"Euro" HIDs?

2753 Views 22 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Jarlaxle, Sep 7, 2020

mcm95403

Discussion Starter · Aug 5, 2020

I'm now doing a lot of highway speed mountain driving over highway 80 in the Sierra Nevadas and the stock headlights really don't cut it.

I have a '19 with factory HID's and they are just "ok", nothing special, nothing to write home about. The 100W LED's in my '10 R/T were far better.

Does anyone know if there are "euro spec" headlights for our cars?
If not, any upgrades to 55W bulbs and ballasts?

The high beams are a joke - they have decent range, but they light up trees 50' high at less than 100 yards - typical crappy US spec headlights.

While I'm on the subject, has anyone found (close to) direct replacement driving lights for the total joke fog lamps? Driving light meaning pencil beams that have a good range for night driving.

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

Nuke

· #2 · Aug 5, 2020

I would love to have the HIDs that came with your car, I’m stuck with old school halogens on both low and high beam.

The low beams (and corresponding poorly designed headlight housing) are so bad I’ve resorted to modifying 65w H9 high beam halogen bulbs to fit my low beam plugs.

They are better than the 55w H11 bulbs in these housings, but still fall short of what a comparable HID setup could do.

Reactions: 1

Hal H

· #3 · Aug 5, 2020

you can get LED bulbs to replace the fog lights - the '15+ style are a narrow "slit" beam pattern.

Here's an example of LED fog lights I installed on a '16 model - note the beam pattern. They're brighter than the OEM HIDs

Light Room Architecture Metal

See less See more

Hal H

· #4 · Aug 5, 2020

LED technology will have brighter lighting options - depending on the state you reside in, some of these may not be deemed road legal.

I have 20K lumen LED retrofit lamps in my '01 Benz - it has the diffuser style lenses, so the beam doesn't blind oncoming drivers - they're brighter than my OEM HIDs in my '16 Challenger

mcm95403

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 5, 2020

Nuke said:
I would love to have the HIDs that came with your car, I’m stuck with old school halogens on both low and high beam.

The low beams (and corresponding poorly designed headlight housing) are so bad I’ve resorted to modifying 65w H9 high beam halogen bulbs to fit my low beam plugs.

They are better than the 55w H11 bulbs in these housings, but still fall short of what a comparable HID setup could do.

I used LED bulbs from www.jdmastar.com in my 2010 (no HID/s/projectors) and it was a HUGE difference. They were far better than these factory HID's.

mcm95403

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 5, 2020

Hal H said:
you can get LED bulbs to replace the fog lights - the '15+ style are a narrow "slit" beam pattern.

Here's an example of LED fog lights I installed on a '16 model - note the beam pattern. They're brighter than the OEM HIDs View attachment 999833

I tried that already - I want DRIVING lights that have range, not fog lights that are barely noticeable. I'm not talking about color or brightness, but how far out they project.

Hal H

· #7 · Aug 5, 2020

have you tried out the Osram D3S Night Breaker Laser bulb?
claimed to be 200% brighter over what stock bulb output would be and plug and play.

Otherwise there's LED, but I'm not familiar with trying to go from OEM HID wiring to an LED setup

There's no export version of Challenger headlights, since the US FMVSS-108 standards are more 'conservative' than what the overseas countries standards are for headlights.

Reactions: 2

mcm95403

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 5, 2020

Hal H said:
have you tried out the Osram D3S Night Breaker Laser bulb?
claimed to be 200% brighter over what stock bulb output would be and plug and play.

Otherwise there's LED, but I'm not familiar with trying to go from OEM HID wiring to an LED setup

There's no export version of Challenger headlights, since the US FMVSS-108 standards are more 'conservative' than what the overseas countries standards are for headlights.

I had not seen those, but they look like a good solution for the regular headlights. Thanks for that info.

I'd still like to have high beams that stress range over height and width of the beam, but if those Osrams work well for the low beams I might not need the high beams much.

Hal H

· #9 · Aug 5, 2020

the Challenger uses a bi-Xenon setup (single bulb) - an electro-mechanical "shutter" moves up for the high beam operation which eliminates the upper beam cut off for low beam operation.

Reactions: 1

mcm95403

Discussion Starter · #10 · Aug 5, 2020

Hal H said:
the Challenger uses a bi-Xenon setup (single bulb) - an electro-mechanical "shutter" moves up for the high beam operation which eliminates the upper beam cut off for low beam operation.

DOH!, if I had just thought before typing I wouldn't have sounded like a dumbass

mcm95403

Discussion Starter · #11 · Aug 6, 2020

Hal H said:
have you tried out the Osram D3S Night Breaker Laser bulb?
claimed to be 200% brighter over what stock bulb output would be and plug and play.

Otherwise there's LED, but I'm not familiar with trying to go from OEM HID wiring to an LED setup

There's no export version of Challenger headlights, since the US FMVSS-108 standards are more 'conservative' than what the overseas countries standards are for headlights.

Order placed, thanks Hal!

A Guy

· #12 · Aug 6, 2020

Those are said to be the brightest HID, 3500LM (some list 3200LM), but NOT DOT legal, just FYI. Generally $210 most places

www.ebay.com

OSRAM XENARC NIGHT BREAKER LASER D3S 200% 4500K HID XENON Two Bulbs 2x 66340XNL 4052899992979 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for OSRAM XENARC NIGHT BREAKER LASER D3S 200% 4500K HID XENON Two Bulbs 2x 66340XNL at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

A Guy

mcm95403

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 6, 2020

A Guy said:
Those are said to be the brightest HID, 3500LM (some list 3200LM), but NOT DOT legal, just FYI. Generally $210 most places

OSRAM XENARC NIGHT BREAKER LASER D3S 200% 4500K HID XENON Two Bulbs 2x 66340XNL 4052899992979 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for OSRAM XENARC NIGHT BREAKER LASER D3S 200% 4500K HID XENON Two Bulbs 2x 66340XNL at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

A Guy

Screw DOT.

Hal H

· #14 · Aug 6, 2020

A Guy said:
Those are said to be the brightest HID, 3500LM (some list 3200LM), but NOT DOT legal, just FYI. Generally $210 most places

OSRAM XENARC NIGHT BREAKER LASER D3S 200% 4500K HID XENON Two Bulbs 2x 66340XNL 4052899992979 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for OSRAM XENARC NIGHT BREAKER LASER D3S 200% 4500K HID XENON Two Bulbs 2x 66340XNL at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

A Guy

and yet the truck and Jeep people have those LED bars on the front (and illuminated) and those are off-road use only.

Yet they drive around with those damn things on while on roads and highway

mcm95403

Discussion Starter · #15 · Aug 6, 2020

I've been using euro spec lights on my cars for a couple of decades. They are FAR better than DOT certified crap we have here. DOT can pound sand. I bet 75% of night time accidents here would be avoided if people could just see what's ahead of them.

FCB DUB

· #16 · Aug 7, 2020

How can I tell what type of headlights came on my car? I'm pretty sure from the color and brightness they are halogen. Looking to go into an LED headlight but saw talk that they flicker on our cars or you need special connections. If anybody has simple plug and play LED headlights to replace the factory ones let me know.

Hal H

· #17 · Aug 7, 2020

the HIDs require the Driver Convenience Grp - the quick tell tale is if your side view mirrors have the small triangle blind-spot warning lights. If you don't have that, no HIDs on your vehicle

HIDs are part of that package

trippytro

· #18 · Aug 7, 2020

I had great luck upgrading my hologens to the OneX pure white kit with ballasts from diode dynamics. Not sure the route you have to go to change the factory HIDS. I would try and adjust the beams first and foremost

mcm95403

Discussion Starter · #19 · Aug 24, 2020

Sadly, I tried the Osram's and they are DIMMER than the factory bulbs. My fogs are now brighter than my headlights. I also had to keep using my high beams because they had less range. I've asked for a return. Not gonna eat $200 for sucky bulbs.

A Guy

· #20 · Aug 24, 2020

Bummer, sorry about that

A Guy

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.