Last night the passenger side low beam headlight went out on my 3.

I replaced both low beams with Sylvania Silverstar Ultra's.

I have used regular silverstars in the past...but wow the ultras ... are CRAZY bright.

They say that they are supposed to last longer than regular silverstars ... but we will see.

Meanwhile ... wow bright.

 

What life did you get out of the original?
-enganear

 

I had silverstar originals ... on my old car ... which was a 1993 Honda Civic EX Coupe. I would get about 5 to 6 months out of them at the longest.

 

The Silverstars in my P5 have been going strong for over two years.

I probably just hexed myself.

 

Wow ... that is a long time for headlights. I would be happy with a year to be honest. But the longer the better. I will put hi beam silverstar ultras in my 3 ... when I have a bit more money.

Ultras are 50 bucks a pair.

Low beams are a pain in the *** to install on the 3. The high beams are easy.

I dislike the design...I like the highbeam design. I'm sure they designed it that way because the grand touring having HIDs and such tho.

 

I had Xtec bulbs in my 6 and loved them. Much whiter and brighter than stock for $30 shipped from RPMstore.

Best part is they carry a lifetime warranty. Yes, LIFETIME. One burns out you shoot them an email and they send out a replacement free of charge.

I think I replaced 2 bulbs over a 2 year period. I just kept a stock bulb as a backup to use until I received a replacement.

 

I had regular silverstars in my MZ3, they only lasted about 6 months, but now I have a set of PIAA xtra-white. I'm very pleased.

 

I have heard of PIAA's ... But I have never bought them ... because I usually don't replace headlights that work ... seems like a waste. I had one go out ... but I replace headlights in pairs.

I have never been able to wait for an order from the internet ... since autoshops only carry silverstars.

How much did the PIAA cost ya?

 

I had Silverstars in my Xterra for over two years and never burned out a bulb!

Tom

 

My issues with burning out ... could be car specific. I'm sure all cars act differently when you put brighter headlights in them

 

The PIAA bulbs are about $80 a set.

 

I'll take PIAA over silverstars anyday

 

Yea PIAA is better ... but 80 bucks a set ... wow I remember why I didn't buy those.

 

I had the silverstar ultras for my high and low beams but the lows blew out after like 2 months. I tried to return them and they gave me some crap at the auto parts place about the wiring and sockets on the car not being strong enough and it causes the bulb to burn differently (too hot?). Somehow and this causes them to burn out quickly. they said that i could upgrade the wiring and sockets and they would last longer. i pissed and moaned long enough that they gave me a store credit just to shut me up, so i replaced them with the regular silverstars. anyone heard anything about this voltage/wiring/sockets problem???

 

It depends on your car really.

From what I've heard ... if you have an older car you might have bad sockets and wiring. If you sockets and wiring is good ... I would try using dielectric greese when installing them ... to provide better contact in the socket. But that's my 2 cents. I might be wrong.