Headlights and HID's
Lead Driver
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From: West Virginia
Senior User
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From: northeast PA
No problem. I have many years of experience dealing with lighting upgrades and i'm happy to share what i've learned. In my opinion, properly upgraded and/or retrofitted HID conversions are the way to go but people can do what they want. In any case, the information and links in the thread i posted, although somewhat dated, can be very helpful and educational.
Posting Guru
Joined: Aug 2007
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Here is more recent discussion about the Ultras being blue tinted:
I have the Ultras and they're nice but limited by the 2000-2001 Excursion headlights. When these lights burn out however, I will be replacing them with a true, non blue tinted bulb.
I have the Ultras and they're nice but limited by the 2000-2001 Excursion headlights. When these lights burn out however, I will be replacing them with a true, non blue tinted bulb.
Post Fiend
Joined: Sep 2006
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From: Sioux Falls, SD
The Ultras are white - I see no blue tint in either of my 3 vehicles headlights. According to the website the Xtravision are between the standard and Ultra. The Ultra's are brighter, more downroad visibility and more sideroad visibility compared to the Xtravision.
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Posting Guru
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No problem. I have many years of experience dealing with lighting upgrades and i'm happy to share what i've learned. In my opinion, properly upgraded and/or retrofitted HID conversions are the way to go but people can do what they want. In any case, the information and links in the thread i posted, although somewhat dated, can be very helpful and educational.
Posting Guru
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,440
Likes: 1
The Ultras are white - I see no blue tint in either of my 3 vehicles headlights. According to the website the Xtravision are between the standard and Ultra. The Ultra's are brighter, more downroad visibility and more sideroad visibility compared to the Xtravision.
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"Here is a list of lumens compared with life of a H1 bulb. Yes, I know that we use a H11 bulb but the list is for comparison. We know that HIDs are brighter but for those that want to stay with a halogen bulb this may help you decide. The blue coated bulbs are for looks more than brightness and life of the bulb.
H1 (regular normal): 1550 lumens, 650 hours
Long Life (or "HalogenPlus+") 1460 lumens, 1200 hours
Plus-30 High Efficacy (Osram Super, Sylvania Xtravision, Narva Rangepower, Candlepower Bright Light, Tungsram High Output, Philips Premium): 1700 lumens, 350 hours
Plus-50 Ultra High Efficacy (Philips VisionPlus, Osram Silverstar, Narva Rangepower+50, Tungsram Megalicht, but not Sylvania Silverstar): 1750 lumens, 350 hours
Plus-80/90 Mega High Efficacy (Philips Xtreme Power, Osram Night Breaker): 1780 lumens, 340 hours
Blue coated 'extra white' (Osram CoolBlue, Narva Rangepower Blue, Philips BlueVision or CrystalVision, Tungsram Super Blue or EuroBlue, Sylvania Silverstar or Silverstar Ultra, which is just a rebrand of the Silverstar product, also PIAA, Hoen, Nokya, Polarg, etc): 1380 lumens, 250 hours
Here is the whole article.
http://store.candlepower.com/osnibr.html"
Read the above link that the OP from the grrrr8 forum provided for further evidence. Here it is again:Osram Night Breakers
Post Fiend
Joined: Sep 2006
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From: Sioux Falls, SD
Yep, I read the link when you initially posted it. But I needed to reread it a few times to fully understand what you were posting and what everything meant. Wow, this can get quite confusing to the first time reader. Some of the technical data shows the Ultra's as technically a blue light, then the Ultra's packaging says "the brightest, whitest, 100% legal halogen headlights ".
Edit: what I really like about the Ultra's is just what Hasteranger said......
"They give you a wider pattern to light up the shoulder better, which is important in deer country, and they are much brighter............ "
Edit #2........ This has been my experience as well.
..............I've used them in several vehicles and they light objects up further away and they light up the sides of the roads better. Its noticeable improvement..............
P.S. you can get the Sylvania Ultras for about $35 from Amazon.com
Edit: what I really like about the Ultra's is just what Hasteranger said......
"They give you a wider pattern to light up the shoulder better, which is important in deer country, and they are much brighter............ "
Edit #2........ This has been my experience as well.
..............I've used them in several vehicles and they light objects up further away and they light up the sides of the roads better. Its noticeable improvement..............
P.S. you can get the Sylvania Ultras for about $35 from Amazon.com
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Lead Driver
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From: West Virginia
I dunno, that comes from someone selling the night breaker bulbs, so it seems like they would be biased towards saying they are better.
Regarding silverstar ultras being blue tinted, they just aren't. The light they give off isn't blue at all and the housing itself isn't blue. I've used them in several vehicles and they light objects up further away and they light up the sides of the roads better. Its noticeable improvement. It doesn't seem to make sense since you would think the design of the reflector would dictate how the light was refracted, but that is my experience.
I've never used the night breakers or other bulbs so I can't say if they are better. What I can say is that you can pick up silverstar ultras at any autozone, or 24 hour walmart, which is useful since its usually after dark when your lights go out, and if you keep your receipt sylvania is good about honoring their warranty if they burn out before the warranty period.
Regarding silverstar ultras being blue tinted, they just aren't. The light they give off isn't blue at all and the housing itself isn't blue. I've used them in several vehicles and they light objects up further away and they light up the sides of the roads better. Its noticeable improvement. It doesn't seem to make sense since you would think the design of the reflector would dictate how the light was refracted, but that is my experience.
I've never used the night breakers or other bulbs so I can't say if they are better. What I can say is that you can pick up silverstar ultras at any autozone, or 24 hour walmart, which is useful since its usually after dark when your lights go out, and if you keep your receipt sylvania is good about honoring their warranty if they burn out before the warranty period.
Posting Guru
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Compare the Sylvania's XtraVision to the Ultras; there is obviously a blue tint on the Ultras that is absent on the XtraVisions.
Besides the NightBreakers, there is the Phillips Xtreme Power. They are not blue tinted. Again, the ultras look nothing like the XtraVisions nor the Phillips Xtreme Power.
As far as the actual color of the light they put out, I agree, there is not blue in the Ultras, I am running them but you simply cannot deny that there is a difference between the Ultras and the two other, non blue tinted bulbs.
Besides the NightBreakers, there is the Phillips Xtreme Power. They are not blue tinted. Again, the ultras look nothing like the XtraVisions nor the Phillips Xtreme Power.
As far as the actual color of the light they put out, I agree, there is not blue in the Ultras, I am running them but you simply cannot deny that there is a difference between the Ultras and the two other, non blue tinted bulbs.
Lead Driver
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: West Virginia
and just food for thought, since we are basing this all off assertions people are making on other forums, here is a guy saying the ultras a rebranded OSRAM silverstar: whats the closest to xenon on a 328i with regular lights? [Archive] - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums
But reading through all these self professed expert's opinion, I notice that almost all of them say that the silverstar ultra uses blue tinted glass and thats why its not as good as the OSRAM silverstar that uses clear glass, so I'm guessing they are basing their experience on the original silver stars and have no experience with the silverstar ultra. I don't see how someone could claim that the silverstar ultra is just a rebranded silverstar when they don't even have the same color glass.
But reading through all these self professed expert's opinion, I notice that almost all of them say that the silverstar ultra uses blue tinted glass and thats why its not as good as the OSRAM silverstar that uses clear glass, so I'm guessing they are basing their experience on the original silver stars and have no experience with the silverstar ultra. I don't see how someone could claim that the silverstar ultra is just a rebranded silverstar when they don't even have the same color glass.
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If they are the same, I won't be using the OSRAMs either then. You are right that there is no definitive answer with plenty of conflicting info. So what will I do?...I will stick with the Philips Xtreme Power. There is no question about what those really are. In fact, those rate better than the Silverstars from what I have read.
Post Fiend
Joined: Sep 2006
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From: Sioux Falls, SD
last post B 4 the Superbowl Starts!!!
The Philips Extreme Power - 1780 lumens, 340 hours
Sylvania Silverstars & Ultras - 1380 lumens, 250 hours
Almost 100 more life hours, 400 more lumens (whatever that means).
But again, can the Ultras be classified with the Silverstars? Mine have definitely outlasted the 250 hours life posted
The Philips Extreme Power - 1780 lumens, 340 hours
Sylvania Silverstars & Ultras - 1380 lumens, 250 hours
Almost 100 more life hours, 400 more lumens (whatever that means).
But again, can the Ultras be classified with the Silverstars? Mine have definitely outlasted the 250 hours life posted