Silverstar Epic Fail

Last night I was getting ready to leave my house, turned on my headlights, and the driver's side front headlight did its best impression of an old school camera flashbulb! It was so impressive that it even got some passerbys to stop and do a second take as if to say "why did your Tacoma just take my picture?" I had "upgraded" to Sylvania Silverstars about 7 months ago, and up until last night I was pretty much in lust with those headlights. Living in small town Illinois and commuting to work through the countryside pre-sunrise and post-sunset many days, I even felt justified to own them. I was just wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem with Silverstars, if they should last longer than 7 months, or if I made another poor choice. (I now have one stock and one Silverstar headlight, that will be fixed soon!) If I did make a poor choice, can anyone recomend another better-than-stock headlight that won't break my wallet or need replacement semi-annually?

 

I know a lot of people have been less than impressed with the lifespan of the silverstars. I have had mine in for over two years in both my truck and the wifes car with no problems, so...

 

Oh and just to be sure you did not touch the bulb with your bare hand right?

 

To indicate if they came from Germany is there a serial number, or written on there somewhere as to where they are made, or a picture of the Hoff that I should look for?

 

They don't last very long, but there nice lights. I just upgraded to HID's from DDM tuning very much worth the money. Get the 35W 5000K about $25 I got the high low beam for $20 more the kits are plug and play and come with all the wiring.

www.ddmtuning.com

 

I got mine from another member and they are still working great

 

I never had any that lasted much longer than 6 months or so. I had one go out when I hit a speedbump a little too fast.
Love the brightness, hate the cost and lack of longevity.

 

i had my ultras fror 2 years on my nismo and 6 months on my toyo and had no problems.......i did notice a diminshed light output after time....
but 6 months ago i switched to ddm fogs and hi/low kit and love them
cheap and worth every penny
g/l

 

Osram Silverstars are made in Europe while the crappy Sylvania Silverstars are made elsewhere. You can find the Osram ones here:

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=91But

I would suggest getting the Osram Nightbreakers instead, puts out more light.

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=111

Use coupon code ZXRCX111 for an extra 10% off.

 

i have never had a silverstar blow on me

 

I had my silverstars for probably a year and a half before one bulb finally died. After that I made the switch to HIDs from DDM

 

Just orded some nightbreakers to try them out. Worth a shot I suppose and way cheaper than buying PIAA or Sylvania stuff here.

 

hmm, i thought osram bought sylanvia? they are the same now as far as the their website says

 

Another good bulb to consider would be the Philips Xtreme Power. I think they're a +80 bulb. I run them on my Subaru and they've been good for 2 years now, as well as running like daytime running lights.

 

You are correct, they are the same company, but the Osram branded bulbs are made in Germany or some other European country, but the Sylvania branded ones are made elsewhere... inferior quality compared to those of Osram.

 

Thought I'd update. Just got my Nightbreakers in from powerbulbs.com and got to test them out tonight. MASSIVE improvement over stock. We'll see how long they last.

 

I used to use the Hella 100 watts. I would recommend those.