H7 Lowbeam bulb choices

[PaulE]

Well after 12 years and almost 55,000 miles one of my lowbeam bulbs went in my 2003 S with standard, not Litronic, headlights. I guess things just aren't made to last any longer, ha ha! My headlights are in great shape and I don't want anything that will damage them, just looking for the best, reasonably priced, standardish H7 12V 55W replacement bulbs that are out there.

I see OSRAM offers something called the H7 12v 55w 64210NBU Night Breaker Plus headlight bulb. Compared to their standard H7 12v 64210 bulbs OSRAM says they are brighter and shine farther, but still only 55W. The downside is that they cost a little more than the standard OSRAM and they last only 150 hours vs 330 hours for the standard OSRAM bulb. I would be ok with all of that as long as I knew these 64210NBU's won't damage my headlights. Has anyone had any experience with these bulbs?

Of course, a set of Nine8Six's custom projectors built for my by ParticleWave would be the ideal answer, but that's not in the budget for now.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[BRAN]

I use Osram Night Breakers & Osram cool blues...no problems so far, knock on wood and definitely a noticeable/visible improvement.

[mavis.d]

Just put Night breakers in my wife's TT didn't think they were much difference

[PaulE]

Thanks, I've ordered a set and will give them a try.

[grc0456]

Originally Posted by PaulE

Thanks, I've ordered a set and will give them a try.

Any update of how they worked for you? Quality of light? Inner lens yellowing or burning?

[PaulE]

The low beams certainly seem better than the originals in there since 2003. There is no inner lens yellowing or burning. I don't garage my car for the winter, but I've probably had it out about 10 times. which would mean 10 - 60 mile commutes home in darkness. Not sure if that is enough time to see any burning or if the colder winter temps would help prevent the burning from occurring.

[grc0456]

Originally Posted by PaulE

The low beams certainly seem better than the originals in there since 2003. There is no inner lens yellowing or burning. I don't garage my car for the winter, but I've probably had it out about 10 times. which would mean 10 - 60 mile commutes home in darkness. Not sure if that is enough time to see any burning or if the colder winter temps would help prevent the burning from occurring.

Thanks for the update, Paul. Yes, I feel the standard H7's in my (new to me) 03 are pretty dull - even for a 13 year old car I think. My inner lenses are not yellowed and I don't want to ruin them. Some people say they have no problems with upgraded bulbs (especially the Osram NB's), and others say you'll get yellowing. I wish Porsche would have used better plastic or used glass.

Funny thing is, the car had the HID conversions when I bought it, but the seller had installed ambers to replace the yellowed clear originals. I hated the non-stock ambers - it's one reason I wanted a 03/04. I bought some nice clears from a forum member, and sold the HID ambers.

Oh well, daylight savings is here and I don't drive at night to often. Maybe I'll wait. Thanks, again.

[PaulE]

I think these bulbs are not supposed to be any hotter than OEM. They are brighter but that comes at the expense of bulb longevity. Normal bulbs have a 300+ hour life and these bulbs have a ~150 hour life. I'll keep an eye on my lenses and report if I see any damage or not after I do some longer warm weather night time drives, or daytime rain drives with lights on.

[PaulE]

I've done a bit of driving with these bulbs on and the lenses and headlight covers still look fine - no burning or yellowing - so far so good.

[grc0456]

OK, thanks for the update. I guess I'm off to Amazon to buy the Osram Nightbreakers!


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[PaulE]

Well I've driven about 6,000 miles with these bulbs. In direct sunlight my inner lenses look fine but on overcast days I can see a bit of yellowing on the inner lenses. Today is overcast and I took these pictures, which don't show much. I can't say for sure that these bulbs are the cause of the yellowing, this is the first I've noticed since the car was new in 2003. Does anyone know if standard bulbs can cause yellowing of headlight lenses?

[JFP in PA]

Keep a close eye on them, we have had customers have problems: