Headlamps
 

My 88 has the Wagner halogen lamps. I know new lamps will produce nice light compared to the old, I'm not real happy with my low beams. Anybody have recommendations for replacements.

I personally just used off the shelf H4 globes...... 55/75 if I remember correctly
They seem to do the job well enough.

Hi R-Rocks,

Just some things to think about:

Stock sealed-beam headlamps are generally not very good. Our '93 came with the rectangular headlamps but I retrofitted quad round headlamps from a '92. In the process, I replaced the sealed beam lamps with European style 5-3/4" lamps by Cibie which use replaceable H4 bulbs for the main beams and H7 bulbs for the high beams. I use the Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs, which produce a much brighter, whiter light. The tradeoff is that the bulbs are more expensive and don't last as long. I'd say I have to replace them about once a year, and they cost around U.S. $45 per pair.

Both Cibie and Hella make 5-3/4" lamps that use H4 or H7 bulbs, but those lamps have become harder to find and a bit expensive. The Cibies I bought have domed lenses, some Hellas I looked at had flat lenses. I recently noticed less-expensive Asian-made versions being offered on eBay, so they may be worth investigation.

The other option is an HID conversion kit, also available on eBay. If you convert to HID for your high-beams as well, you will need a fast-start ballast for those lamps so you don't have to wait several seconds (maybe up to 20 seconds) for the ballast to warm up before your high beams illuminate. From the research I've done, the OE HID bulbs in our '04 XJR have a color temperature of 4100K, and you probably would not want to install lamps with a color temperature greater than 5000K or 6000K because the color of the light grows excessively blue, then purple as you pass 5000K.

Cheers,

Don

oh.... My mistake....
I did not realize you have sealed beam....
My 88 XJ40 has the rectangular lights and they are H4. globes

I will just hide in my corner again :)

Low beams on the way!