From what I read, and I have read a lot recently about bulbs, the PIAA are way overpriced and probably a waste of money. The Sylvania SilverStars are a gimmicky waste of money. Standard Sylvanias may be fine, I don't know, but Philips and Osram and Narva have much better reputations. There are dozens of light bulbs out there, and many of them come with much marketing fluff.

For our original poster, who I'm thinking is in U.S., I'd recommend replacing just the two low beam bulbs at this time, with Philips VisionPlus +50 (see below). Drawback is you have to wait for web ordering, unless you want to pay more or you live near an AID Auto that carries them at the web price. All of the advice above about accessing the bulb, practicing with the old one, rubbing alcohol, is great.

For an 850 Volvo:
outer, low beam = part # 9006
inner, high beam = part # 9005

Here are three worthwhile replacement options:

1. stock, same as original; Hella = $5.95 each ($12/pair, fcpgroton.com)

2. brighter; Philips VisionPlus +50 = $19.95/pair (http://store.yahoo.com/aid-auto/viplrebu90.html)

The third option has slightly different part numbers:
outer, low beam = part # 9012
inner, high beam = part # 9011

3. brightest; Toshiba = $24 each ($48/pair, http://www.danielsternlighting.com/). Send Daniel Stern an email telling him you want the 9012 bulb (or 9011 if you want to replace your highs). You have to trim the plastic just slightly - so maybe not for the uninitiated.

All of these are safe, 55w Halogen (same as original), long-life bulbs.

The last site (http://www.danielsternlighting.com/) has lots of excellent explanations about auto lighting.

Good luck!
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96 850 wagon