[hakunabatata]

With a lot of highway trips coming up in the vacations, changing the headlamps was inevitable considering the weak output of the stock headlamps.

I had initially thought of getting the projectors from the new model installed on my 2015 Asta but dropped the idea as the Hyundai ASC was reluctant to do so and based on people's experience with the same.

Doing an aftermarket kit install meant splicing the lines and addition of relays and ceramic holders, which is a sure shot way of killing your warranty.

With that in mind, i decided to go with the Phillips Xtreme Visoin Plus route. These bulbs have the same specifications as stock bulbs and require no modifications whatsoever. Best part about this is that these are plug and play. If anything goes south with your car then these can be easily removed before sending the car to the SVC to avoid hassles with warranty.

I decided to take the Do It Yourself approach, putting to use the electronics degree that i have

Here's a step by step guide to changing the bulbs on your Elite I20.
On a side note, this can be valid for most hyundai cars and not just the I20 as the design philosophy is mostly same on the current generation cars.

STEP 1: Remove the weather seal cap from the headlamp assembly.

Turn the cap slowly to remove it. Make sure you have decent grip over it. It can be a real pain to remove it from the engine bay if you happen to drop it.




STEP 2: Remove the power cable connector.

Remove the main power cable by slightly pressing on the tab and gently pulling the connector out.




STEP 3: Removing the Bulb from the housing.

Gently press the locking bracket downwards while sliding it out of the tab.
Once the clip is unlocked, just gently pull it and wiggle the bulb out of the housing.




STEP 4: Installing the new Bulbs.

Gently pull out the bulb from the socket, make sure you hold the base of the bulb and not the glass portion as it will break under force.

Once the old bulb is out, simply plug the new one in the socket.

Warning: Do not attempt to do this if the headlamps were ON for over 5 mins. The bulbs get very hot and can break or severely burn you.


Note: Removing the left side bulb is a bit tricky as there is very little space to move your hands around. Also Please don't drop the weather seal cap as i did, or have a long stick ready to poke it out if you do

STEP 5: Reassembly
Do all the steps in reverse. Plug in the power cable and test it out. I did this during the day hence couldn't compare the performance yet.

Rains are going to come soon and it's good to be prepared. It's always good to know your car inside out. Made this post so that people can be ready in case their bulb fuses in the middle of a trip. I make it a point to carry one extra set of bulbs just in case this happens on a trip. Knowing how to change your car's bulbs can be a lifesaver at times.

Hope this helps

[madhav14]

Originally Posted by hakunabatata

I had initially thought of getting the projectors from the new model installed on my 2015 Asta but dropped the idea as the Hyundai ASC was reluctant to do so and based on people's experience with the same.

May I know what was the people's experience please? Because even I'm in a dilemma whether to upgrade to projectors or not, and I want to know the feedback on projectors.

With that in mind, i decided to go with the Phillips Xtreme Visoin Plus route. These bulbs have the same specifications as stock bulbs and require no modifications whatsoever.

So, are they having the same spec of 55/60w? Can you please share the feedback on their performance at the earliest possible?

I'm getting bugged with the constant night drives which I'm forced to do these days, and I need to change my bulbs immediately. Thanks in advance

[Maverick1977]

Hi HB, unable to send you a PM, hence posting here. I have installed Osram Nightbrrakers in my i20 as I was facing the same dilemma as yours. Tried all options but simply upgrading the bulbs seemed to be the best & safest bet. With NB upgrade the low beam has definitely improved but the high beam is a disaster. In fact it's so bad I am forced to drive with low beam on the highway.
What is your experience with the high beam as both our bulbs almost look similar.
Which part of Mumbai do U stay in? Would love to do a comparo side by side.

[hakunabatata]

Originally Posted by madhav14

May I know what was the people's experience please? Because even I'm in a dilemma whether to upgrade to projectors or not, and I want to know the feedback on projectors.




So, are they having the same spec of 55/60w? Can you please share the feedback on their performance at the earliest possible?

I'm getting bugged with the constant night drives which I'm forced to do these days, and I need to change my bulbs immediately. Thanks in advance

A lot of people i checked with have reported the performance of the projectors to be average and not amounting to the upgrade. Also projectors usually give out white light, which does looks cool and feels brighter, is actually hard for our brain to process. This is usually the case in rainy season where the diffraction of light is higher than a sunny day. From what i've heard, the stock projectors may prove to be weak in the rainy season.


I decided to drop the idea because of the approaching monsoon, didn't want to risk visibility and even if i did, the SVC wont sell me the projectors.

The Xtreme vision bulbs are 55/60W and are plug and play. No relay/ modification necessary.

As for the performance, i installed these bulbs today morning. Did a quick test in the dimly lit park where i stay and found the output to be noticeably brighter and the throw had increased as well. The light is still yellow, but leaning slightly on the white side of the spectrum. I couldn't go out for a proper drive today due to time constraints, but will put up a proper post with update on performance and pictures in the coming days.

Originally Posted by Maverick1977

Hi HB, unable to send you a PM, hence posting here. I have installed Osram Nightbrrakers in my i20 as I was facing the same dilemma as yours. Tried all options but simply upgrading the bulbs seemed to be the best & safest bet. With NB upgrade the low beam has definitely improved but the high beam is a disaster. In fact it's so bad I am forced to drive with low beam on the highway.
What is your experience with the high beam as both our bulbs almost look similar.
Which part of Mumbai do U stay in? Would love to do a comparo side by side.

I haven't got the chance to take the car out for a proper test as yet, but by the look of it, the high beam seems satisfactory to me.
Also, in what context is the high beam bad on the NBs ? I'm guessing poor throw or illumination ?

I stay in byculla east, a comparo sounds great ! I'm in fact planning to do a comparison for the stock bulbs vs the Xtreme Vision Plus bulbs. A NB comparison would be quite great thing to add to it.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing, Hakunabatata! Moving your post out to a new thread so that other i20 owners can benefit from it.

[sidzz]

Thanks!

Exactly the same procedure applies to my Grand i10 as well and maybe other cars from Hyundai.

After fitting the new bulb there might be a need to have the headlights focused.

[YoungSaint]

Originally Posted by hakunabatata

I haven't got the chance to take the car out for a proper test as yet, but by the look of it, the high beam seems satisfactory to me.

I changed to Philips Extreme vision last monsoon to get a better visibility in my Swift Dzire. The throw had increased and the night driving was a little easier but this light is still not good in heavy downpours. This is my personal opinion and I would definitely like to hear your thoughts about it.

Out Of Topic: Your UserName "HakunaBatata" is hilarious!

[hakunabatata]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thanks for sharing, Hakunabatata! Moving your post out to a new thread so that other i20 owners can benefit from it.

I don't know why it didn't strike me to make a new thread, anyway thanks for moving the post out. You are right, reach of the post will surely increase now that it has it's own thread.

Originally Posted by sidzz

Thanks!

Exactly the same procedure applies to my Grand i10 as well and maybe other cars from Hyundai.

After fitting the new bulb there might be a need to have the headlights focused.

Hyundai seems to be following a similar design philosophy for it's newer cars. As a result these steps aren't just limited to the i20. I believe the i10, Verna and Creta have the same procedure for changing the bulbs.

As for focusing, some alignment might be needed depending on how the previous bulbs were set up. Thankfully this is again a no brainer. One needs to just tighten or loosen the screw on the headlamp housing to adjust the beam. Vertical adjustment of the beam can be done on the fly with the light level button/wheel inside the car.

Originally Posted by YoungSaint

I changed to Philips Extreme vision last monsoon to get a better visibility in my Swift Dzire. The throw had increased and the night driving was a little easier but this light is still not good in heavy downpours. This is my personal opinion and I would definitely like to hear your thoughts about it.

You are absolutely right ! The bulbs are meant to provide improvement over stock bulbs, and they do their job fairly well considering they run at the same power as the stock bulbs. The throw has definitely increased and roads are illuminated to a higher degree over the stock bulbs, but when it comes to driving in heavy rains, there's still room for lot of improvement.

By design these bulbs give out a whitish yellow light. This end of the color spectrum is readily absorbed/diffracted by the rain, which is why most brands sell "Weather Yellow" "Pure Yellow" Bulbs. Yellow tends to penetrate more into the rain providing better visibility (Science mumbo jumbo, open to debate)

I was finally able to get the car out in rains and yes the bulbs leave a lot to be desired when driving in rains at night. Most wet asphalt roads will just absorb the light making everything look black. Absence of street light makes it worse.

With that said, these bulbs are a significant upgrade over the stock ones and the improvement can be readily seen. But as with everything, nothing is perfect. Hold on to upgrading to these bulbs if you plan on driving under heavy downpours. You'd be better off getting the Rain specific bulbs ( Philips Weather Something.. Not sure on this).

Out Of Topic: Your UserName "HakunaBatata" is hilarious!

Haha Thanks

[NSK123]

Tried all these options for Punto. Night Breaker, Xtreme gives very incremental improvement. The main problem is the reflector design which spreads the beam. After these experiments, I have added AutoPal auxiliary lamps with the same 55W bulbs and is much better now.

[aveemashfaq]

For all those people who think that upgrading bulbs to higher wattage requires splicing of wires etc, let me clarify that.

I have a Hyundai Getz at home and the stock throw was pathetic. I bought a hella headlamp wiring kit with two relays. And please remember to get wiring kits with two relays. The stores will try to sell you ones with a single relay. And the ones with single relay will conk out if you flash your headlights often. Anyways, I got me a wiring kit and the assembly is simple. No splicing, not cutting.

1. Remove the stock headlamp plug from one side (you can choose any side) and plug it into the input of the wiring kit.
2. Connect the +ve terminal of the wiring kit to the battery
3. Connect the -ve terminal (one for each head light) to the car body somewhere (I mounted them on the fender mounting screw)
4. Connect the OUT of the wiring kit to the head lamps. You can install up to 130/110 watt head lamps. I got 100/90.
5. Find a good place to keep the relays. I left them tied to the AC IN pipe.

Enjoy!!!!

No splicing. No problems till date. The service center warned me that the head lamp assembly will melt from the excess heat. I have been on long tours where I put them ON for upto 8 hours continuously. And I also had short stints in traffic jams upto 40 minutes and I have not faced any issues. So, maybe the headlamp units will melt if you live in Saudi Arabia and drive by flashing all the time in daytime.

Be advised. I don't have motors for headlight assembly. Mine is the old fashioned screw type adjustment. But in all fairness, the headlamp motors are mounted outside the reflector unit.

-Aveem Ashfaq

[hakunabatata]

This can surely be done but what worries me is the higher wattage loading the battery far too much or drawing too much current, leading to shorts or blown fuses.

More and more cars have features/accessories that rely heavily on battery power and it would be only wise to put the higher wattage bulbs after making sure the battery can provide enough juice and that running the bulbs won't blow any fuse.

As for the headlamp assembly melting, it all depends on the plastic quality. Cheaper quality plastics will certainly deform in the generated heat.

[aveemashfaq]

Originally Posted by hakunabatata

This can surely be done but what worries me is the higher wattage loading the battery far too much or drawing too much current, leading to shorts or blown fuses.

More and more cars have features/accessories that rely heavily on battery power and it would be only wise to put the higher wattage bulbs after making sure the battery can provide enough juice and that running the bulbs won't blow any fuse.

As for the headlamp assembly melting, it all depends on the plastic quality. Cheaper quality plastics will certainly deform in the generated heat.

About the higher wattage, I cannot comment because it depends on your setup in the car. I don't listen to audio and so my car has no stereo and is bone stock and so no fluctuations or drop in power or other issues.

About the "blow fuses", let me tell clarify one thing. There is absolutely no possibility of blown fuses apart from if you do something horribly wrong. In the head lamp wiring kit, the whole stock system is retained and unhampered. The wiring kit takes input for whether to turn on head lights or not from the stock system. It draws power from battery directly. And it gives OUT to the bulbs. So, no blown fuses or short in your car.

And regarding the plastic quality, you are true. But I guess we all have OEM plastics so no issues with that.

[vrblr24]

Hi HakunaBatata,

I am also considering the upgrade of the headlight bulbs on my Elite i20. Can you please share the specifications of the bulb you used and their unit cost?

Thanks in advance.

[Serendipity_05]

I have used Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited for my Elite i20 Asta CRDi in the past. These bulbs have an offwhitish tint and works as designed! I would recommend using this over Philips Xtreme Vision which is equally good but has a more yellowish Tint to it.

[verma_rahul]

Originally Posted by Serendipity_05

I have used Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited for my Elite i20 Asta CRDi in the past. These bulbs have an offwhitish tint and works as designed! I would recommend using this over Philips Xtreme Vision which is equally good but has a more yellowish Tint to it.

Absolutely! Nightbreaker Unlimited is what I've been using in my Elite i20 as well as my Swift. The throw is good enough (needless to say - can't be compared with a 100/90 Philips Rally coupled with a Hella/Philips wiring harness kit).

It actually saves you the trouble from getting it removed before taking the car for any sort of warranty claims.

Plus, NB Unlimited is manageable in the rainy season because of the "not-so-white" tinge. BTW, has anyone upgraded their fog lamp bulbs? Can you enlighten us please? Some pics for before and after comparison would be good for the fog lamp bulb upgrade.

TIA!