My current car (Seat Leon FR+ 2012) although not my first car with Xenons was the first to be Bi-Xenon and AFS.

For whatever reason I always felt as good as the high beam was the dipped been lacked what my previous MINI Cooper S had with its Dipped beam I my Xenon.

So I decided to review the upgraded bulbs to find that Phillips OEM bulbs where the worst performers of The HID bulbs and that Osram made OEM but also 2 road legal upgrades.

So decided to take a punt on the Osram Cool Blue Intense 5000K bulbs. These bulbs where advertised as OEM on the S class Mercedes, bluer tint but 30% longer beam or something than their Osram OEM.

When it came to change the bulbs it turned out the car had the crappy OEM Phillips fitted, which surprised me for a VAG car (MINI and BMWs had Osram OEM). The increase in performance was close to being the difference between halogen to Xenon! I have been very happy with them for he last 3 years.

So my questions for the Skoda experts out there, is does anyone know what make of bulbs are fitted? I believe they are DS3 fitment but powerbulbs suggests they're the same D1S fitted to my current Seat!?!?

Also has anyone felt the need to upgrade their Xenon bulbs? I'm not interested in any 6000k upgrades as anything more than 5000k is just not going to improve what you see. I believe most cars run 4200k but 4800k is probably the best.

Ive only had the car for month after it got dark (midnight sun and all that) so I have been around town with it in darkness.

But Im not overly impressed by the Xenons. Especially in Auto with AFS. The lightpattern is too wide and short.

I do find it bit better when selecting dipped headlights on the switch, but still not very impressive.

Just realised, my current car doesn't have AFS, just cornering . I believe AFS is different.

So if the Car is set to dipped and not auto, does that mean the lights stay forward and no longer adjust left and right when cornering?

Yes. When set to dipped they dont turn and the beam doesnt adjust according to speed.

Meh! Only bit of the AFS I'm interested in is the cornering part. May have to see if peeps have managed to disable the weather and city modes...

Edited 27 September, 201510 yr by MINIMadDamo

Ive only had the car for month after it got dark (midnight sun and all that) so I have been around town with it in darkness.

But Im not overly impressed by the Xenons. Especially in Auto with AFS. The lightpattern is too wide and short.

I do find it bit better when selecting dipped headlights on the switch, but still not very impressive.

if you decide to try other bulbs,let me know how it Works out..... picking up my car in a coupple of days and my concern is that the lights are crap.

since we only have daylight for a few hours during Winter the lights are importen...

did read the other threads but got confused With all the English terms ......

I asked a similar question and Xpower who had the bulbs out confirmed it is a D3S.

 

They are 35W but cannot confirm the brand.

 

The lights are not as good as my C-class or V50 (both with Xenons) but much better than any car I have owed with halogens.

if you decide to try other bulbs,let me know how it Works out..... picking up my car in a coupple of days and my concern is that the lights are crap.

since we only have daylight for a few hours during Winter the lights are importen...

did read the other threads but got confused With all the English terms ......

I dont think they are crap, they could just have been better.

Where are you from BTW? Northern Norway here

I dont think they are crap, they could just have been better.

Where are you from BTW? Northern Norway here

 

 

Lofoten. picking the car up in Narvik

Edited 28 September, 201510 yr by bytterga

Ahh. Tromsø here.

Ahh. Tromsø here.

Yeah, not that far away....

i am a bit worried about the lights, seen a bit of negativ writing about them,not just in the forum but also in the test that NAF did in 2013. dont know if the head lights been upgraded since then.

well, now is the time to test... darkness is coming fast these days...

Yeah, not that far away....

i am a bit worried about the lights, seen a bit of negativ writing about them,not just in the forum but also in the test that NAF did in 2013. dont know if the head lights been upgraded since then.

well, now is the time to test... darkness is coming fast these days...

The dipped beams are better than on my old mk3 Mondeo with Xenon. Not sure about the high beams yet. The biggest problem as I see it, is that AFS gives a too wide and short beam, unless going faster than the speedlimits.

You have to reach 110 or 120kmh to get the AFS in highway mode.

Edited 28 September, 201510 yr by Gromle

Philips XenStart bulbs here in my MY2014 Elegance.

I'm happy with their brightness after 15 years with halogens in my previous cars.

Can't compare to others - this is my fist vehicle with xenons.

Boooo they're the same as was in my seat and pants :(

Looks like I'll be upgrading the bulbs for definite and trying to get the city mode setting turned off...

I've been looking at upgrades and there only seems to be 2 options:

1) The D3S Osama CBI's - unfortunately very expensive and LOADS of fakes out there

2) Change the system to D2S and run 55w ballasts and 5000k bulbs.

It baffles me why no aftermarket supplier hasn't taken the opportunity to produce 55w 42v D3S ballasts - there is zero competition as far as I can find. Yet there are 1000's of 55w D2S ballasts......

My current car (Seat Leon FR+ 2012) although not my first car with Xenons was the first to be Bi-Xenon and AFS.

For whatever reason I always felt as good as the high beam was the dipped been lacked what my previous MINI Cooper S had with its Dipped beam I my Xenon.

So I decided to review the upgraded bulbs to find that Phillips OEM bulbs where the worst performers of The HID bulbs and that Osram made OEM but also 2 road legal upgrades.

So decided to take a punt on the Osram Cool Blue Intense 5000K bulbs. These bulbs where advertised as OEM on the S class Mercedes, bluer tint but 30% longer beam or something than their Osram OEM.

When it came to change the bulbs it turned out the car had the crappy OEM Phillips fitted, which surprised me for a VAG car (MINI and BMWs had Osram OEM). The increase in performance was close to being the difference between halogen to Xenon! I have been very happy with them for he last 3 years.

So my questions for the Skoda experts out there, is does anyone know what make of bulbs are fitted? I believe they are DS3 fitment but powerbulbs suggests they're the same D1S fitted to my current Seat!?!?

Also has anyone felt the need to upgrade their Xenon bulbs? I'm not interested in any 6000k upgrades as anything more than 5000k is just not going to improve what you see. I believe most cars run 4200k but 4800k is probably the best.

Hi

Just spotted this, unfortunately tis a bit late for me my Leon is to be replaced this afternoon by an Octavia Scout.

The Leon had Bi Xenons and I must admit I did not think they were as bright as they could have been. My previous 2010 Ibiza Sport had halogen light but I'd put HID conversions in and the lights were great.

Unfortunately, the Scout (a 3 month old ex Skoda Management car) does not have xenons or decent DRL's so I suspect  I'll be looking at upgraded bulbs or HID kits.

Anyone know how good the HID directH15 LED bulbs are?

Boooo they're the same as was in my seat and pants :(

Looks like I'll be upgrading the bulbs for definite and trying to get the city mode setting turned off...

I found this vid on youtube: Philips XenStart vs. Osram Cool Blue Intense comparison.

I can't see much difference in their brightness...or it's just me..?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtfO5OrIBPs

I found this vid on youtube: Philips XenStart vs. Osram Cool Blue Intense comparison.

I can't see much difference in their brightness...or it's just me..?

I thought the same thing as I could not see much difference but the osram bulbs do look a little more brighter, especially when he has the lights on & you see 124 on the wall or garage door.

I was wondering the other day what type of xenon bulbs are in the Octavia, now I know

I found this vid on youtube: Philips XenStart vs. Osram Cool Blue Intense comparison.

I can't see much difference in their brightness...or it's just me..?

Trust me when I say there is a MASSIVE difference in real life. There was on my Seat Leon Mk 2 anyway.

Is that because one is cool blue (5000/6000k) and the other is 4300k and so less white.

 

The whiter might appear brighter up close, but often in the distance it's not the case.

There's Phillips X-treme vision D3S, which seems to offer up to 50% more light - rated at 4800k. Maybe worth checking out?

 

http://www.hids-direct.co.uk/philips-d3s-35w-xenon-x-tremevision-car-headlight-hid-bulb/ 

I want the CBI's but there are so many fakes out there....

Has anyone noticed on the HIDS-direct website the image they have of the CBI's is a little suspect..... How much more light????

I have also been eyeing up the CBI's & saw them today on hids direct which is the cheapest going but as you said the box is slightly different!

Found them also here for £99:00

http://www.hids4u.co.uk/D3S-OSRAM-Cool-Blue-Intense-12V-35W-5000K-Xenon-HID-Bulb.html

But I'm waiting for powerbulbs to reduce there price

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/osram-xenarc-cool-blue-intense-d3s-single

Hids direct is fine company to buy hid bulbs from, they will genuine, its only companies that only trade on eBay that you have to be careful as the fakes are so good you can only tell by looking inside the circuit board.

Edited 22 October, 201510 yr by wiilydog

Ive had 2 mk2 Octy L&K's with Xenons, and at the time of getting my MK 3 Vrs 18 months ago, I thought the lights didn't seem as bright. but put it down to there being a slight tint on the headlight glass, which did disappoint me after having such good lights. Maybe it was a change of bulb brand.