We just picked up a 2008 E350 which has the sealed beam headlights. At first I wanted to get rid of them because I am unhappy with how well I can see at night and I dont care for how they look. However after reading, it sounds like the opinion of many people is that the composite style are actually worse for visibility which is more important. So I'm looking at replacing the sealed beams with some HELLA lights with h4 bulbs to improve illumination.

I wanted to check in here to see if you all had a better recommendation? Also if I go Hella, which bulbs can my truck support?

H6054A - 60/55W Hella Halogen

H6054B - 100/55W Hella Halogen +$9.20

H6054C - 100/80W Hella Halogen +$7.56

H6054D - 60/55 Hella Xenon +30% Long Life +$9.76

H6054E - 60/55W Hella Xenon +50% +$17.04

H6054F - 60/55W Hella Premium Xenon Blue +$32.14

H6054H - 75/70W Osram Hyper +$29.76

H6054J - 85/80W Osram Hyper +$29.76

H6054K - 60/55W Hella Yellow Star +$9.68

H6054L - 80/70W Hella Yellowstar +$7.16

H6054M - 110/85W Hella Yellowstar +$19.76

H6054N - 65/55W Philips X-treme Power +$47.80

H6054Q - 60/55W Optilux Xenon Blue +$10.65

H6054P - 100/80W Optilux Xenon Blue +$11.44

 

I don't know about these vans in particular but you should think of dedicated relays and upgraded wiring if you go beyond 70W before you blow fuses and melt wires and connectors. There's also a choice of DOT or E-code (European) beam with the E-code having a sharper vertical cut so less light reflects as glare. Takes some getting used to. I prefer 55W through E-codes than 85W through DOT lenses.

Sixto
93 E150 Chateau 5.8 190K miles

 

You do realize that high power bulbs in DOT headlamps are not street legal, right?

Off road only.

Now...to answer your question, what will the van support? Anything you want, as long as you replace or upgrade the wiring harness and add relays for controlling the higher current, and also, you will need ceramic sockets and metal headlamp housings, like the Hella or Cibie to handle the heat.

If your question is what will provide decent, legal forward lighting at the lowest cost, then buy a couple 6054 H4 Sylvania Silverstar housings and Silverstar H4 bulbs.

Plug and play.

 

Sylvania Silverstar, but be aware, they burn bright, meaning hot, translation, shorter life span, I have found supplementing your lighting is better, a good pair of driving lights, they illuminate up close, where the headlamps miss, giving a wide beam, you don't need to reach out far, it blinds oncoming drivers. When I come up on you guys running above stock headlamps, DOT low beam is 55 watt, you have 65 watt, I will give you my high beams, and if you blind me, then I introduce you to my PIAA road ralleys that ate rated at 135 watt, I'm starting to agree with citys that inspect vehicles because of this nonsense.

 

I just went through this. I had Silverstar 6054 replacements and was never happy with them.

I bought a headlight harness off Amazon:

I bought a set of H4 E-code (E11 specifically) headlights off eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221271398134?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AITThese work great. Better than I expected. Almost make the Hella 500 driving lights I use not necessary.
These lights are made by Autopal. They have the correct LHD/Right Lane/USA light pattern. But, they do not have DOT markings so will likely fail inspection here in TX.

If I had to do it again, I would get set of Autopal DOT replacements like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200mm-H6054-H4-DOT-EURO-CONVERSION-HEADLIGHTS-KIT-/330591764599?hash=item4cf8ce0077&vxp=mtrThese are Autopal part number HL-109 HB2.
I read a lot of good reviews on these after I bought the other lights.

I did not run the harness with the Silverstar H6054 so I don't know how much difference it made. I added the harness not only to minimize voltage loss (which I did not measure) but to handle high watt bulbs in the future.

When I get my van inspected, I will just swap in the H6054s I pulled out. It's a 10 minute job.

 

E-code headlamps are very good, assuming you buy a name brand like Bosch, Hella or Cibie....I use them on my motorcycles, and they ARE legal on motorcycles in the USA...BUT....they arent technically legal in the USA on cars....

They work well and dont blind oncoming drivers IF they are aimed correctly.

I mentioned the Silverstar brand because they are as I stated, decent...and legal.

Yep, you can get better lighting, but its a matter of balancing what you want to pay vs legality vs light quality.

I use the Silverstar, which are much better than the POS sealed beams the factory put in, (non-aero) but not as good as E-codes.

I also installed a couple of Rigid Dually LED driving lights in the bumper with a relay that turns them on whenever I hit my high-beam switch...they absolutely turn night into day!

But, again, they arent cheap and technically not legal for on-road use.

YMMV.

 

If the LEDs just weren't so danged expensive, BTW you better do a headlamp wiring relay upgrade before you burn up the factory wiring, I did a sealed beam swap before, the bulbs evidently drew more amps than factory, resulted in the wiring at the switch getting smoked.

 

On another site that touches upon mechanical issues relating to E-Series vans there's a vendor producing converted composite housings using projector elements. Those who've installed his offerings are pretty much blown away by the vastly improved results.

As much as I prefer sealed beam H/L's over the composite housings & bulbs these are interesting and "cheap" enough for me to maybe take the plunge and give them a try. OTOH I don't regularly drive needing H/L's so this would be nothing more than a comparison test, not necessarily a requirement at this point.

BTW I currently run the Silver Star lamps----big improvement over the usual halogen offerings.

 

What is the site? and who is the vendor? I would be interested in the projector conversions.

 

Isn't there a site called Davids, at least I think thats the name of it, that guy has the best lighting, but it's not cheap, yet nothing good is, I have been thinking about doing it for my 73, just haven't committed, I did the relay upgrade tho, made them brighter. I have been impressed with my 99 E350's composite lights, they have yet to haze over, making me wonder if the cause if from what people use when washing their vehicle, forgetting about how plastic is delicate, the clear lamps for those vans have poor reflectors, they look good, but don't work well.

 

Sorry, wrong name, heres the guy suggested by the builders on another site.
Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

 

Check for a PM---not sure if we should cross-reference another site here.

 

I have some of the HELLA light housing I will be installing. My plan is to use LED lights though. I am thinking that they draw a lot less so the relay mod won't be needed.

Some online research will render a few different options for LED bulbs. Some are cheap and some are crazy expensive. I don't remember the exact ones I found, but I found some with good performance that were not crazy expensive.

 

Thats a bit like putting a VW motor in a Cadillac.

You wont like it.

But in case you do, then you have not seen what a great pattern a Hella can put out with the PROPER H4 halogen bulb.

Just sayin.

 

Are you speaking from personal experience? Have you seen the housing with LED bulbs?

Thanks for your input