I actually prefer the cool blue intense. Is it just me or do they appear even brighter than night breaker in the video? I am watching on iPad.

 

So does a single D2S light bulb covers low and high beam? I presume so as they refer to our headlights as bi-xenon. Also DIY to replace? Same process as replacing a halogen bulb? Just don't touch he glass? Wear cotton gloves or anything else?

 

Ok got it. Missed it the first time round.

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/me...OEMDSeries.pdf

 

the CBI will offer greater contrast, but less light output/lumens...personal preference thing.
1 D2S bulb per headlight, the projector unit shutter/cut-off shield changes to provide low vs high beam

 

So for those who did a direct replacement what did you go with? Mine are original so i'll probably do this next.

TIA!

David

 

Yeah the question appears to be going OEM Philips or OSRAM.

 

It will be interesting to see what people recommend. If I remember correctly, there are only 2 types of HID bulbs. Then there are the different manufacturers and colors and such. I was unaware that these lights degraded over time. I suspected that this was the case and it makes sense now.

To anyone who replaced their bulbs, are they hard to get to in the housing? The light housings are actually fairly easy to remove from the car, correct?

PS I will throw out that something else that can make a huge difference is just wet sanding and polishing the clear plastic on the housings. This is especially true if you have rock pitting or failing uv clear coating. The only bummer is that there isn't really any way I am aware of to replace the uv clear coating.

To the OP- I just got a 2016 e350 with the standard LED low beam headlights, and it is striking to see how bright they are. I wish that the car was spec'd with the lighting package because it converts the high beams to LED and has adaptive cornering lights. The e350 is a company car and so I didn't get to select the options though... If you want to see something crazy surrounding where car head lights are going, look up the new 7 series adaptive LED headlights. It is amazing how the work. Essentially, you have your high beams on almost all the time on the highway, but the car's computer turns off individual LEDs that would shine towards any other car. Hell, it turns off the LEDs that would shine at reflective road signs and reflect back towards the driver in the car!

 

I read through your thread. Could you elaborate a bit on going this route vs just simply changing to a new higher performance bulb? Would you do this again after having used your custom setup for about 3 years?

 

I also found an interesting article by TRS. It compares all bulbs.

https://www.hidplanet.com/forums/for...D2S-Bulb-Test=

Keep in mind what want is higher number of lumens. That is the measure of the amount of light. The other measure is the color temperature. Ideally most people are looking in the 4000k to 4800k area. Under 4k is going to look yellowish like halogens and over 5k begins to look like a tuner Honda Civic with the blue/purple headlights. It seems like most of the time the 4200k area will seem ideal to older eyes and the higher 4800 area will look best to younger eyes. My preference is just a touch of yellow am likely going to buy in the 4200k area.

 

I don't believe our lights use the HID as high beam nor do we have a moveable shield so far as I know, we have a dedicated halogen bulb that turns on instead. They used halogen because it can quickly fire, swapping those out can help high beams - I'm using Silverstar in mine.

As for the UV coating, I had mine sanded and polished but the local detail guy. Afterwards he put an optically clear film over the lense that will prevent degradation and stop rock chips. My lights look like new for $250 and it was money well spent IMO! They have a film specifically for windshields though but he won't use it unless the glass is new. Check with your local high end detail shops. This guy did lights on another car of mine while I waited and then gave my beater a 3 stage wash and foam lol.

 

there are multiple HID bulb style, D1S, D1R, D2S, D2R, D3S, etc. etc.. D1/D2 being most common.
Yes the 996.2(all years of 996tt/GT2/GT3(N.A.), and Carrera years 2002+) HID headlights are Bi-Xenon and utilize a shuttered projector, the halogen reflector unit is the 'flasher' and is also used in addition to the highbeam xenon projection. 996.1 'Litronic' lights are single Xenon units where the projector only handles low-beam duty

 

Your original retrofit thread is useless ,you just stopped updating the thread. No pics and you never gave your official review

 

Hmm, I've never noticed the beam rise on the HID side whereas on my Subaru retrofit it's pretty obvious. Rob you're going to have me sticking my head in there looking stupid while a friend flashes the lights lol.

 

Haha! Might be easier to just face the car against the wall at night and watch the projector cutoff move up/down
Not sure if you're Subaru has supplementary halogen 'flashers' or not, but it does make the highbeam projector shift in our 996's somewhat disguised

 

Simple. You sand them down then you clear-coat them. All modern clear-coats lacquers (car paint) offer UV protection. Have it done by a paint shop, easy and cheap. Guy charged me 50$ for both. Came out like new. 2 year latter exposed to the elements, still looking the same. Just polishing them means that they will dull down again in no time.