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MantecaBMW
03-04-2005, 05:27 PM
Put in a set of the Silverstar 9006 bulbs in brand new light fixtures back in late October. Yesterday, both failed. Drove home with the highbeams on which was getting some people slightly preterbed.

Put in a set of cheap halogens today and everything seems to be fine.

Is this a normal occurrence for these bulbs to only last 4 months?

And for both to go at the same time makes me wonder if something else may be happening.

Any comments?

Mark

Scott C
03-04-2005, 05:34 PM
Put in a set of the Silverstar 9006 bulbs in brand new light fixtures back in late October. Yesterday, both failed. Drove home with the highbeams on which was getting some people slightly preterbed.

Put in a set of cheap halogens today and everything seems to be fine.

Is this a normal occurrence for these bulbs to only last 4 months?

And for both to go at the same time makes me wonder if something else may be happening.

Any comments?

Mark

Had similar bad experience - lasted less than 12 mo... Search forum for others...

632 Regal
03-04-2005, 06:06 PM
HEY...I was bragging about my Wagner xenon bulbs and guess what..they are still working, almost 2 years now. You can keep them stupid silverstars. I researched bulb life when I chose the Wagners and think I made a good choice since all I read was about the upgrade durability issues.

Mobius
03-04-2005, 06:23 PM
Sylvania Silverstars have a rated life of less than 150 hours. (http://www.sylvaniaautocatalog.com/sylvania/ProductBrowse_Highp_SilverStar.asp?BepartNo=&BatchId=70&ProductNumber=9006%20ST&PartNo=%20ST,%20%20ST)

This is about 1/10th the life of your average halogen bulb.

They are a fantastic waste of money.

632 Regal
03-04-2005, 06:57 PM
If I dont get too drunk and remember I will look up the stats on the Wagners, I lost all my bookmarks so life is real tough lately.

lmao




Sylvania Silverstars have a rated life of less than 150 hours. (http://www.sylvaniaautocatalog.com/sylvania/ProductBrowse_Highp_SilverStar.asp?BepartNo=&BatchId=70&ProductNumber=9006%20ST&PartNo=%20ST,%20%20ST)

This is about 1/10th the life of your average halogen bulb.

They are a fantastic waste of money.

632 Regal
03-04-2005, 07:01 PM
http://www.federal-mogul.com/cda/content/front/0,2194,2442_9284_7602,00.html

632 Regal
03-04-2005, 07:08 PM
I cant find the life figures at Fed Mogul, 2 years is a while i guess.

search for... wagner 9005bl

Kalevera
03-04-2005, 07:17 PM
TRUE!

You guys gotta read Daniel Stern's page before you mess around with your lights. Get the HIR's. If you have to get silverstars, get the OSRAM (european) ones, NOT the stateside Sylvanias.

Best, whit

MantecaBMW
03-04-2005, 07:19 PM
Did you go with the BriteLite?

They have LazerBlue, Halogen Gold or Truview?

Where Can I Get These?

Also, did you do the 9005 upgrage with your Wagners?

Thanks,

Mark

They sound great.....

632 Regal
03-04-2005, 07:40 PM
when I first got the car and drove home at night I actually got out of the car to see if the lights were working...that bad. read up on it and found that the 9005 upgrade works but dont last, thats when I did some research on it and ended up with a carton of wagner bright lights...figuring they wont last as long. With them in the low and high beams I can shine over a mile down the road, according to some crap I read these are actually brighter than some HID setups. Im sure that HID might actually be better but how bright can a legal light be anyways? I would recommend these bulbs as an upgrade anyday to anyone with a Bimmer.

Thats the story and I'm sticking with it.

wonder how much better it would be if I actually cleaned the bulb housing like Bruno brags about? Probably illegal.


edit: I dont remember where I got them I searched the net and bought a carton of them. They costed about 10 bucks each in quantity, if you cant get a good deal I can sell you a couple and fix them so they pop in for you.



Did you go with the BriteLite?

They have LazerBlue, Halogen Gold or Truview?

Where Can I Get These?

Also, did you do the 9005 upgrage with your Wagners?

Thanks,

Mark

They sound great.....

MantecaBMW
03-04-2005, 07:53 PM
Thanks Jeff.....I'm going to check into them.

The stock ones suck......in the rain it's like no lights at all. The Siverstar's have great light....amazing difference over stock......but the life span of a housefly.....

I'll see what I can find for the 9005's......Seems like an easy upgrade with a Dremel...............

632 Regal
03-04-2005, 08:56 PM
its a lot easier than I thought, took me less than a second on my 2nd bulb to get that plastic deal off.


Thanks Jeff.....I'm going to check into them.

The stock ones suck......in the rain it's like no lights at all. The Siverstar's have great light....amazing difference over stock......but the life span of a housefly.....

I'll see what I can find for the 9005's......Seems like an easy upgrade with a Dremel...............

Tiger
03-05-2005, 11:59 AM
Cleaning the bulb housing is easy... mildly hot water with glass aid (dishwasher-type... forget name). Two drops is all you need and that makes turgid water... Slosh it around inside the housing... and then use compressed air to dry it out.. or hair blower and can of air to get little droplets.

liquidtiger720
03-05-2005, 12:54 PM
Wagners... 9.31 shipped.

Are these the right ones?
http://www.brandsport.com/w9005.html

John B.
03-05-2005, 01:38 PM
I've had great luck with the Phillips Vision Plus bulbs. I use them in my cars & motorcycles and have yet to have one fail. The bulbs in my bikes take much more of a beating then the cars and some of those have over 2 years (approx. 20K) of use on them. Check out www.autolamps-online.com for some good deals on Phillips bulbs.

632 Regal
03-05-2005, 09:40 PM
that'd be them! Surprized I still cant find an hour life for them yet... get 4 just incase but like I said mine are 2 years so far. hate to be you with none in the glove box at the bar when leaving... I would however like to see you changing one after the bar in the lot LMAO :D

liquidtiger720
03-05-2005, 09:58 PM
How do they compare to those HIR bulbs..besides being 1/3 of the cost.

John in CT
03-06-2005, 09:14 AM
Thaks for the good tips Jeff, are you using the Wagner 9005 for low beams or high?

Thanks in advance,

John
1995 525i

Tiger
03-06-2005, 01:50 PM
Check out this link where they did comparative test on these "enhanced" bulbs... Click those Autoexpress links...

Now only if I could find some links on HIR test.

http://www.talkaboutautos.com/group/rec.autos.driving/messages/525825.html