Improved lighting

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nicko500s
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Improved lighting

Post by nicko500s »

Does anyone have any advise on how to improve the headlights on the Rover 45, I have tried many different standard bulbs and hid which are too bright for oncoming traffic and have a hopeless beam pattern in my experience and where im at now i think higher wattage bulbs are the only option,
100 watt H7s but they can get too hot and damage the reflectors and im not sure if they would damage the lens as well.
im looking for a bright white light.

I even considered somehow replacing the front fogs with driving lamps, has anyone done this?
E_T_V
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Re: Improved lighting

Post by E_T_V »

I presume you've tried nightbreaker plus or similar bulbs as these are the current high-spot of normal halogen bulb technology at the moment.

Are the lenses clear and not scratched. Sometimes a good polish can work wonders especially for plastic lenses.

Also with the bulbs in place and turned on get a voltmeter and probe the voltage to see what it is at the bulb. It'll be lower than battery voltage but if there are issues with the earths or even the connections this voltage can be low leading to poor light output.

You could swap the fogs for driving lights but typically it is the dipped beam performance that is the issue not the main beam performance.

You could graft in some projector units if you feel very adventurous.
nicko500s
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Re: Improved lighting

Post by nicko500s »

Yes I spent over £120 trying different bulbs in all my cars, ring plus 120s and others with big claims from top manufacturers but they where all still a yellow light, I put HIDs in the 45.
I will polish the lenses that is worth a try, I replaced the standard reflector headlights in the BMW E36 with Hella halo projectors and the best recommended bulbs from which reviews and this was a bit of an improvment but not that great.
I have cleaned up the earth from the batt to the front slam panel but thats a good idea to check with a multi meter.
The main beam has no penetration in that it has a short range so thats why im considering the conversion, has anyone done this?

I did look at the projector conversions on other cars but as you say its alot of work and you would really need to make a clear lens as well.
I will polish the lenses and check the voltage and go from there.
for those interested the best bulbs I found where about £6 a pair and gave a white light and good illumination, I will have a look and see if I can find what they where called.
E_T_V
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Re: Improved lighting

Post by E_T_V »

Remember the human eye sees better by yellow light and it creates less glare. Infact I have 3000K HID's in my 600 because they are much easier on the eyes and give better vision in fog/spray/heavy rain.

Thats also the reason that most driving glasses are also yellow tinted.

Halogen bulbs will always appear more yellow in general than HID's or similar, Its just physics I'm afraid. You can only heat a tungsten filament so hot before it melts!

Higher wattage bulbs may be an option, but I'm not sure on whether the standard wiring or plastic housings are upto it.
nicko500s
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Re: Improved lighting

Post by nicko500s »

Update

The bulbs I mentioned that are the best I have found so far are called ULTRA power bulbs 5000k they are e marked but don't say the wattage, I assume they are 55w. They are cheap too £7.99 a pair off ebay.
When these are switched off they give the headlight a blue look which I like.
The bulbs I have fitted dipped beam are Halfords Ultra Blue High Performance 477UB (art/part number 517029) these are 80w and are UV cut which means they have a UV filter coating to stop damage to plastic headlights. So far there has been no issues with these but they where expensive at £17.99 EACH
From inside and outside the car both bulbs give a white light, HID look.
So currently fitted are; dipped, Halfords 477UB, main beam, ULTRA power 5000k, I was surprised that there is very little between them, the problem is I like white light on the road but to make bulbs give a white light it seems you have to coat the bulb blue, this reduces the light output of the bulb so you need more wattage hence the Halfords bulbs at 80w but as I said they are no different to the ULTRA bulbs for some reason. Im now considering 100w bulbs but this may be pushing the wiring and lenses a bit.
E_T_V
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Re: Improved lighting

Post by E_T_V »

If you are fitting high wattage (dipped) bulbs then you may as well try HID too (as both are technically illegal).

Whether they give a good beam pattern is a matter of luck really. What are the bulbs in the 45?

The 600 uses H1 for dipped and H1 for main too.
nicko500s
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Re: Improved lighting

Post by nicko500s »

I tried HID and the beam pattern was appalling, so they replaced them with projector bulbs instead of reflector and they where better but pointed to far to the left, they wernt very good as they had plastic bases rather than metal, maybe this affected the aim?
they where bright but the beam was not good enough. the bulbs are both H7 which is odd as the parts suppliers I have used say they are listed as H7 dipped and H1 main but they def both H7.
The wet roads soak up the light and from the speed people are driving in these conditions I expect they are having trouble seeing the roads as well.
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