I decided to give 'em a shot--what the heck, they're only around $25 a pop. These Xenon HID-like bulbs certainly look great. The ones I got have a slight blue tint and appear bright on approach. But after driving with them for a while, I found them to be slightly dimmer than my GE "Brite" halogens (standard $10 replacements). And in bad weather, they're even worse--forcing me to use my auxillary lights more often.

But the real kicker is the lifespan. After the first 3 weeks, one blew. The vendor (from eBay) was kind enough to send replacements after I shipped them back (now add on another shipping to the final cost). I figured it was a fluke. Nope. Almost one year later to the day, *poof* . Another bulb gone bad. I've *never* had a standard halogen bulb do that so soon in all the years I've been driving. Fortunately I kept the other bulbs (which do look a bit brighter).

So, either you get a real HID unit ($$$) or you get ones with a reputable name like Philips (or PIAA, depending on the type). Toying with these cheap Korean knock-offs is simply a waste of time and cost more when considering the hassle. Mine were called "Biolights".

 

Try this thread. I have the Bluevisions and I have to admit, I like them over my oem bulbs. One of my bulbs were original! That's on a 1992 maxima!

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....5&pagenumber=2

 

bought a pair of blue overwatts from this Ebay dude (feedback: 1000+) in Taiwan. One arrived broken. The guy wanted money to replace it or I could ship the bad bulb back and pay shipping both ways. I gave him negative feedback. Ultimately, even after all that, the guy decides he will send me a replacement. The name: Biolights. Regardless, the original no-name bulbs looked pretty nasty and cheap--didn't want to even try them. I had bought Nokya's and have been very satisfied with them but will be replacing them with Freddie's Hanabi HIDs soon. Next time though, I won't try to skimp... it doesn't pay in the end.

 

Jeff, thanks for saving me from the pitfalls of the PIAA $$$ drain. I checked out a few websites on the Bluevisions, including the thread, and they seem to be very well rated. And I was surprised to find a lot of negative opinions of the PIAA 900x bulbs from Maxima.org. So, I think I'll give 'em a shot.

And dmbmaxima--thanks for the tips on H3's! Seems PIAA has more positive feedback for these.

 

Just be aware that the Bluevisions look very similar to stock, with the exception of being brighter. Calling them white would be pushing it and they certainly have no blue whatsoever...

 

Actually if you look at the bluevisions up close from the top of the headlight, the are very white, even blueish as compared to stock, as you get farther away though, they become more yellow looking.

 

i got my fake xenons from a mexican off of ebay... had them for over a year now, same brightness, same whiteness, same blueness, i love em, this is probably standard knowledge but no one get mad if i suggest it, everyone that is having problems never touched the bulbs with ur fingers right? i used rubber gloves when i changed mine, if any oil or dirt whatsoever get on the bulb it eats and and melts right through, payed 15 bucks, plus its 80 watt low and 100 bright, and knock on wood harnesses are doing fine

 

I got mine from coolbulbs.com and they are working just fine. They look pretty white to me, and as a matter of fact I'm getting ready to order the h3's to match because the bulbs made my fogs look super yellow when compared. Just my 2 cents.

 

I have mine for a long time. They are great.
www.plasmalights.com
$65 on the website, but ask the guy for $25, he'll give it to you.

 

are you talking about Yu-Chun Huang in Taiwan? the same thing happened to me. he sent me one good bulb and one foul bulb. after contacting him, he had the nerve to ask me if i wanted to buy three more bulbs since he was shipping me a replacement. bastard still never sent me another bulb. sucks, it was $20 lesson.

 

I got some called Super Plazma bulbs off ebay for like $25. I've had them for a while now and they are GREAT. Everyone comments on how good it looks, they are WAY better and brighter than stock with a blue tint to them. After rewiring my fogs so they stay on with the brights, I have a killer lighting system now. Real HID's would be nice, but I can't justify the $$$ for them with my current setup.

 

bulbs suck , just stick anything in there so you can see

 

I have HID's, There nothing like em'.


Seriously, I had those Xenon look bulbs and I took them out after a week because I couldn't see anything. My PIAA 1200XT's lit up the road better than the Xenon bulbs. So I went back to my Cool Blues until I got the HID's. Now I can see in the rain too.

 

I've got the PIAA Super Whites in my headlights and fogs. The fogs are extremely bright. All four combined make for the entire highway being lit up when driving. They are kinda $$$, but they are the closest to HID's (when it comes to brightness) I've used so far. They are kind of a light purplish-white color on the road and when looking at the car. I've had no trouble with them burning out yet. I've had them since October. Other bulbs that were bluer but crappy in rain I had lasted around a year. Can't remember the brand though.

 

I did a comparison
http://www.bryanb.com/site/maxima/he...ts/lights.html

I would avoid all the "superwhite" bulbs. They add a blue coating that filters the light to make it "whiter", but most of the time the coating is too much.

The human eye response better to whiter light, so a slight filtering of light is alright. I have the Piaa superwhites in my headlights and piaa xtreme's in my fogs. I would recommend the H3 xtreme's but I would save my money on the superwhites. Get the philips bluevisions if you want visibility.

Or spend the money and get HIDs

 

I've been preaching about Philips BlueVisions for the longest. At $25 a pair, nothing beats their performance. If you care about genuine light quality, and are stuck with HB1 headlamps, they are the only way to go. Unfortunately, there are too many riceboys here that don't care about seeing in the dark and just want to have the bluest bulbs they can spend $70 on so that they can take pictures of their car from the front to show just how much the light looks like HID.

 

Yeah, it was a bit of an impulse buy--I didn't do much research before hand, other than ensuring a certain percentage of Xenon would be in the bulb and the temp rating above 4000. The Biolights don't have a really dark blue coating on them, and they have a nice appearance. Just not bright enough (or last long enough!). Going to full HID's is far too expensive for what you get, IMHO. The Philips bulbs seem to have a good enough following. Have you seen the Vision Plus ones?

 

I'm tellin ya, these Super Xenon Plazma bulbs I got have a slight blue tint to them and are VERY bright. I can see extremely well with them and frequently get flashed by drivers who think my high beams are on, and this is with the stock fogs. I kinda like the combination, although the fogs are too offwhite now and it looks kinda strange so I will probably get some of the same bulbs for the H3 or get PIAA xtremes. Either way, I am pretty satisfied for the $$$ I've invested. If they go out in a year, I'll consider investing in real HIDs but for the mean time, I like this setup.

 

YES! Same dude. I smelled something was afoul when he was hitting me up for money. The S/h charge for replacements, although the same as for the actual item, was over twice his actual cost (per the mailing stamp.) so I thought: "why would he try to profit on a replacement?" Unfortunately, most cave in or do not report neg feedback. I'm sure this does happen all the time, but it seems to happen frequently for this dude.

 

The Vision Plus bulbs are currently only available in ECE-approved bulbs: H4, H1, H7 and H9. These bulbs are the cream of the crop.

 

Getting flashed by oncoming drivers is not a good thing...it means your distracting or annoying them. Glare is a serious issue, and potentially dangerous problem.

[/i]...If they go out in a year, I'll consider investing in real HIDs but for the mean time, I like this setup. [/QUOTE]

Quality bulbs should last you at least three years.

 

Quality bulbs should last you at least three years. [/QUOTE]

1. The retards around here have no idea what HID's are and flash them constantly too. When I was driving around in another car with real HIDs (an S4) I was getting flashed a hell of a lot more. Getting flashed with these lights is a function of where I am. I have also been driving in another car while someone was driving my car and noticed very little glare. The light is not as sharp as real HIDs obviously, but by the same token, it is less diffused than light I see coming from most little ricerocket civics.

2. I don't expect to pay $25 for quality bulbs. If $25 bulbs last me a year, I'd consider it a good deal being that real HID's would cost well over $400 which is 16 years worth of $25 bulbs. I've heard my share of stories about $75 PIAA's going out within 1 year as well.

Speaking as an engineer, the truth is that if you put an oscilliscope on the voltage source at the switch for the lights, it is VERY messy and unsmooth. This causes damage to electrical sources. I may build a small circuit to smooth out the current so my bulbs will last longer. Others may be interested in this as well and it would not be very difficult to build. In the mean time, just remember to turn on your lights after the car is already started and turn them off before you turn the car off.

 

I hear ya...that's why in Europe, every car must be equiped with a leveling system for the headlamps. Expensive cars, ones that usually come equipped with HID lamps, usually have auto-leveling systems consisting of a mercury switch and small motors.

Unless the HID systems was an OE part, I'd never consider paying $400 for it.

As for your comment about the choppy voltage signal, I can understand what you're talking about. As for building a circuit, i'll leave the ideas up to you...I'm not EE...I'm MechE.