Hi, just joined the forum although I have visited many times for advice in the past.

I tried to change a bulb on my X type but a mix of arthritis & clumsy hands meant it took about an hour to change 1 bulb, also noticed the adjuster clips had snapped & the lenses were yellow so I decided to fix all the issues by buying a second hand set of headlights, replacing the adjusters for the stronger black ones & polishing the lenses (3m headlight restoration kit), I will do the same to the set I take off & recoup some of my outlay.

everything is done and ready but I would like to replace all bulbs & I have a few questions that I'm hoping some of you smart & kind people can help me with.

I hated the fact the lights were all different colours, I have purchased some chrome indicators to take the fried egg look away and I would like advice on the best bulbs (halogen) to get a uniform white from the rest & need to know

1, are the low beam and high beam bulbs the same (ie do I need 2 per side)?
2, which sidelights led or not?
3, which brand, watt, lumen is best for the brightest white (no blue)?

thanks in advance for all/any help,
Rec

 

Did you get anywhere with this? I'd be interested to know too.

 

When it comes to bulbs, there is a key number that you need to look for, it is referred to as the bulb temperature. In short, you will see a number like 5000K somewhere on the package. It may be 2700K, 6000K, etc. But, if you want your bulbs to match in color, you need to match this number. This is a little easier when it comes to HIDs and LEDs, but standard halogen bulbs, this is kinda tough as a warm element pretty much only puts out one color of light. With that being said, they are playing some with the gas that they put in the bulb which is allowing them to get a more white light out (ie, getting closer to a 5000K color look). But, it still is not perfect. Keep in mind that they have not applied this to the side lights. So, those are going to be the yellowish light (aka, 2700K) unless you step up to LED. Then you are going to be up at 6500K-7000K (a very white light, bordering on starting to turn blue).

So, in short, to get things to match up pretty well, it would involve switching over to HID bulbs in the 6000K light spectrum and then converting the lighting over to LEDs. This will give everything a very white look.

If you do go this way, keep in mind that street legal HIDs are 35W (yes, 35W). You can buy 50/55W HIDs and most people think that is what should be in their car. These are technically illegal to have on the car. A standard halogen bulb outputs around 1500 lumen of light. A 35W HID bulb outputs 3300 lumen (roughly, intensity changes with the color that you select). A 50W HID bulb outputs around 4500 lumen. So, if you get pissed off at people driving around with their brights on, that would only be 3000 lumen of light that is not focused directly in front of the car. You can only get away with the 35W HIDs in the X-Type as the headlight has a focusing lens to properly direct the light. But, even with the 50W HIDs, there is still a lot of light making it out to the sides that makes it a pain for oncoming driver's. Also keep in mind that the starting surge for 50W HIDs is more than the electrical system for the car can really handle and will result in failures in the near future unless other modifications are done.

If you want to know more about HIDs and LEDs, do a search for my name. I have written up numerous things about what to look for with HIDs and I even did a comparison of different style LED bulbs and how their colors and intensities varied. If you have questions, let me know.