I originally wanted to convert my headlights to a custom BMW angel eye retrofit, however, it is starting to look a bit cost prohibitive. I'm not scared of the custom work, its just that a set of 5 series lights to cut up would cost around $600 from what I've seen on ebay. (I haven't checked local sources, but I would expect about the same.)
Anyway, my question is this: how does the light output from the one piece Cefiro lights compare to stock? Is it a worthwhile mod for light output, or just for cosmetic purposes. I believe that H4's in general put out better light than 9004's do, as I had a Civic w/ stock H4's and the headlights on that crappy car were better than any other car I've owned.
Also, it's important to have left-hand-drive spec headlights, correct? And, is there a difference between the Tiawaneese Nissan lights and the aftermarket ones? Thanks for the help, guys.

 

The H4's in the cefiro one pieces are 10x better than the 9004's in the stockers.

 

yep, what that guy said

 

I concur

 

and if you put in... a shield under hte hid bulb you can get a greaat cutoff line too... so you wont blind the hell outa people with the HID..

 

Any body ever put those "white light" bulbs that I see advertised in magazines in thier 1 pieces?

Yhea, it is the all the rage among the rice boys

 

... there not really white... there a little less yellow-er than the average.... and alot of the melt the harness... (the ones htat draw more power) and alot of them blow out.. so for the cost of replacing 3 sets at say... 60$... in about 1 year.. or a little more time.. you can buy an HID kit... and HID last longer... now mine hasnt died on me yet... so i cant say it will last forever.. hehe..

 

What do you mean by "shield" ? I want to install HID kit and Im worrying about blinding oncomming traffic. Have you done this shield trick? Maybe some pics?

Let us know.

regards, Bart

 

I did, for now I have put in an APC superwhite (i think) H4s. They were $5 at Murray's Auto Parts. I think because they are so uncommon they have slashed the price from 15 bucks.

... but they look really nice. I was going to buy silverstars but for temporary bulbs APCs will do I want HID

regards, Bart

 

Well, what I am refering to is the silverstars by sylvania. They are halogen, but really white looking for $25 per bulb. I was wondering if they are really that white before I shell out $50 bucks for a HID look with out the cost.

I was also wondering what type of bulb is in my Cefiro one piece headlights?

 

While I have yet to find the time to install my Cefiro one piece housings (Thanks Liuspeed!), they take the H4 bulb. H4's are common in the motorcycle world and I know some people that bought the “white light” bulbs in question. I’m waiting until my stock bulbs burn out, so understand that I am only repeating info secondhand.
The cheap $10 bulbs are a higher wattage so there have been complaints of them killing the battery (load was above the capacity of the charging system), burnt wiring, melted harnesses, and frequent short bulb life. However, the PIAA and Silverstars run at 60/55 and have no complaints other than a few instances of a short life of 4-6 months.
The few people I know who have made the switch said that the name brand bulbs are worth it, due to a brighter appearance. The great debate is between PIAA and Silverstars (Phillips was also recommended). The consensus appears to be that the bulbs are not so much brighter as they are whiter. But there are also reports that PIAA has a slight purple hue and Sylvania has a slight blue hue. Color seems to be due to bulb tint, not color temp as both have a bulb coatings to filter the light. Sylvania’s Euro specs (Osram) are supposed to be clear, but they are harder to find.
Obviously people will defend their purchases, so the only real way to know is to compare side by side. I have only seen stock vs. replacement, which did appear to have a whiter light which gives the impression of a brighter bulb.
If you are interested in color temp, Silverstars run at 4000k and PIAA runs at 4150k. Guess which one costs more.

 

The Silverstars are brighter and a little whiter than regulare stock, but for $50, I'd say it ain't worth it. I have them and they burn out to quickly. I went with HIDs. Can anyone provide more info on the shield?

 

don't wanna steal the post, but I was wondering the difference between H4 for motorcycles and automobiles.
Couldn't find H4 sylvanias for my car, but they have them for bikes( 55w)

Maybe brighter light, broader output?

 

I bought silverstars for $22 shipped in ebay. I had Xtravision before and these silverstars definitely look better. I was skeptical abt the light in wet conditions but so far I found them better than stock in the rain and recent snow showers in Chicago area. I ran on stock bulbs last winter. I have silverstars since August.

So if you could find another deal on ebay sthg similar to what I got, then it may be worth buying Silverstars for $25 or under against buying PIAA Extremes for $75.

Silverstars definitely look whiter. http://www.geocities.com/funloverthere/Photos/car18.jpg

Stock:http://www.geocities.com/funloverthere/Photos/car17.jpg

Passenger side Silverstar and driver side Stock:
http://www.geocities.com/funloverthere/Photos/car19.jpg

I have some more pics to compare. Btw, these are 9004's. I'm planning on 9004 to 9007 conversion after I saw the ongoing thread in 4th gen. Or, maybe I shud go HID way that Sycefiro advertised in the classifieds, but that's $395 !!!

I was driving home (Waukegan) from chicago downtown yesterday and I saw one A32 I30 go past me which has those HID lights, don't know if he/she is a member here at the org. But that's how bright I want my headlights

 

Yes yes.... anyone knows this shield trick?

regards, Bart

 

queenambeach, exactly how long did your bulbs last?

Luigi38: No difference. H4 is H4.

$25 shipped for silverstars is a deal. There was a GD on PIAA for ~$40 recently. I don't know if it is still on, but that sounds pretty good too.

I still cant find a head to head between Silverstars and PIAA. I would expect the PIAA to be better with a higher color temp. Isn't the color temp on the 5th gen HIDs in the mid 4000's?
If I had the money to burn, I'd probably retrofit. But since I don't, I'd say it is worth $25-50 to be fairly close (in relation to what you pay), have better lights, save a few bills upfront, and be completely legal. But that is just my opinion.

 

Anyone seen any of the Wagner bulbs? Interesting chart here.

http://www.brandsport.com/bulcomchar.html

Not bad prices.

I'm looking at the britelite with xenon for my one piece cefiros.

 

http://www.autobarn.net/sylsilh4.html

Sylvania Silverstar's for $20 ea.

 

sorry i took so long to ans.. ahh the shield is liek a little doo-hikey they put under the bulb so that it stops the light from hitting the bottom of hte housing.. they make it for the h4 housing so you can put the regular hid bulb into the shield then put shield into the housing..... see below link... sorry for taking long to answer... anyway the link below brings u there..


http://www.casperselectronics.com/Me...Category_Code=

 

Here is one close deal on silverstars for abt under $30 shipped.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...940830080&rd=1

or $26 shipped:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...940478444&rd=1

 

i considered doing the 3 series for a while but scrapped the idea after factoring all the costs.

anyway, H4s definitely have better light output than our stockers and Sylvania bulbs would be the way to go considering that they are cheaper*.

 

Thanks guys, I see a set of one-pieces in my future. Pics will be posted soon after!

 

Wow, rather pricy. $50 for set! ouch! If I knew the dimentions, I could make them for myself. I work in CNC shop and that would be a no problem. Ill have to check the H4 bulb up-close and maybe figure something out.

Thanks for answer.

Rgerads, bart.

 

I feel the exact same way. I think I will pick up set next time I am down at the shop. Hopefully they do not burn out all the time.

 

I saw 2 pairs of the OSRAM line on e-bay for ~$32 shipped. I'll probably get those since vacation is coming up and I can finally install my cefiro housings. The OSRAM Silverstars dont have that blue coating so I'm hoping that the output has no blue tint. No blue tint = less rice!

 

I see no blue tint in the output at all in Sylvania's, but I haven't seen Osram ones. Silverstars will only look rice if bulbs themselves are visible, but the light output is definitely white with no tint whatsoever. My observation!

But it doesn't harm to spend five bux more to see and let everyone know that Osram's are better than Sylvanias. Do post here to let us know how they look, if possible with pics.

 

I'm getting a set of the Wagners. 4000k rating. I'm planning some pics when installed. I'll do one with oem from cefiro and one Wagner, then both Wagners in. They are very inexpensive but appear to be comparable to the silverstars.

 

Pic of the OSRAM clear bulbs. Notice, no blue tint!:


Stock beam pattern on wall:


Cefiro housing beam pattern on wall:


Before:


After:


The cefiro housings I bought have a lousy beam pattern. I shouldn't complain since I paid less than $200 for them. But while I still need to properly aim the lights, my initial impression is that the beams are unfocused, reflect randomly, and produce dim spots making it impossible to give a decent review of the OSRAM SilverStar H4's. I'll post the beam pattern on the ground when it stops raining so damn much. Until then, you can see in the pics that the OSRAM bulbs are a bit brighter than stock. Too bad the pattern screwed them up so much.

 

My silverstars only lasted like 6 months. They would always blow out. The silverstars still have that yellow look to them, it's just that they are a lot brighter than stock. You'll never get that pure white look without upgrading your harness to handle very high loads or current or getting HIDs.

 

Those bulbs don't run at 4000K. That's just advertising gimmic.