Replacement H4 Halogen Bulbs, Question

[Bozeman02]

Happy Sunday. I have a restored '71 2002, and my passenger headlight is kaput. Digging in there, I found out that I have OSRAM 64193 German 55/60W H4 037R bulbs (https://www.osram.com/am/ecat/OSRAM ORIGINAL LINE-Halogen headlight lamps-Cars-Automotive Lighting/com/en/GPS01_1057023/PP_EUROPE_Europe_eCat/ZMP_61180/). They've worked well, but there's no place that sells them locally. 

 

Anyone know if I can just go to my local parts store and get any 12V 55/60W Halogen bulb instead, such as 9003 (https://www.autozone.com/collision-body-parts-and-hardware/headlight/silverstar-headlight/412573_0)?

 

Thanks for your help in advance,

 

Peder (super newbie)

[zellet]

Yes.


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[Bozeman02]

BAM! I love this group. Thank you Zellet. 

 

[ssp2019]

https://www.powerbulbs.com/

 

great selection, fast delivery to us.

love these new Phillips

 

https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-racingvision-h4-twin

 

 

['76mintgrün'02]

One thing to note, the extra bright bulbs don't usually last as long as 'standard' bulbs.  

(I am not wanting to burst your bulble...  but you may have to replace them more often).

 

The following is from the link above.

Please note: due to their increased brightness, these bulbs are expected to have a shorter lifespan. We can only offer a 6 month warranty on the Philips RacingVision range.

The two reviews of the bulbs in the OP's link had to do with longevity too:

 

★★2 out of 5 stars.

· 4 years ago  

Nice light, but very short life

I've gone through 5 of these in the past 18 months, first time I replaced my original set of headlights (which lasted 11 years) with two of these Silverstar bulbs, then have had to replace driver side two times and passenger side once since then. Time to switch brands...

 

★★★3 out of 5 stars.

· 4 years ago  

Improved from OEM

love the light this bulb generates, but for my application of daytime running lights, the bulbs only last one year

 

 

[irdave]

When I was still using regular bulbs (now onto LEDs) I had great luck with the PIAA bulbs; stock wattage and much more light.

 

Oh, and if the car doesn't already have them, look into relays for at least the high beams- the lights can ask for all of the power and the wires are a bit thin for that...

[Bozeman02]

1 hour ago, irdave said:

When I was still using regular bulbs (now onto LEDs) I had great luck with the PIAA bulbs; stock wattage and much more light.

 

Oh, and if the car doesn't already have them, look into relays for at least the high beams- the lights can ask for all of the power and the wires are a bit thin for that...

 

Dave - do you mind me asking which LED conversion you went with? The metal post with screw that the retaining spring for the driver's side halogen bulb broke when replacing the bulbs (it's old, I guess). So, the way I see it, I have to find a new H4 housing unit, replace the whole thing, or bite the bullet and convert to LED at this time. 

 

I've been looking around, and this conversion looks pretty good: 

https://www.headlightexperts.com/catalog/product/view/id/503/s/h6024-dual-beam-sealed-beam-led-headlight-conversion-kit/category/2/

 

Peder

 

 

[AustrianVespaGuy]

Two sources of information for lights that I always recommend (be prepared for some reading):

1.) My article on 2002 lighting system wiring for upgrades and relays:

2.) Daniel Stern's webpage on automotive lights/bulbs/etc:

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/bulbs.html

 

The important point about LEDs: while they make MORE light than halogens they have less DENSITY (more light but over a great surface area than the small halogen filament). This is no issue for turn/tail/stop/etc. bulbs, but for headlights it means the optics (housing, lens, etc.) MUST but designed to work with the LED bulbs. If you just pop an H4 'sized' LED bulb into you existing H4 housings, all you doing is diffusing more light out into other drivers' faces but actually getting less reflected back to your eyes from down the road where you want it.  The link that @pederhorner posted looks like it comes with new/proper optics, so to me that looks like a pretty good option.

[Stevenc22]

I have LED bulbs in standard 7" round H4 lenses and could not be happier. Light output is considerable and visibility is greatly improved.

 

You just buy a H4 compatible LED bulb and install it. Buy a good one though not a cheap ebay special. Expect to pay $50 for the pair.

 

Something like this

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/JDM-ASTAR-Hi-Lo-H4-HB2-9003-High-Power-LED-Headlight-Bulbs-60W-8000LM-6500K-Lamp/332766957370?epid=8022646391&hash=item4d7a74cf3a:g:tJoAAOSwsTtbdc~A:rk:33:pf:0

 

Im uncertain what post you said broke? If you are talking about the adjusting screws, IE makes a replacement kit.

 

 

[Dick R]

The cooling fan in the bulb is pretty interesting.  Never heard of that before. 

By the way they are $43 on amazon.  Appear to be the identical bulbs as shown in the earlier posting on eBay..

 

https://www.amazon.com/JDM-ASTAR-Extremely-Headlight-Conversion/dp/B01JYC0NPG

[ssp2019]

15 hours ago, '76mintgrün'02 said:

One thing to note, the extra bright bulbs don't usually last as long as 'standard' bulbs.  

(I am not wanting to burst your bulble...  but you may have to replace them more often).

 

The following is from the link above.

Please note: due to their increased brightness, these bulbs are expected to have a shorter lifespan. We can only offer a 6 month warranty on the Philips RacingVision range.

The two reviews of the bulbs in the OP's link had to do with longevity too:

 

★★2 out of 5 stars.

· 4 years ago  

Nice light, but very short life

I've gone through 5 of these in the past 18 months, first time I replaced my original set of headlights (which lasted 11 years) with two of these Silverstar bulbs, then have had to replace driver side two times and passenger side once since then. Time to switch brands...

 

★★★3 out of 5 stars.

· 4 years ago  

Improved from OEM

love the light this bulb generates, but for my application of daytime running lights, the bulbs only last one year

 

 

I've had these on my daily driver MB ML 350 for two years now, albeit the H7 version, and which has the daytime running lights on all the time for all this time, and they still work.  so I wouldn't worry about longevity, especially if driven like my 02 which is a weekend car and even less time at night.

[AustrianVespaGuy]

FWIW I like the Philips RacingVision bulbs for DRl/high beams (where they're not on at full power very often; remember the filaments last exponentially longer at lower power), but prefer the Xtreme Visions for low/main beams due to the better longevity (and still a lot of good quality light): https://www.amazon.com/Philips-X-treme-Vision-Headlight-Bulbs/dp/B00QJWUPC6.

 

I admit those JDM Astars look like they did a pretty good job of properly positioning the LED clusters to closely match the filament position, so they'd probably work pretty well, but I'd still suggest looking at them from 100 ft. away and carefully adjusting the aim to make sure you're not putting too much light into the faces of on-comers.

 

And to answer your question, the fans are there both to cool the power electronics and dissipate the heat generated by the LEDs themselves.  If you want to know way, way more than is necessary about all of this, CREE has a great paper on LED thermal management:

https://www.cree.com/led-components/media/documents/XLampThermalManagement.pdf

[irdave]

These are the H4 LED bulbs I went with.  I've got the Cateye model housings (Osram? Cibie? I'll look when I get downstairs.)  Absolutely mega.  Better and more light than the HID lights in my e46.

 

I forgot the link. Gimme a minute.

 

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kits/h4-led-headlight-conversion-kit-with-aluminum-finned-heat-sinks-6000-lumensset/4314/9633/

Edited October 24, 2018 by irdave

[Bozeman02]

Thanks everyone. This has been very educational. I appreciate everyone's input. I'll probably end up buying an LED conversion kit. I have a local mechanic that can help me, Mark Hutto, who does fantastic 2002 work.