CoupeLeicht600

I have some OEM xenon bulbs on my 2002 CL600. They're not as nice as the 03 and up models. Which bulb would be the brightest and look the best? I kind of like the bluish hue on the more current models.

StarPower

From what I've seen, the brightest pure white would probably be the Philips Crystal Vision (85126 CX). I can't find the spec sheets right now, but IIRC these are rated at 5400K (even though they're sold as 5000K) and 3150 lumens. Most bulbs in this color range (5000-6000K) are around 2800-3000 lm, and stock is 3200 lm.

Edit: I found a cheaper source for the D2R 85126CX and D2S 85122CX.

The brightest (most lumens) would probably be the Philips 85126+/85122+, which are rated at 3400 lm but are the same color temp as stock (4200K, slightly yellowish white).

If you want a slight but noticeable blue tint for a lot less than the 85126 CX, go with 6000K bulbs from eBay. I wouldn't recommend going above 6000K, as light output decreases significantly at higher color temps.

Here's a comparison of different color temps. Note that the descriptions on the right don't exactly line up. The yellow on the bottom is 3000K.


Lastly, you could retrofit the 03+ headlights. I don't know what's involved, but I'm sure someone on here has done it. You would need D2S bulbs (Philips 85122) for the 03+ lights instead of D2R (Philips 85126).

CoupeLeicht600

Thanks for the awesome reply! It definitely helps to have a visual of the bulbs in action.

Would all of these bulbs fit my 02 headlights since I don't have the xenons? I really like the look of the Philips bulb.

StarPower

If your car has halogen bulbs, then you won't be able to use HID's properly without replacing your headlights. There are rebased HID bulbs out there (HID bulb grafted onto a halogen bulb base), but I wouldn't recommend those. The optics of the light source are different (filament vs arc), resulting in a distorted beam pattern and increased glare.

Unfortunately, you're not going to match the color of a HID bulb with a halogen bulb. Blue tinted "Hyperwhite" halogen bulbs don't look anything like real HID's, and are dimmer (less lumens) than a standard halogen bulb. The blue filter removes colors of light from the spectrum, making the light look bluer/whiter, but reducing output. This also reduces contrast and increases glare. You can read a lot more about this, and other lighting facts here.

So, what do I recommend? There are premium halogen bulbs that will give you a noticeable improvement in output (lumens) and a slightly whiter color (though nothing like HID's). The Osram Nightbreakers and Philips X-treme Power are the best halogen bulbs I've seen. Both of these bulbs use a combination of more precise filament placement/construction and different gas mixtures to achieve more output from the same wattage. Both bulbs also have a slight blue band (Nightbreakers have two larger bands) to give a bluer/whiter color, while maintaining clear glass for most of the bulb to maintain maximum output. The Nightbreakers looked whiter than the Philips X-tremes when I had them, but that was in a different car and not a direct comparison.

Double check what bulbs your car uses. I thought all W215's had HID's, with 2000-2002 being D2R and 2003-2006 being D2S.