is osram night breakers worth it ?

mrcgibb · 25 Feb 2012 at 22:43

I am about to change dipped lamps on the Saab , are the osrams worth it or should I go aftermarket h.i.d.?
The Saab has projector type dipped beam, Main beam is amazing h9 65watt , almost burns your eyes out

, but dipped quite dull

thanks guys

Luke · 25 Feb 2012 at 23:05

Unless you have auto levelling and washers then you'll now fail an MOT with HIDs.
Nightbreaker Plus bulbs are good, and last well (compared to the original nightbreakers!).

WhiteCobra · 25 Feb 2012 at 23:51

Luke said:
Unless you have auto levelling and washers then you'll now fail an MOT with HIDs.
Nightbreaker Plus bulbs are good, and last well (compared to the original nightbreakers!).

Only for HIDs i thought?
I have Nightbreakers paired with Catz Zetas and rate them highly.. Even without the zetas they are bright.

When I change them next i might try the Osram Rallye bulbs.. 65watt and has a h9 burner as apposed to a h7

R220 · 26 Feb 2012 at 00:58

Luke said:
Unless you have auto levelling and washers then you'll now fail an MOT with HIDs.

pretty sure thats not been implemented yet, just talked about the possibility of that happening at some point

mrcgibb · 26 Feb 2012 at 06:51

Surely at mot time you could juststick normal lamps back in ?

adam cool dude · 26 Feb 2012 at 07:34

Luke said:
Unless you have auto levelling and washers then you'll now fail an MOT with HIDs.
Nightbreaker Plus bulbs are good, and last well (compared to the original nightbreakers!).

This is incorrect. My car passed this month with JDM HID's (no washers and no auto leveling).

Lopéz · 26 Feb 2012 at 08:31

Luke said:
Unless you have auto levelling and washers then you'll now fail an MOT with HIDs.
Nightbreaker Plus bulbs are good, and last well (compared to the original nightbreakers!).

Not according to the MOT manual.

Vehicles equipped with High Intensity Discharge (HID) or LED dipped beam headlamps may be fitted with headlamp washers and a suspension or headlamp self levelling system.

Where such systems are fitted, they must work; however, it is accepted that it may not be possible to readily determine the functioning of self levelling systems. In such cases, the benefit of the doubt must be given.

mrcgibb · 26 Feb 2012 at 08:44

I know the Saab can be a pain with flickering lights with hid can anyone reccomend a kit ?

sanofi · 26 Feb 2012 at 15:15

I was considering changing my Saab dipped lights to the Nightbreakers or the Philips. Is it an easy job to do it yourself?

Luke · 26 Feb 2012 at 18:04

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/technicalpen...

VOSA said:
The presence and operation of these headlamp cleaning and levelling devices has been added to the test. Therefore, if a mandatory headlamp levelling or cleaning device is missing, inoperative or otherwise obviously defective, the vehicle will fail.

This raises the question of whether these checks apply to vehicles fitted with after-market HID lighting kits. These kits convert conventional halogen headlamps to HID Xenon and they are widely sold and fitted to vehicles used on the road. The Department for Transport considers that after-market systems should be required to meet the same safety standards as that applied in respect of these lamps at vehicle Type Approval. Therefore, in order to pass the MOT test, vehicles fitted with after-market HID systems would also need to be fitted with headlamp cleaning and self-levelling systems. Some high specification estate cars are fitted with a self-levelling suspension system and this would be considered as adequate for the purpose.

Ambiguous....

Outcast · 26 Feb 2012 at 18:24

I fitted some these Xenons in my Civic

I haven't changed the main beam yet but are Nightbreakers really that much better ?

These are pretty damn good as dipped beam (H7's)

Dr Who · 26 Feb 2012 at 18:58

Outcast said:
I fitted some these Xenons in my Civic

I haven't changed the main beam yet but are Nightbreakers really that much better ?

These are pretty damn good as dipped beam (H7's)

They aren't proper Xenons, they are fancy schmancy Halogen bulbs like Nightbreaker plus'

They do not have to meet the new MOT requirements like proper Xenon HID kits

Clarkey · 26 Feb 2012 at 19:31

Done the whole uprated bulbs thing, my opinion is they aren't worth it, they don't give a really noticable improvement, and the lifespan is reduced.
Also done the HID conversion thing, this does give a genuine improvement, but it's not as great as some on here would have you believe. Go for 4300k, I find the blue tint to higher temp lights tiresome on the eyes after a while, it looks a bit silly, and they don't emit as many lumens.
What I will say is that you should definitely dismantle your headlights and give the lenses all a good cleaning, this makes a difference.

lordrobs · 26 Feb 2012 at 19:40

Clarkey said:
Done the whole uprated bulbs thing, my opinion is they aren't worth it, they don't give a really noticable improvement, and the lifespan is reduced.

Not sure about the lifespan as I've always got around 3 to 4 years out of Philips uprated bulbs but I am starting tho think the same about the light output.

When my car went in for some work a bulb blew on the road test so they swapped it over (annoying as I had a spare in the boot but anyway). I later fitted a new set of Philips Xtreme Vision and noticed no difference over the Lucas branded bulb what so ever. TBH thinking back to when I first fitted them many years back I wasn't exactly blown away by them.

I'm sure they offer an improvement over the ones you get in Poundland but compared to branded bulbs I can't see a massive difference.