87 740

The headlights on my brick were sadly dim, so I went out and bought 4 new. Lights much brighter..........

For the heck of it, I made a temp. direct voltage harness. Used the factory light plug to activate a relay. Took switch voltage direct from batt and gnd to block / batt connection. MUCH brighter!

That's not the way to go, a relay powering a relay and direct feed from batt un-fused, but I now know what I'm going to do! Going to hard wire past the factory relay, snip the harness @ the fender and perminately wire a high current (larger wire) positive batt lead (fused). High current gnd wire to same location as temp.

Then the odd part. I'm going to do each side seperate (seperate relays, fuses and ciruits) just in case one side should fail while I'm driving @ my ever so cautious speeds LOL.

three words OSRAM SILVERSTAR BULBS...go buy...

50% brighter than conventional bulbs for the same wattage...seriously they are, i know most bulbs are gimmicks but independant lab tests say these arnt...my 850 agrees (well i do when driving it havign changed them!) Philips do a similar bulb that is *almost* as good (accoreding to the lab tests theres sod all in it)...NOTE these are standard wattage bulbs but use better gas technology!

Well those I installed for the low/high combined are in fact the Philips and are indeed very bright, but I couldn't find them in high beam only at the store, so I'm thinking of using the same for the high beam anyway.

Anyone done that successfully?

And what about those 'blue' HID like bulbs? They are much more expensive ($35 for one here) so I left those on the shelves at the store (plenty in stock of that kind, but $140 plus tax for 4... Hmmm!)

What irritates me is the marketing $hit on the package ("twice as bright! 50% longer distance!" Is that supposed to mean something significant? No one actually publishes actual data in Candelas (output) and in Lux at a certain distance. How are you supposed to be able to compare? Same with winter tires: there are no published friction data on winter tires!

Merry Christmas to all,
Chris

sorry did the conversion on a european 850 which uses different bulbs, but certainly could get just about any bulb format in the osram or philips range...

blue HID 'like' bulbs = SUCKS BIG TIME, they use a blue filter that actually CUTS the amount of light on the road...

i found an independant test done by an automotive magazine that used a LAB to measure actual lumens on the curb at 75 meters to rate the bulbs..basically OSRAM came out top (50% or so more than the standard OEM bulbs they used) philips a tad lower and a lot of other bulbs from shopd own ranges no improvement DESPITE being zenon etc etc...thats why i bought osram...

again the tested the blue bulbs and concluded they blew big bubles!

I think they make sylvania silverstar sealed beam replacements for the volvo. But they're kind of expensive. If you want bright, do the H4 replacement and PIAA 85/115 W bulbs (or whatever the brightest thing they sell now is) The conversion is about 15-20 USD a light, and the PIAA bulbs are 60 a pair. Yes it's expensive, but I put one of these bulbs on my bike and the difference was amazing. The bike threw nearly as much light as my car did with low beams and fogs on, and had greater distance than the high beams. That being said, my car has three out of 4 headlights full of water, and I don't plan on doing anything about it. I'd like to replace the fogs in the factory location but they'll get torn off in about 90% of the parking lots in Pittsburgh.

Dont forget a pair of 'slo blow' self resetting circuit breakers, or at least a fusible link.

heh, already pirated them from my totaled 2002 IH 4400 wrecker.

Now to decide on going with higher output lights or not. :)




PS.

I envy you. I've been looking for a 7 or 2 series diesel wagon for 2 years for the same exact fuel reason.

did finally find a near imaculate 79 245, but I can't make myself yank a perfectly good b21, so she's to remain a gasser.

Now to decide on going with higher output lights or not. :)

I've just installed some, they are great (except when covered with salt spray) but they're supposed to be shorter lived as well, so I'm not sure if they were such a good idea for use as driving lights. Time will tell...

I have a question: can regular low and high beams (4556 IIRC) be used for high beams as well as low? There is practically no price difference between the two and I like the versatility of the combined high/low beam.

Another thing, I've been told that the new 'blue' HID like halogens are much brighter. Anyone used those?

Chris
'87 760 GLE

The low and high beam lights have a 3-wire connector. the high beam only lights in a four light set-up have only two contacts and a connector to fit. Plus I think the beam direction, location of the filament within the reflector geometry, differes between the two types.

Nice with the relay system. Only the low beams go through the bulb failure warning relay.

Good Luck,

Bob

:>)
--
240s: 1986 244GL, 1988 244GL, and 5 others.

OK... Not exactly the answer I was looking for...

My question is this: I can't get standard high beams only in a certain type that I like, as they only have that particular brand and type in stock as a combined high and low. The high only is sold at teh same price as the combined beam. In the other brand I don't want, I can see that the lens appears to be identical. What is confusing is that the lens appears different from one brand to another, but appears to be the same within the same brand between high and combined high and low.

Who can confirm that there is more than just an extra lightbulb in the combined beam headlight, that in fact the beam pattern and lens geometry is indeed different, and that the connectors are in fact incompatible (the two prong connector won't fit on the three prong light bulb)?

Or should I experiment myself?

what CODES are on the bulbs...? you should be able to get any standard bulbs..