I wish to change the dipped beams H7 bulbs on my facelift Laura (dipped beams have projectors). I want to know, can i get white light for the dipped beams by changing just the bulb? I don't want to put relays, blasters, extra wiring, etc. just want to get whiter light by a simple bulb swap. If possible, which bulbs (Philips, Osram, Ring, etc.) should i get? TIA!
Oh, BTW i found these going cheap on fleabay: XENON MAX H7 HEADLIGHT BULBS SKODA OCTAVIA VRS on eBay (end time 22-Dec-10 21:13:42 GMT)
Will these help?

You could try Philips Night breaker or Osram cool blue. Although these produce White light, the output wont be as expected. They advertise 80% more light than normal halogens which aint true. You may experience slight improvement over standard halogens. Since you already have projectors in your Laura, you could try HID's. 6000k color temp producing White light.
But for this you need to install ballast.
Please see the pics below. This is the output of my Swift running on Projectors with 4300k HID's. Pure white with a tinge of Yellow. This color temp offers the best visibility range.

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thanks mate. BTW do you have any views on the Osram Nightbreaker Plus range of lamps? What is the color temperature of the Xenon bulbs on the Superb / L&K / Mercs / Bimmers? If i were to put 4300K halogens H7, does the light color match with the Xenon lights on these cars?
Noob question: HIDs means those Xenons? I dont want to put any electricals extra to stock but want to achieve the white color and brightness of the Xenon lights available on the Mercs, Bimmers, Superb or L&K. Will installing the Osram Nightbreaker Plus give desired results?

Please keep in mind that for best results, HID burners need to be installed in projectors which are designed for use with HID burners. Use of HID burners in projectors which were designed for halogen lamps (like in laura) may not give desired results. In one of my experiments with Hyundai Sonata projectors, I've observed that the beam pattern got completely screwed up (voids in the middle and weird cutoff lines) when used with HID burners while they performed as expected with normal Halogen bulbs. The reason is HID burners and Halogen lamps have different emitter patterns.

What colour and what wattage? What specs- H1,H7? LOL! It's my first time here.

I had personally used Osram Cool Blue halogens before. Although it's much better than the stock headlights, you cant expect it to be as bright as halogens.

High end cars have HID's ranging from 4300k-6000k. Think 4300k is widely used since that's the legal HID.
4300k halogens will almost have the same color temp but the output will be drastically different.

HID's means Xenons. If you need to have the desired output, you need to have HID's. Not much electricals, you just need to have ballast and then it's just plug n play.

Cheers.!

Color - 3000k or 43000k (Nothing above that)
Wattage - 55w (Stock Wattage) else you can upgrade to 90/100w. This will require relays, ceramic holder, wires etc. Extra cost but effective. This is best used for a short period since after a long run, the headlight assembly gets very hot.
Specs - Since you have Zen, i think it will be H4 bulbs. Please confirm this with your mechanic before purchasing the bulbs.

Cheers

I am ready for such a mod, what all do I need to get?
As far as I could make out, other than the bulbs, I need-
Bosch Relay- What specs?
Heavy Gauge wiring- What gauge?
Two Roots Ceramic Holders

Did I miss out on anything?
Please guide me.

I heard Philips Rally 130/100 are good, should I look around for them?

They are definitely good but if you go through this thread you'd find not everybody has had a pleasant experience with them. These bulbs have given up on long drives for some, flashing both low-high beam together resulted in the bulbs going off, blackening of lights within 1 month of nominal usage etc. etc. But on the other side, some have run them without any trouble for even a year or two.

Why don't you consider 100/90 from philips? I'd say they are enough for highway driving. Not saying that you wouldn't encounter any of the issues listed above but the likelihood of such occurrences would be low. IMO 130/100 is too much! Spare the oncoming traffic please

In continuation with the above,
What model to go for in this case?
Where can I see all models for headlight bulbs for Philips?
What would be the cost for a pair of these bulbs?

naveen ji, sorry to correct you, but it should be 4300k if iam not mistaken.

It would be very helpful for new comers if you post approx cost of these HID's.

Philips Lighting India - Select A Bulb

Cost for Philips Rally 100/90 should be somewhere around 300-350 I believe and relay, wiring, holders would be extra. Total ~1000-1100

DV, its very true that HID on Halogen HL assys will give weird beam patterns. Both are entirely different in terms of primarily light source and bulb length obviously affecting the focus of the reflector assy.

Have an update on this:

Halogen headlamps and HID headlamps require very different optics to produce a safe and effective—not to mention legal—beam pattern. How come? Because of the very different characteristics of the two kinds of light source.

A halogen bulb has a cylindrical light source: the glowing filament. The space immediately surrounding the cylinder of light is completely dark, and so the sharpest contrast between bright and dark is along the edges of the cylinder of light. The ends of the filament cylinder fade from bright to dark. An HID bulb, on the other hand, has a crescent-shaped light source -- the arc. It's crescent-shaped because as it passes through the space between the two electrodes, its heat causes it to try to rise. The space immediately surrounding the crescent of light glows in layers...the closer to the crescent of light, the brighter the glow. The ends of the arc crescent are the brightest points, and immediately beyond these points is completely dark, so the sharpest contrast between bright and dark is at the ends of the crescent of light.

This diagram shows the very different characteristics of the filament vs. the arc:


When designing the optics (lens and/or reflector) for a lamp, the characteristics of the light source are the driving factor around which everything else must be engineered.

If you go and change the light source, you've done the equivalent of putting on somebody else's eyeglasses: You can probably make them fit on your face OK, but you won't see properly.

Fact is only very few will realize the fact and proceed

Got the headlights checked by MASS.
The Driver Side headlight was tested with a new bulb and it worked perfectly fine. SO, I need to get the headlights replaced.
Now, some things to note here.

My car has a 200W Hi-Lek Headlight Relay+Wiring+Ceramic Holders presently, powering a pair of Halonix 100/90W bulbs.

Now, today, I enquired about Philips Rally Headlamp bulbs.
Following were the price quotes-
130/100- Rs. 190 per bulb
100/90- Rs. 140 per bulb

Now, I had been using this setup for close to 3 years without any problems. No reflector fading or blackened headlamps. Everything was OK.


1. Seeing all this, should I upgrade to Philips Rally 130/100, I am very much tempted to do so.


2. Would the present 200W relay, wiring and ceramic holders suffice if I just change the bulbs to Philips Rally 130/100?


3. If it is required, I can get a Bosch Relay tomorrow, what should be it's wattage then if I use 130/100W Philips Rally?


4. What would be the best option for me?

Please reply soon.

These come as a set. Consists of A pair of bulbs, relays, ceramic holders and sufficient wiring. Am not sure on the tech specs. I basically got the entire kit for 1.2k including fitting. (Osram cool blue 90/100w)

If you have considerable amount of budget, you can try HID's but it's got it's limitations on stock headlights
@Sajjt - How about you shed your ideas on the tech specs.

Sorry about that. it's 3000k-4300k.
3000k HID's are not common since they have pure yellow output.

For the HID's, the price starts from 6k all the way upto 12k.
I got my Auto Gauge 4300k HID's for 7.5k (complete kit), whereas Philips may come around 9k-10k depending your city.

In Cochin, Auto Gauge HID's are now almost 9k since they increased the customs duty. Got this updated last week.

Personally speaking, I wouldnt recommend 130/100w bulbs. This is because, they produce considerable amount of heat. Majority of the people using them have had bad experiences. I personally saw this in my friends Getz where the reflector was blackened in just one month.

Another option would be to use HID's which will cost a lot higher. Starting price will be 6k depending upon the brand and dealer.