H7 headlight bulb - so much choice! Which is "best"?

LED headlights are illegal unless the car is designed for them.

Do you actually need the lights to be brighter? There appears to be an arms race into making headlights brighter which is just dazzling more drivers.

Are the lenses clouded - could they do with a buff?

Yes, otherwise it would look very odd and the beam pattern would be weird.

Possibly wise, especially if they'll include fitting in the price of the bulbs.

Theo

The old Construction and Use laws specified brightness in optical units, and this was generally 'interpreted' to lamp power. I don't know what the current, no doubt EU, regulations say but if they are sane they will also specify in optical units. Unusually bright lamps, even of the same technology, may not be legal.

I believe there is one fairly common car, I forget which, where it is necessary to remove the alternator to replace one headlight bulb.

Not a new phenomenon though. I believe that the Citroen DS headlight bulbs were a nightmare. ;-)

Generally though, most bulb replacement has got easier over the years (in my experience).

Tim

More likely UN than EU

The Headlamps on my 2012 Seat Toledo are awful (also H7), I have tried

For some reason the Seat seems to eat bulbs, but as main and dipped beam both use H7 I usually go for a pack of 10 standard lamps off ebay

Not much help, but my experience.

On a side note I don't really know why the lights are so bad, they seem misaligned to me and point too far to the left, but I ask at every MOT if the alignment is OK and it always is. Interestingly looking at the first MOT 3 years from when it was new headlight alignment was the only thing it failed on

Gordon

Are the 130% ones still 55W, or actually 71W?

Is the "brighter" just a special bluey whiteness from a coloured sleeve?

Headlights are designed to light the verge more than light oncoming traffic - ie they point to the left by design. Are you sure they aren't doing what they're designed to?

Theo

My Nissan ate bulbs, from not long out of warranty. After about 4 years the battery failed. A new battery was fitted. No more bulb failures while I had the car (another 5 years).

I think 'MOT compliant' and 'usable on unlit roads with oncoming traffic ' have never been the same thing...

And age makes the problem worse. Old eyes don't adapt to rapid light changes very well and cataracts make things even worse...

Worst of all are country roads with no white lines at all. Where the edge of the road and its centre are completely undistinguishable...

They should also have a weak beam upwards to the left, to illuminate signposts.

This sort of shape:

I think they were still 55W so I guess it was just the color temp that was different

I agree, but I have never had a car that only lights up the verge, it should at least light up my side of the road for a distance in front of the car

On my 2001 Rover 75 access to the bulb was from inside the wheel arch. So difficult that it was only possible after removing the wheel. Bulb failures and punctures were never coordinated.

Ended up just replacing with a standard Osram bulb.

Anything else seemed too complicated.

Cheers

Dave R