Viable options for increased output on sealed beam bulb replacements?

Wife is going from her summer daily BMW self adjusting hid projectors to her '97 tacoma winter ride with wagner replacement sealed beams and can't live with the diminish light output. Any recommendations for halogen or led replacements?

 

Check the lighting forum. There's some good ideas there. I just went with silverstars, much better. I can't justify the $$$ for hids and heard bad things about leds

 

Swap from the sealed beams to Hella E-code H4s. Significant improvement in lighting without even using a performance bulb, throw in the performance Volsa bulbs for $20 more for even better output.
http://www.rallylights.com/h6054-hella-200mm-rectangular-e-code-hi-lo-conversion-headlamp-kit.html

If you want a lighting upgrade that will make her want to upgrade the BMW lights, do the E-codes plus this:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-not-led-or-hid.398066/

 

This guy knows his stuff on lights

 

Thanks for the input fellas. Will hunt for an Amazon or black friday deal on the ecodes. I despise paying retail for anything.

 

Note there are other 200mm E-code H4 conversions, but after running a few different ones the Hellas are easily worth the extra few dollars for the quality.

 

You still need the heavy duty harness.

 

To run high wattage bulbs in the Ultimate Headlight Upgrade, yes, but not required for E-code conversion alone or Volsa bulb upgrade.

 

ah, missed that. Thought he was gonna go look for the bulbs.

 

Are the Valeo cibie housings worth the extra money?

 

Cibie is an excellent high quality lighting brand, the fact they are sold by Daniel Stern should be endorsement enough. I've not run them though I know those that have run rounds on old BMWs and have nothing but great things to say. I cannot compare them directly to the Hellas but you cannot go wrong either way, but coming in at roughly 80% higher cost than the Hellas, the Hella's have a more attractive price point and are an outstanding performing and quality product.

 

For quick and easy with much improved lighting I went with Silverstars. They make one brighter than them but I don't need it. The brighter they are the shorter their lifespan as well. I didn't want to mess with any modifications of anything and the Silverstars just go right in. They are a direct replacement.

 

Sylvania silverstars have lower output than stock bulbs. Read the lumen specs and it is easy to confirm based on the manufactures own ratings. However many people confuse 'whiter' light with 'brighter' light, which is not the case. And many people prefer the whiter light.

Check out this article from Daniel Stern:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/blue/good/good.html

 

Well, if they have a lower output then the whiter light you speak of sure does the trick. The Silverstars "appear" to be about 3X brighter than my stock bulbs were. Granted, the stock bulbs were probably 5 years old so they may have lost some of their "oomph". Using less power and working 3X better sounds good to me.

 

I just read the article you posted. I'll check out his recommendations when these Silverstars burn out. All I can say is that the "optical illusion" he basically says I'm experiencing sure does seem to work better than old stockers.

 

Some points of comparison on specs:
Silverstar H4: 910/1500 lumens, 150hr life
Long life low output Philips EcoVision H4: 1000/1650 lumens, 3000hr life
Osram super brights H4: 1700/2900 lumens, 200hr life