & SCVRS, just had a look on Halfords' site. It says Extreme Brilliance "UV cut- suitable for plastic headlights". Would the headlights on a October 1999 1.8 T be glass or plastic ?

The plastic lights came in 2001, so yours should be glass on a 99. Its easy to tell, just tap on the front. The plastic ones sound like ehm plastic.

I've been running "50% brighter" 60/55W H4s (thanks Powerbulbs) for 3 and a half years now, and no sign of plastic shields or reflectors melting yet! I've heard of some cases (at least one on/through Briskoda) of 100W or above bulbs melting the bulbholders out of plastic reflectors; cue much wallet pain!

There is such a thing as colour temperature, which may be what the garage is referring to.

Standard halogen lamps run at about 2500k ish, and the whiter ones will run at up to 4500k. This does NOT have anything to do with the amount of heat the bulbs will give off. It means the colour of light which will be emitted.

The higher the colour temperature, the bluer the light will be. HID headlights have a higher colour temperature than halogen lamps, so therefore look bluer.

Daylight is around 4800k, so try to get a lamp as close to that as possible. Just don't go mad, because the higher temperature bulbs actually give off less usable light.

As RADIOTWO and Ken Oneill both said, using 100w lamps will probably melt the light, but as long as you use 55w bulbs, there is no risk to the headlamp unit at all. All 55w bulbs will give off practically the same amount of heat.

There is such a thing as colour temperature, which may be what the garage is referring to.

Standard halogen lamps run at about 2500k ish, and the whiter ones will run at up to 4500k. This does NOT have anything to do with the amount of heat the bulbs will give off. It means the colour of light which will be emitted.

The higher the colour temperature, the bluer the light will be. HID headlights have a higher colour temperature than halogen lamps, so therefore look bluer.

Daylight is around 4800k, so try to get a lamp as close to that as possible. Just don't go mad, because the higher temperature bulbs actually give off less usable light.

As RADIOTWO and Ken Oneill both said, using 100w lamps will probably melt the light, but as long as you use 55w bulbs, there is no risk to the headlamp unit at all. All 55w bulbs will give off practically the same amount of heat.