Headlight low beams

[Spasso]

so I sold the (9012) Toshiba bulbs. The great part was that I bought them at the local John Deere dealer and ended up selling them on Ebay for more than I paid for them. How's that for living right?

Grace and peace,

Robert K
1991 535i

The laws of relativity are alive and well.

[AutoXr]

Dragging up an old thread....I called my John Deere dealers, and I can get the bulbs for $9.99. I asked for part #AH211917, but no one could verify that this is a Toshiba 9012 HIR.

Anyone with experience? I will get a Toshiba bulb? Thanks!

[Qube]

HOLY MOLEY $27 bucks each bulb? Wow. Hope they last a long time!

9011 HIR (replacement for 9005) = 2500 lumens
-- Sound good. Sure, they won't have the 'nice' purple fringe cutoff of HIDs (in projectors), but more light is good.

...if only there were 9007s I'd retrofit them for my mother's Impreza. She's using GE Nighthawks but they are garbage.

[MantecaBMW]

Toshiba 9011's in the high beams and low beams?

What about the fogs? Would love a brighter light from them when out in the twisties.

[bfd]

Dragging up an old thread....I called my John Deere dealers, and I can get the bulbs for $9.99. I asked for part #AH211917, but no one could verify that this is a Toshiba 9012 HIR.

Anyone with experience? I will get a Toshiba bulb? Thanks!

Yes, JD bulb, AH211917 is a *true* Toshiba 9012 Low Beam bulb. The problem is can you really get it for $9.99 each? Its my understanding that there has been a run on these bulbs, lead by the Toyota/Chevy/Ford/Subaru crowd and there are no more bulbs anywhere.

New stock is coming in, expected 3/3/07, and the NEW RETAIL PRICE ranges from $23.99 to $29.99 each. For more check out: www.jdparts.deere.com

[AutoXr]

I called them back and was told again, $9.99. When I mentioned I heard they were out of stock, he went to check, and got the updated information. He said there are 88 of them in Minneapolis, and that he can get 2 here by Tuesday. He also said there are three prices listed: 9.99; 17.50; and 23.99. I told him to order them and figure out what he wants to charge me. He will probably give me a break since he feels it's his fault for mis-quoting me. They're like that around here in farm country.

Thanks for the info...even at 23.99, that is not that expensive compared to some other cars, and they sound like great lights. Can't wait to try them.

[AutoXr]

Follow up: Picked them up from John Deere dealer. I was charged 9.99! Woo-hoo! They are available....ask them to check Minneapolis warehouse.

Tab was easy to mod, put them in, .....not super impressed. They are a little brighter. Maybe I was expecting the sun to rise just in front of the car wherever I go, but I'm a tiny bit disappointed. Still, a good buy either way, and I had burned one out so I needed one anyway!

[bfd]

I have been informed by a qualified source with additional information that may help clarify design source and product accuracy when purchasing from whom,


"It was GE that developed the HIR process. They still make lots of HIR bulbs, just not for cars. The logic of the GE engineers was that incandescent car bulbs are history, and HID or LED are the future of auto lights. There was a Mercedes concept car at the Detroit show last month with LED headlights.

The Philips bulb sold at Chevy dealers is HIR in name only. The way the DOT specification was written left a big loophole for bulb makers, and Philips exploited it. No law against that, but those bulbs, while of good quality and brightness, do not employ any Halogen Infrared Reflecting technology at all. They're just ordinary halogens with particular base tabs."

Sounds to me that direct purchase from Toshiba or a Toshiba bulb distributor is the only way to get a "REAL" HIR bulb of original design and quality. I am told John Deere sells the REAL Toshiba bulb but only in the 9012 model.

I have also been reminded that any modifications are the sole responsibility of the purchaser and and not provided by or approved by ANY lighting distributor in this country.

I hope this clears things up for everyone.

As I said before, I am not a vendor, I am not associated with the distribution of these bulbs, I am a BUYER and like to see the little guy win without paying through the nose.

OK, its pretty clear that the Chevy Avalanche high beam bulb is not the same as the Toshiba HIR 9011 bulb. HOWEVER, for those interested in a lower price bulb, the BMW E52 Z8 supposedly came with Toshiba 9011 HIR high beam bulbs, p/n 63128384643. If true, the list price is $29 (best price I found was $22.33 each). IF you local dealer provides CCA membership discount that might be the cheapest place to get it!

[Spasso]

Aaah, the power of the internet!!!

Thanks for the info.

[Robert K]

I was looking for some better low beam performance, so I first modified a set of Sylvania XtraVision 9005 high beam bulbs to work in the low beam socket. I was pretty impressed by the difference. Then I read the post about the John Deere HIR bulbs for $9.99 and decided to get a set. These were the HIR 9012 low beams. Got those and put them in and actually felt they had less light output. As you pointed out, I believe the difference in lumens is approx. 1700 for the std. 9005 bulbs and 1875 for the HIR 9012 low beam bulbs. Anyway, I ended up putting the modified 9005's back in and selling the HIR bulbs. So, unless you can score a set of the 9011 HIR high beam bulbs, my opinion is that you are much better off just buying a good set of 9005 bulbs and modifying them. I think the Sylvania XtraVision bulbs are nice and I believe somone recommended Wagner Britelights as well. By the way, I used a very sharp wood chisel to do the required trim work on the bulb housings to make them work in the low beam socket.

Grace and peace,

Robert K
1991 535i