Looking for long lasting, high performance bulbs for my E36 328i (H1)

Hi there.
I have European projectors on my E36 328i which use H1 bulbs for both high and low (projector on low)
I would like to get something that is both long lasting and good performing.
In the past, I've found that the Sylvania Silverstars don't last long and cost quite a bit.
For a time, I'd had good luck with the DDM HID dropins in my old Audi S6, but 'the internet' is yelling at me for using 'drop in HIDs' (even though they weren't blinding and were aimed properly...)
So, I figured I'd give modern halogens a chance again (mind you, I've had standard OEM halogens for the past few years. I haven't had the S6 in about 4 years now...)

It's a hard nut to swallow when you're spending $40-50/year on bulbs and burning them out at inopportune times...

Any other E36 owners here? Perhaps you've upgraded your wiring as well?

I have a hard time seeing at night, so increased light is really important to me and to the safety of my family.

:welcome: i use osram nightbreaker + also the latest ones now nightbreaker unlimited Had mine (h4) in for a couple of years at least and been issue free.

chapel said:

Hi there.
I have European projectors on my E36 328i which use H1 bulbs for both high and low (projector on low)

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The best-performing H1 on the market right now is the Philips Xtreme Vision. An Osram Night Breaker would be solid second choice.

I would like to get something that is both long lasting and good performing.

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You pretty much have to pick one or the other. The construction techniques and optimizations that give better-than-regular-bulb performance also give shorter-than-regular-bulb lifetime.

In the past, I've found that the Sylvania Silverstars don't last long and cost quite a bit.

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And, like all other bulbs with blue glass, claiming to produce "whiter light", they reduce the performance of the headlamps. Sylvania just recently got spanked to the tune of 30 Million dollars for making false claims about their Silver Star bulbs.

For a time, I'd had good luck with HID dropins

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Dangerous and illegal, no matter how good you might think they were.

'the internet' is yelling at me for using 'drop in HIDs'

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"The internet" is correct on that.

(even though they weren't blinding and were aimed properly...)

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They were, in fact, blinding. And they weren't, in fact, giving you safe headlight performance regardless of how you had them aimed.

It's a hard nut to swallow when you're spending $40-50/year on bulbs and burning them out at inopportune times...

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About the only way to have your cake (top headlamp performance) and eat it too (long bulb life) would be to change to the Bosch multifocal-reflector European headlamps, which were designed to take HB3 and HB4 bulbs, but will readily and effectively take HIR1 and HIR2 which are very high performance and (especially for HIR2 low beam) very long lasting. And even with the HB3/HB4 bulbs, those are higher-performing headlamps than the H1 projectors. But that would require spending a pile of cash on new headlamps; you can buy a lot of H1 bulbs for that amount of money.

Any other E36 owners here? Perhaps you've upgraded your wiring as well?

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Upgrading the wiring will increase the headlamp output and shorten the bulbs' life.

-Virgil- said:

The best-performing H1 on the market right now is the Philips Xtreme Vision. An Osram Night Breaker would be solid second choice.
You pretty much have to pick one or the other. The construction techniques and optimizations that give better-than-regular-bulb performance also give shorter-than-regular-bulb lifetime.

Click to expand...

which would last longer. Longevity > ultimate brightness... a burned out bulb is useless.

-Virgil- said:

And, like all other bulbs with blue glass, claiming to produce "whiter light", they reduce the performance of the headlamps. Sylvania just recently got spanked to the tune of 30 Million dollars for making false claims about their Silver Star bulbs.

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I should mention I was using Osram versions for some time until they blew (which took longer than the Sylvanias that replaced them). I avoided any 'blue', 'white', 'hyper' things like the plague. I prefer an all-season/weather one where it's more of a warm white

-Virgil- said:

About the only way to have your cake (top headlamp performance) and eat it too (long bulb life) would be to change to the Bosch multifocal-reflector European headlamps, which were designed to take HB3 and HB4 bulbs, but will readily and effectively take HIR1 and HIR2 which are very high performance and (especially for HIR2 low beam) very long lasting. And even with the HB3/HB4 bulbs, those are higher-performing headlamps than the H1 projectors. But that would require spending a pile of cash on new headlamps; you can buy a lot of H1 bulbs for that amount of money.

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Is that specifically for the E36? I've only seen euro-reflectors on E36s on the early low-range models.

-Virgil- said:

Upgrading the wiring will increase the headlamp output and shorten the bulbs' life.

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why is that? Isn't it still outputting 55W even if its relayed?

guess if I want to do proper HIDs I'll expect to pay about $300
http://www.thеrеtrofitsourcе.com/co...ik-systеm-bmw-e36-еllipsoid.html#.U-fZK_ndWao

chapel said:

which would last longer. Longevity > ultimate brightness... a burned out bulb is useless.

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If you want longevity, use Long Life bulbs, but longer life = lower bulb output and shorter seeing distance. You have to choose.

Is that specifically for the E36? I've only seen euro-reflectors on E36s on the early low-range models.

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Yes, it's specifically for the E36. The H1 projectors were factory equipment on the early E36s in Europe. There were a variety of other European-spec headlamps on the E36 BMWs later over their production time, including HB3/HB4 multifocal reflectors and the H7/H7 multifocal reflectors.

why is that? Isn't it still outputting 55W even if its relayed?

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No. With voltage increase, power (wattage) increases exponentially to the power 1.6, light output increases exponentially to the power 3.4, and lifetime drops exponentially to the power -13 (that's a "minus" sign behind the 13).

guess if I want to do proper HIDs I'll expect to pay about $300
http://www.thеrеtrofitsourcе.com/co...ik-systеm-bmw-e36-еllipsoid.html#.U-fZK_ndWao

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There is nothing "legitimate" about this company or product you linked. Installing any of their products will ruin the safety performance of your car's lighting system. Don't do it.

so, you are not a fan of full D2S retrofits either?

guess I'll just keep a stash of Hella H1 bulbs like I used to...

chapel said:

so, you are not a fan of full D2S retrofits either?

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They're not legitimate, safe, effective, or legal, so...no.

guess I'll just keep a stash of Hella H1 bulbs like I used to...

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Hella-brand bulbs are not of especially good quality, performance, or lifespan.

what do you recommend for long life bulbs?

chapel said:

what do you recommend for long life bulbs?

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I don't think any of us do. You're better off with "standard life" bulbs than "long life". Long life bulbs already start well below the legal maximum intensity, as the filament construction techniques used prioritize long life, not bright burning. This is bad enough, but as the halogen cycle redeposits bits of the filament back onto the filament, they land in odd places, and cause dendritic growths. These growths will cause shadowing, reducing output.

Check out this pic, demonstrating dendritic growths on a filament: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/TungstenFilamentHalogenH1Lamp.JPG

Also, the bulb walls will blacken more on a long life bulb, so you end up with a less-intense, partly-obscured, poorly-focused filament attempting to shine through darkened glass.

Long life bulbs simply outlive their actual usefulness.

Accidents are expensive, spares aren't.

Sure. Which standard bulbs do you like ?

Philips/Narva, Osram/Sylvania, Flosser, Tungsram/GE -- in no particular order.

Are there any good yellow fog H1s anymore? I remember using some Narva rallye lights before

There are no yellow bulbs good enough to be worth messing with, no.

chapel said:

Are there any good yellow fog H1s anymore? I remember using some Narva rallye lights before

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I'll probably be shot down for this, but you can still find Osram Allseason H1 bulbs online. They're yellowish/gold dichroic. They're OK if you want a yellowish bulb from a top tier manufacturer. (I found on an archived Google Doc from 1998, where Daniel Stern endorsed these for winter driving.)

1998 was 16 years ago; check with Stern again but I doubt he recommends these. The "yellowish" bulbs (such as Osram All Season, Narva Contrast+, etc.) basically makes your lights look like they are shining through a jar of very dilute urine, and their dichroic coating scatters light above the cutoff. No benefit in fog or other conditions, not recommendable.

-Virgil- said:

1998 was 16 years ago; check with Stern again but I doubt he recommends these. The "yellowish" bulbs (such as Osram All Season, Narva Contrast+, etc.) basically makes your lights look like they are shining through a jar of very dilute urine, and their dichroic coating scatters light above the cutoff. No benefit in fog or other conditions, not recommendable.

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I understand your point. The OP was wanting yellow...better to have German quality than the Far East junk found on cBay (Cheap Bay).

Lightdoctor said:

better to have German quality than the Far East junk found on cBay (Cheap Bay).

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Well, I guess that counts for something. When buying a product that won't meet your needs, make sure it's of the highest quality!