Buellwinkle

Yes, the exception would be that they don't meet the mininum DOT standards and are potentially dimmer. 55 Watts is 55 Watts, you can't get 110 Watts worth of light out of a 55 Watt bulb (of the same type) no matter what you do. Tinting the bulb can only reduce the light output. I've read a government study on light bulbs done in the UK and it shows the lumens out of the PIAA Platinum to be comperable to a stock bulb or about 1,100 lumens. They were surprised because they had the most radical claims on their packaging. The Phillips Vision+ (not tinted) put out about 1,500 lumens and was the brightest of the group. Although not DOT approved they do meet UK standards.

The Europeans have their own headlight standards and some people buy the headlamp assemblies from UK spec cars because they like the pattern of light better than DOT approved headlight housings. It's not brighter, just different.

young

eureka! you are right! i had even thought about getting a second hids kit so the lights would match (well, it was just a passing thought... ) and i also just received the little city lights from autolamps (free of charge) so the lights will be much more uniform in color.

about the piaas, i've heard good AND bad things about them so i didn't really want to try them out. the razos seem to have a good reputation.

Lynn

Go for it, young. Be the first coupe on the block to jave bi-xenons.

Jorel C320

Yah! just dont get the platinums. There a bunch of Bull. Looks like OEMs. Plasmas are great. I had them for my SUPRA. It was one of the best Wanna be lights....just very expensive.

young

well, i received my razo's - premium white zeros - $50 + shipping so they are not cheap.

here's a pic w/ oem's on the left, razo's on the right:

young

phillips vision plus on left, razo on right

young

razo on left (on coupe), bmw oem hid on right

young

first of all, on my car at least, the left bulbs (driver's side) are OSRAM and the right, Phillips. both low and high and they say DOT on them. none of the other bulbs i've tried have DOT on them. the Phillips are a teensy bit brighter imo. i changed the left and right bulbs to see if they made a difference but i can't really say that one was definitely better. my unscientific test had the osrams top light line being a few inches lower than the phillips... i did it twice w/ the same results... but it could still be just me jostling the bulb a little.

the razo's gave off a white light w/ a hint of blue. they were as white as the bmw's oem hids - very close match. very attractive (although the nokya's oddly purple/pinkish hue still fascinates me).

i put both razos in and took a drive (rained a little). light output of the razos are much better than the nokya's. but it is still less than the oems. and far less than the vision pluses. this only says how poor the light output of the nokya's are! i think it provided enough light to drive around in but if you're looking for more actual light, i wouldn't recommend the razos. i then took them out, put the vision pluses back in, drove the same route, and the difference is clearly noticeable - much more distance and brightness - things that i couldn't see w/ the razos were now illuminated.

so, if you're looking for the aesthetics, the razos are definitely the way to go while maintaining a decent amount of light over the nokyas. if you're looking for more light output, get the phillips vision pluses. if you're looking for both... HIDS!!!

young

couple of little comments:

the lights from http://autowerksexpress.com/ came very well packaged and promptly. i got their "internet only" price even though i called them.

the lights from http://www.autolamps-online.com/home.htm came much more poorly shipped. basically, a 1.5" strip of corrugated carboard was looped around the light packaging - in a lightly padded envelope. it seems a bit fragile especially coming from england. but my 2 packages from them came intact so maybe i'm worrying about nothing. i also asked them about the little city lights and they sent me a pair free of charge so they get big bonus points from me for that!

i ended up changing the highbeams w/ the razos (to match the hids that i ordered) and the little city lights. i may replace the city lights w/ an equally white bulb also b/c i don't like how yellow they are next to the low/high beams.

changing the high beams were the same as the low beams. the city lights are below them; just pull them out - harder to reach but not impossible. pull out bulb (bulbs are all glass) and insert new bulb, push back in... simple.

another light bulb tests site

KJ-TypeR

Thanks for the review Young. It is MUCH appreciated!!!

CHATMANR

Buellwinkle-I have the Phillips Rallye; the most excellent non-hid look bulb I've used. I've had them for 18 months now with no problems. I must admit, because I was looking for the hid look, I've just moved them to the high beams, and bought "Hiper" bulbs http://www.24hiper.com/PlazmaXenonBulbs.htm These have been the brightest and best appearing so far. Like others said, other bulbs have the color, but not the brightness.

my 2 cents...

antonio

i have Razo Premium Zero 55w bulbs, but they have light output of 110w. i have had the dealer think that they were HIDs at night because of the light intensity and colour. i've tried all the other bulbs, but found these the best. try a set out, you'll never go back.

eason

My friend had Razo Premium Zero 55w bulbs on his C230K, but the bulb was burn after 2 months only. Maybe my friend got a defective set.

GTIDAN

The Phillips bulbs are legal in all 50 states. They are 55 watt just as the OEM. The fact that they are brighter does not make them illegal. The HID are actually less than 55 watt but put out more visable light and.........as we know are legal in the US...

Buellwinkle

Yes Chatmanr, the Phillips Ralley are their brightest bulbs but they are higher wattage and I didn't want to take that risk. It's good to see they work, I'll try them when my Phillips Vision Plus go out or maybe they'll be perfect for the high beams.

No Dan, the Phillips Vision Plus bulbs are only legal in Europe so I hope you're not driving around So Cal with them on (LOL). That's why you bought them in the UK, if they were legal here you would have gone to Pep Boys to buy them.

GTIDAN

Opps:

The package does say nothing about DOT approval........but...why wouldn't they not be legal. The wattage is the same?

I wonder if the bulb changes the light pattern? There is a definite cutoff on the left side with both bulbs(see photos)...but sadly with my high mileage body I don't remember now what the OEM bulbs looked like pattern wise.

Any thoughts on this?........anyone?



First photo shows the cutoff from about 30 feet.
Second photo shows how the cutoff blends together as you back up the car from the wall. Car is about 100 feet back....

GTIDAN

Sorry guys..........wrong photos

GTIDAN

Previous photo taken about 30 feet from the wall. You can clearly see the cutoff patten.

This photo taken about 100 feet from the wall show how the two lamp patterns merge into one........

I can't remember if the OEM bulbs gave the same pattern. Also the patten could and probably is coming from the len itself and not the bulb.

Thoughts?

Lynn

GTIDAN, my standard H7's have the same pattern. I just received my VisionPlus bulbs. They are indeed illegal in the US. Officially, the reason is they produce too much light. The exceed the specified number of lumens. This is, of course, rediculous. HID's produce 3x as much light as the H7's.

The real reason they are illegal is because the NHTSA regs are written by a committee of Congressional staffers, NHTSA lawyers, a representatives of various do gooder organizations. The result is the US (and Canadian as they adopt US regs in their entirety) are a total mess. Somtimes, something useful is allowed as an experiment. That is why our cars have headlights that are both E-code and DOT approved.

BlackC230Coupe

Well to chime in on this discussion my coupe just turned a year old on halloween and about a week after i got the car i got wanna bee HID bulbs, I got them on ebay i dont remember the brand it was definitly not a real brand well they are 100W bulbs each so i am guessing the output is alot more than that to. I was and still am very aware of the danger of having a much higher wattage bulb than the OEM's but just to let u all know i never had a problem yet, they have lasted this long and i take the bulb out about every month just to see if everything is ok and it is. No sign of anything bad yet. They do give a blusih/white color but i can see that even though they are 100watt they are still very wear looking, espcially compared to my CLK430's OEM Xenons, i can see that they really imlluminate the road great and i see every little thing. And since there were no OEM xenons avalible when i got my C230 i am not intrested in buying after market ones. So i guess i can say i am pretty tired of the crappy bulbs on my C230 so i was considering the vison +'s but i want them to look a little better than stock. So maybe i should try the razo's.

Young would u be intrested in selling your razos? if u still have them?

shtatc

I just ordered Phillips Vision Plus H7 from autolamps-online. They are backorderd and will not send out until next week Tuesday. They are sending an extra bulb for the "inconvenience". Legal or not....I will see what happens.

levelr123g

if anyone is interested i have some eaglite h-7 for my low beams and also some for the fogs on my c230k. i do not use these anymore and only used them for 2 days because they did not produce enough light for me, but they look good. i will sell them all for 30.00 if anyone is interested send me pm.

QC1

I found a site with both the Razo H7 Premium White Zero & Piaa H7 Plasma FX. Looking at the stats is seems the Razo is a bit better. Which one would you guys recomend for HID looking.
http://www.extremeredline.com/lights/h7_bulb.htm

nyc11370

http://www.zx-12r.org/Motorcycle_inf...lbs%20Test.htm

GTIDAN

I have the Phillips Vision Plus and I luv um. No.......there not as bright as HID but the next best thing. The lights easily throw the beam another 20 to 30 meters down the road. I think you will enjoy them.