Ever wondered about those new 'Laser Blue', 'Super White' or what-have-you replacement bulbs? Will they actually improve on night driving safety, or are they just expensive toys?

Considering that the low beam head lights are supposed to light up the road 30 meters ahead and nothing more (here in Europe, that is - don't know about the 'States and other countries), most of us would properly like better night vision. Just think about it: 30 meters = the distance you travel a second at 108 km/h (67 mph), and since the braking time equals your  reaction time, it would be irresponsible to drive faster than 108 km/h / 2 = 54 km/h. Most headlights do a poor job illuminating the 30 meters they should, so even 54 km/h could be reckless driving. I therefore consider it worth the time (and money) to get the best possible performance out of the headlights.

When buying a new car and the Xenon headlight is an option, I would never, EVER consider skipping that part. I would rather be without a sunroof or something like that, if money was the object. The thing is, the old BMW E32's don't have the xenon lights and never had the option,  therefore we are at the mercy of ruthless business men, trying to make a LOT of money on blue replacement bulbs, that bears a slight resemblance to the xenon lights. Most of us know very well that our halogens never will meet the performance of the xenon's, but updating the low beams to something slightly more useful would still be nice.

The first thing to do is to make sure that you actually have 12 (or 13 volts are actually more like it) volts at the bulbs. Use a voltmeter on each bulb to check that before you do anything else. If it is low, like 9-11 volts, the battery/alternator are the first thing to test. If they check out OK, try fixing the relays/LKM as described in the Fixes/Light section. If that doesn't help, you have bad wirings that need attention.

PIAA's Super White was the talk of the town when introduced, so I gave it a shot and ordered a pair for my Mercedes back then . A bargain at $79 + shipping and tax! I went for the 80 watt with the Xtra technology, that PIAA claims produces a 110 watt output. I would say that they are slightly brighter than the normal 55 w, nothing more and nothing less. The reason why I like these bulbs anyway is that they indeed give a more whitish output than other bulbs. No fake xenon blue output, just white. So are they worth the $110+ I paid? Certainly not. Especially since they are H4 and the BMW uses H1, so they are just laying there on a shelf :-)

Laser Blue was the name of some bulbs I bought for my BMW at $35. Unfortunately, they really GIVE a blue light with a slight red tone, which makes driving a weird experience. I do believe that they light up the road about as efficient as standard bulbs, perhaps even better (I have tested them with a Laser Blue in one side and a standard in the other). The question is what the advantage in blue light is? I do prefer white, not yellow or blue.

Forgetting the tinted bulbs and just going for more light. Standard bulbs are 55 watt, so simply replacing them with ones of higher wattage, like 100, is a possibility. The question is if your wiring harness can cope with the higher power drain, or simply melts. Harness updates are available, but I don't think it is worth the money and hassle. Another problem could be the headlight units: are they metal or plastic? The metal ones on the Mercedes I used to drive had no problems with the increased heat, but the plastic units of my BMW were partly melted when I bought the car. For some reason it doesn't interfere that much with the performance, but anyway...
I have tried replacing the 55 w's with 100 w's. Perhaps there is a slight difference, but nothing that makes good on the extra 7.5 amp's drain on the battery. Could be that because it wasn't possible to find a 100w from a known company like Philips or Osram, I had to settle for noname bulbs. And the make of the bulb does make a difference. The worst ones I have seen are from Ring, a British company, I believe. One of them never worked, the other died within a week. Replaced them with Osrams and no problems since.

The most efficient improvement possible to older halogen headlights is without doubt to clean the inside of the lamps, especially the chrome parts, but also the inside of the glass. On cars like Mercedes this presents no problems, since they are easy to open and the dirt on the chrome wipes right off without much effort. BMW's, however, are an entirely different thing. Wipe the dirt off the chrome with a glass cleaner and you have a greenish plastic lamp! The chrome coating is gone. Ask me how I know! It is possible to gently wipe off some of the dirt, though, if you are very careful and constantly keeps an eye on what you are doing. If some of the chrome rubs off, you can replace it with chrome paint, just don't expect it to perform as well as the real stuff.

When you are done replacing bulbs/cleaning lamps, remember to check if the headlights are aligned correctly. Info on this can be found in the manual for your car or almost anywhere on the net...

All in all, I will have to conclude that my (all E32's?) BMW have terrible headlights. When parked next to another car, it is sometimes hard to see if the light is actually on. Even crap cars like the Mazda 626, same vintage or even older, have a much better light. When compared to a new car with standard H4 halogen lights, even turning the front fog lights on makes no big difference.