These pictures are from the german forum I linked earlier.

They were taken with fix white balance so you can compare the colors.

Maybe around 4500 K?

I have to say that I am fine with the factory bulbs with their bit more yellowish color at 45 W.

When I look at my headlights I can't tell it's more yellowish now (yes, it's visible on the road).

The choice is yours. :)

If you are afraid of the regulations in your country you can contact the seller and ask for 35 W stickers. ;)

The german guys also did this in a few cases.

Edited 31 December, 20169 yr by aki78

These pictures are from the german forum I linked earlier.

They were taken with fix white balance so you can compare the colors.

Maybe around 4500 K?

I have to say that I am fine with the factory bulbs with their bit more yellowish color at 45 W.

When I look at my headlights I can't tell it's more yellowish now (yes, it's visible on the road).

The choice is yours. :)

If you are afraid of the regulations in your country you can contact the seller and ask for 35 W stickers. ;)

The german guys also did this in a few cases.

 

That's a good idea, and at USD$56 they look very cheap. Let me know in a few months how you go with regard to misfires and quality; if no misfires then I think I'll consider them ;)

Edited 2 January, 20179 yr by mabnz

That's a good idea, and at USD$56 they look very cheap. Let me know in a few months how you go with regard to misfires and quality; if no misfires then I think I'll consider them ;)

Don't wait for me...one of the german forum guys (sabimi) is a serious tester.

The 45 W ballasts are still doing their job after 500 hours.

More info here.

Don't wait for me...one of the german forum guys (sabimi) is a serious tester.

The 45 W ballasts are still doing their job after 500 hours.

More info here.

 

OK I've given in and placed the order for the ballasts.

 

Reading through xpower's well written instructions, I had one question. Where do I need to press with a screwdriver to release the clip - is it the indicated yellow area in this picture, as in in the hole? Do I need to remove the headlight bolt at the same time?

 

 

EDIT: I see now, must be this one here:

 

Edited 3 January, 20179 yr by mabnz

Yep, that's it.

 

Picture from the service manual.

Edited 3 January, 20179 yr by Petunet

The lighting gods (aka DHL) delivered me a Yeaky present today, so I grabbed some pics (still stock 35W ballasts at this point). I went to some length to maintain the same ISO/aperture/colour/shutter speed, so they should be indicative.

 

 

Stock bulbs (Phillips 4300K)

 

6500K Yeaky left, stock right

 

5500K Yeaky left, stock right

 

5500K Yeaky both sides (the right seems to be slightly whiter than the left for some reason)

 

There doesn't seem to be any increase (or decrease) in luminosity, but I'll know for sure once I can get out at night on the road.

Edited 12 January, 20179 yr by mabnz

Have just tried them on the road and they are terrible. The colour is awesome, but there seems to be dark spots now in the beam (which definitely weren't there with the stock Philips bulbs). On high beam it's even more noticeable.

 

I don't know if this is the Yeakys or the projector, but it makes them worse! Perhaps the Yeakys aren't fitting in the lens the same way the Phillips bulbs do.

Edited 12 January, 20179 yr by mabnz

Next try will be the morimotos :-)

Have just tried them on the road and they are terrible. The colour is awesome, but there seems to be dark spots now in the beam (which definitely weren't there with the stock Philips bulbs). On high beam it's even more noticeable.

 

I don't know if this is the Yeakys or the projector, but it makes them worse! Perhaps the Yeakys aren't fitting in the lens the same way the Phillips bulbs do.

 

I have never heard of Yeaky, however... a quick search suggests you can pick them up for about £20 for a pair, compared with Osram, Philips HID bulbs etc. which cost significantly more. Despite being the correct connector/bulb type, the quality and manufacturing precision of these cheap (chinese?) HID bulbs are nowhere near as good as the proper branded HID bulbs and it shows when you fire them up. The beam is nowhere near as tight and precise, and the colour is bluer than it should be. Auto Express did a HID bulb test last year and found the cheap stuff to be terrible:

 

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/93361/xenons4u-hid-bulb

I have never heard of Yeaky, however... a quick search suggests you can pick them up for about £20 for a pair, compared with Osram, Philips HID bulbs etc. which cost significantly more. Despite being the correct connector/bulb type, the quality and manufacturing precision of these cheap (chinese?) HID bulbs are nowhere near as good as the proper branded HID bulbs and it shows when you fire them up. The beam is nowhere near as tight and precise, and the colour is bluer than it should be. Auto Express did a HID bulb test last year and found the cheap stuff to be terrible:

 

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/93361/xenons4u-hid-bulb

 

It's interesting, as I went off recommendations from a 180 page thread on a German forum, where Yeakys were touted to provide the best lumens and similar performance. Maybe I've just had a bad batch. Everything is made in China.

 

It may well be, actually, that the Phillips were just brighter (at the same wattage) than the Yeakys and hence the Yeaky showed up imperfections in the projector more readily.

 

Next try will be the morimotos :-)

 

Already ordered :-(

It's not very visible, but I've tried to illustrate the difference with some dashcam footage; you can almost see the dark areas of the beam in the Yeaky clip.

 

Yeaky and stock 4300K.

Edited 12 January, 20179 yr by mabnz

It's not very visible, but I've tried to illustrate the difference with some dashcam footage; you can almost see the dark areas of the beam in the Yeaky clip.

 

Yeaky and stock 4300K.

 

Comparing the two! I think the stock actually look better, I paused both videos at certain times to match the layout of each other on the road & to me, it seems the stock 4300k seem to project the light better & brighter.

Comparing the two! I think the stock actually look better, I paused both videos at certain times to match the layout of each other on the road & to me, it seems the stock 4300k seem to project the light better & brighter.

 

Agree, stock do look better - the beam looks fuller. Still not sure if it's the bulb or projector, but I'll know soon once I can install the Morimotos.

Edited 13 January, 20179 yr by mabnz

The projectors don't help - there are dark spots with the OE setup

The projectors don't help - there are dark spots with the OE setup

 

I guess it's not feasible to replace it without replacing the entire headlight assembly?

Morimotos arrived today. 

 

 

Initial impressions - beam better than the Yeakys, and better colour, and no colour change as they warm up (unlike the Yeakys).

 

Mabnz, did you just buy the Morimotos bulbs only! or did you also buy new ballasts too? or stock/oem ballasts with new Morimotos bulbs?

 

The beam looks much better  B) but why are you driving around with the full beams on all the time? would of been better to see dipped beams, which on the video you only see from 24 seconds to 28 seconds, the rest of the video is in full beams?

Mabnz, did you just buy the Morimotos bulbs only! or did you also buy new ballasts too? or stock/oem ballasts with new Morimotos bulbs?

 

The beam looks much better  B) but why are you driving around with the full beams on all the time? would of been better to see dipped beams, which on the video you only see from 24 seconds to 28 seconds, the rest of the video is in full beams?

 

Dipped beams are good too, I'll try and get a video of those also. The full beam was cause I've got HBA turned on and there were no other cars or street lights  ;)

 

I have the new ballasts here just waiting to go in - the video above is just from the bulb replacement with stock ballasts. Hopefully installing the new ballasts this weekend all going well.

Edited 18 January, 20179 yr by mabnz

Nice 1 ;) they definitely look a vast improvement even with just changing the D3s bulbs on stock/oem ballasts :thumbup:

Looking forward to the full video :)

If I purchase a pair of the Morimotos 5500k I presume these will be ok to run on the stock/oem ballasts & will I lose out on any functions like AFL or any full beam functions? Is the Morimotos 5500k the best option to pure white setup, like the stock Philips D3s but a tad brighter/whiter?

http://www.morimotohid.com/components/bulbs/d3s-xb-hid.html

Edited 18 January, 20179 yr by BATVANVRS

Nice 1 ;) they definitely look a vast improvement even with just changing the D3s bulbs on stock/oem ballasts :thumbup:

Looking forward to the full video :cool:

If I purchase a pair of the Morimotos 5500k I presume these will be ok to run on the stock/oem ballasts & will I lose out on any functions like AFL or any full beam functions? Is the Morimotos 5500k the best option to pure white setup, like the stock Philips D3s but a tad brighter/whiter?

http://www.morimotohid.com/components/bulbs/d3s-xb-hid.html

 

Yep they'll be fine, they're direct replacements for the existing D3S Phillips you've got now. They're whiter than the existing stock 4300K you have now.

 

I purchased mine from Amazon, here.

xpower

 

Just out of interest, what was the Osram CBI's like, compared to the original Phillips D3s bulbs, much improvement!

 

Edit: Above, found the thread 

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/373126-upgrading-the-xenon-bulbs/page-2

 

Also who did you order the Morimotos from.  B)

Edited 19 January, 20179 yr by BATVANVRS

xpower

Just out of interest, what was the Osram CBI's like, compared to the original Phillips D3s bulbs, much improvement!

Edit: Above, found the thread

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/373126-upgrading-the-xenon-bulbs/page-2

Also who did you order the Morimotos from. B)

The Osrams were slightly whiter but no visual improvement apart from that - I'd say around 4800k.

I ordered my mori's from the retrofit source in the US, they came pretty quick if I remember.

I'm running D2S though not D3S

My friend is running the osrams now in his focus and when we park them next to each other, my setup vastly outshines his.

Well I bit the bullet & ordered the Morimotos last night (5500k D3s) from the US site  B)  http://www.morimotohid.com/

 

I was going to order from ebay or Amazon but was kind of not sure if I should or not! with the horror stories you hear about fake bulbs etc so ordered direct from the Morimoto website which accepts paypal so hopefully covered there for 180 days  :thumbup:

 

Looking forward to delivery hopefully 6-10 days  ;) received a tracking information email today from them already but when you click on the tracking info, it shows status as being delivered 13th January 2015? I'm hoping the tracking needs to be updated? & fingers crossed that I ain't been had  :sweat:  :|

 

Comparing the price of these delivered from the US @ roughly £110.00 for both D3s bulbs to UK sellers of Phillips bulbs @ £70-£80.00 I thought it was worth a punt especially from pictures & videos above & online reviews.

 

I will post an update from delivery status to fitting them so everyone else can see the results like previous posts within this thread.

 

Thanks to xpower & mabnz for there knowledge & help regards these bulbs  B)  I just hope that I receive them!

 

Edit:

 

Tracking details now correct  :whew:  

Edited 21 January, 20179 yr by BATVANVRS

Well I bit the bullet & ordered the Morimotos last night (5500k D3s) from the US site B) http://www.morimotohid.com/

I was going to order from ebay or Amazon but was kind of not sure if I should or not! with the horror stories you hear about fake bulbs etc so ordered direct from the Morimoto website which accepts paypal so hopefully covered there for 180 days :thumbup:

Looking forward to delivery hopefully 6-10 days ;) received a tracking information email today from them already but when you click on the tracking info, it shows status as being delivered 13th January 2015? I'm hoping the tracking needs to be updated? & fingers crossed that I ain't been had :sweat: :|

Comparing the price of these delivered from the US @ roughly £110.00 for both D3s bulbs to UK sellers of Phillips bulbs @ £70-£80.00 I thought it was worth a punt especially from pictures & videos above & online reviews.

I will post an update from delivery status to fitting them so everyone else can see the results like previous posts within this thread.

Thanks to xpower & mabnz for there knowledge & help regards these bulbs B) I just hope that I receive them!

Are you going be upgrading the ballasts to the 45w too?

If not you'll only notice a colour difference.

Are you going be upgrading the ballasts to the 45w too?

If not you'll only notice a colour difference.

I have no plans to upgrade the ballasts at this moment? (maybe in due course) Its more the colour difference that I'm actually after, a bit more whitish.