Visionplus headlights help required!

MrFunex · 1 Nov 2006 at 17:03

Firstly, I'll admit I know very little about headlight bulbs!

I have an E36 1997 beemer which takes H7 bulbs. I decided to buy some Philips Visionplus ones, as I wasnt ready to go into Xenon/HID stuff, and these offered 50% more light and were a lot cheaper!

The new bulbs (still H7 spec) have a much larger base to them than my existing bulbs, and have 2 prongs at the bottom rather than 1! Am I being really dumb here, or do I need an adapter, or are my current headlights completely incompatible with new bulbs?

Any help before it gets too dark would be most appreciated - I'm dying to try them out!!

Rilot · 1 Nov 2006 at 17:16

Well, the first problem is that your car takes H1 bulbs, not H7.
The E46 1997-2003 took H7s

Will · 1 Nov 2006 at 17:19

He says its an E36 though?

MrFunex · 1 Nov 2006 at 17:19

Well, I thought that, but the manaul in my car, and the Philips website both say H7, 12v, 55W .... I'm confused!

Rilot · 1 Nov 2006 at 17:21

Single prong on the bulb base is an H1
All E36s afaik took H1 bulbs. They only changed to H7s with the E46 3-Series.

If you select a 1996 3-Series on the visionplus website, it says H1. I'm pretty sure it thinks that all 1997 3-Series are E46s even though this isn't the case as yours is a late model.

MrFunex · 1 Nov 2006 at 17:22

Looks like I'll have to take them back and get some H1's then! Cheers for your help!

Actually, have checked some piccies on a well known auction site and the H1s do seem to look more like my existing bulbs! That'll teach me to be so impatient!

Thanks again!