Last year while on a trip one of my low beam bulbs went out and I went to the auto store and purchased a set of the upgraded Sylvania (German) bulbs. I drive with my headlights on -- as DRL's -- not the first bulb to go. ........dealer has replaced a couple of sets in the past 10 years .... I have never noticed any change in the headlights after the bulb change.

So I replace the bulbs ... Now i have always thought that the x308 had very good conventional headlights -- so I was a bit surprised that the Sylvania bulbs were definitely not as good .... they did not throw a consistent light?? I know this sounds strange ... But..


So I was in the auto store the other day and they had the best Sylvania bulb on "sale" ........Silverstar Ultra ......normally $50.00 ....... So I buy a set .....and guess what ... not really any better. The light is a bit cooler .... but not really any better.


So, I'm wondering if the OE bulb is somehow different? The "Ultra" bulbs are not worth the money ........ especially since I had a look at the Sylvania web site and the bulbs have 1/4 the life of the standard bulb and cost $25.00 each retail!

 

This is interesting. I have had Silverstars on my car ever since I got it back in 2004, and I always thought the headlights on my car put out a weak beam. Were the silverstars a lot worse than OEM?

 

I use Philips NightGuide bulbs.
Tricolor, yellow tint to the left to reduce glare to oncoming drivers, bright white in the middle and blue tint to the right to better light up reflective signs.
Very good night vision without the bluish HID look.

 

Sylvania makes a few different bulbs. My recollection was that I bought "Xtravision" but when I removed the bulbs yesterday they have a silver top -- so they must be "Silverstar". The "ultra" have a gold top and the "Xtravision" have a darker top ... it may be purple.

I am going to see if I still have the other OE bulb that was still working ....... The only thing I can think of is maybe the OE bulb places the bulb filament at a different point in the reflector?

The Jaguar manual states that the bulb can only be inserted in the holder one way and that the holder can only be installed in the headlight one way ...... both look to be false. I could do both with no problems. When I removed the Silverstars both of the "tabs" on the bulbs were facing up.