i do not have hid on my max....dealer said they cannot be put on if it doesn't come with it.....if not whats a good bulb

 

To my knowledge there are no aftermarket bulbs currently manufactured that are a direct replacement for the OEM bulbs.

 

In search for Xenon alternatives, I've just replaced my headlight bulbs with PIAA 9006s today. Even though I'm not really sure if they are that much brighter, spec indicates 9006s are little more than twice the brightness of the factory ones.

To be frank with you though, it's not too noticeably different... But, if you're interested, here is the link. http://www.piaa.com/Bulbs/Bulbs-9000.html

 

Well the 9011 bulbs that are OEM put out somewhere around 1875 lumens. The baseline for standard 9006 bulbs is 1100 lumens. An independant (not marketing by PIAA) show the PIAA bulbs put out somewhere around -10% to +30% of the standard 9006 output. Best case senario yours put out 1430 lumens, worst case 990.

So you may have actually decreased your light output.

Info found here: http://www.hidforum.com/ayh/lumen.php

The best upgrade would be to get a set of 9012 high beam bulbs and put them in. Their light output would be closer to 2500 lumens, or roughly double a PIAA bulb. I priced a set of 9011's (just for my own info) at $40CDN/ea at a local auto supply store. The 9012's shouldn't be that much more, if at all.

CM.

 

Check this for a good read regarding the HIR or 9011/9012 bulbs:

http://bmwz.org/articles/lighting/0506trick/

 

So you replaced your stock 9012 bulbs with these PIAA 9006's? Just wondering if they fit since they are a different bulb. And if so do you have and pics of what they look like?

 

Actually the 9005/9006 bulbs are supposed to be nearly identical in terms of physical dimensions. I learned that last night when I was looking into the lumen ratings of these different bulbs.

The bulb itself is fatter on the 9005/9006, smaller and more cylindrical on the 9011/9012.

There should be no reason that the 9005/9006 won't fit in the housing. A 9005 (high beam) will also fit with slight modification, cutting the ribs on the inside of the base that guide the connector on, and changing the o-ring to a larger one. Which will give you the 65W bulb without the ceramic cap. I performed that mod on my last vehicle so I had high beam bulbs in all 4 locations.

CM.

 

I don't have a camera with me to take any pictures. However if you look at the link above for PIAA, the stock bulbs look exactly alike except for the bulb size.

 

Thanks!!

Your information has been more than helpful. I just have one question though... Supposedly, PIAA is claiming the wattage of 55 (factory/stock) will increase to 110 watts/12v. What difference does this make? More watts=lumens?

 

Their claim (someone correct me if I'm wrong) is that they have the "appearance" of a 110W bulb, not that they are rated at 110W.

I saw a site that had rated a bunch of H7 bulbs and the PIAA's didn't even get to the minimum wattage in the test. http://www.zx-12r.org/Motorcycle_inf...lbs%20Test.htm

Interesting stuff.

 

Hey, thanks again!!

I am now going to shop for different bulbs... or even change back to stocks.