Can I use 80 Watt bulbs in low beam housings with stock wiring?

fantastic said:
Get the Silverstar Ultra's. They are one of the best upgrades that won't fry your housing. I've been buying them for 15 years & I've never had one burn out. There are a lot of folks that say they don't last very long but I've simply not experienced that myself. They may of gotten a bit dimmer over time but nothing I could really tell & it would still blind you at night time if looking into the light ha ha. Ebay has been a good cheaper source for those bulbs. They are priced really high at the auto stores it becomes crazy but try not to put a costs on visibility lol. Nov. the highest deer accidents. My son just hit one.. then 1 week later he hit an owl... That's a first. I told him when it rains it pours..:LOL:

I vote Silverstar Ultra's... They have been my go to & would recommend them to anyone looking to upgrade their bulb brightness. Love those era of Grand Prix's.


Never disable your DRL. A lot of accidents are explained with the following words "I didn't see them". From someone that comes from the cycle hobby drive visible everychance you get.
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This.

Sylvania updated their Silverstar Ultra's to be their euro Osram Nightbreaker variant after the lawsuits, so you don't get a blue coating directly around the filament. And they're very bright and as "white" as you can get a halogen bulb without losing visibility in all weather conditions. Best part is, these bulbs are EVERYWHERE. No shortage of them.

Combo that with properly aiming your headlamps and you will be able to see fantastically.
 
normal username said:
This.

Sylvania updated their Silverstar Ultra's to be their euro Osram Nightbreaker variant after the lawsuits, so you don't get a blue coating directly around the filament. And they're very bright and as "white" as you can get a halogen bulb without losing visibility in all weather conditions. Best part is, these bulbs are EVERYWHERE. No shortage of them.

Combo that with properly aiming your headlamps and you will be able to see fantastically.
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I did not know that they moved away from the blue bulb coating. All the one's I bought were blue. Do you have any links I could check out regarding the changes? I'm curious.. :)
 
fantastic said:
I did not know that they moved away from the blue bulb coating. All the one's I bought were blue. Do you have any links I could check out regarding the changes? I'm curious.. :)
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Well, they still have blue coatings but the coatings now aren't covering the filaments this time—there’s a clear window where the filament sits, so you get higher output. Back then, the blue filter directly surrounding the filament, actually robbed light output. Which made the old SSU bulbs dimmer than a standard new bulb.

You could google search “Sylvania lawsuit” to dig deeper, I’m not sure if they posted the changes because they quietly just replaced their old bulb with their better euro versions known as Osram Nightbreakers.

The old SSU bulb vs the new SSU bulb:
 

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normal username said:
Well, they still have blue coatings but the coatings now aren't covering the filaments this time—there’s a clear window where the filament sits, so you get higher output. Back then, the blue filter directly surrounding the filament, actually robbed light output. Which made the old SSU bulbs dimmer than a standard new bulb.

You could google search “Sylvania lawsuit” to dig deeper, I’m not sure if they posted the changes because they quietly just replaced their old bulb with their better euro versions known as Osram Nightbreakers.

The old SSU bulb vs the new SSU bulb:
Click to expand...
Great information! I'd just got done bing searching & it appears to have been filed in 2011 payments started going out late 2015. The last pair I purchased for my Saturn was 2018 but I don't remember which ones I received. But I need to buy some for the recent Volvo addition & I'll look for the windowed version. This will help others as well. Good reporting!
 
SHOZ said:
Just convert to HID.
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Needs specific housings, extra boxes & wiring. That adds more complexity & expense but w/o the gain. I will admit I had a terrible experience with HID about 15 years ago. One of the lights would work when it wanted to but it was a cheaper kit. I'd hate to see a quality one priced reasonably. How do you feel about specific headlight housing?
 
fantastic said:
Needs specific housings, extra boxes & wiring. That adds more complexity & expense but w/o the gain. I will admit I had a terrible experience with HID about 15 years ago. One of the lights would work when it wanted to but it was a cheaper kit. I'd hate to see a quality one priced reasonably. How do you feel about specific headlight housing?
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If they are projector housings HIDs will work. High beams doesn't matter.
 
Are 880 fog lights polarity conscious? I didn't think they were, but I notice the new fog light socket I have is indexed to only plug in one way.
 
Decades ago I bought a new BMW 325e. Btw, "e" is the Greek letter for efficiency. This car was slow off the line but a great highway car. Anyway, it was delivered with sealed headlights. I replaced the outer lights with Hella H4 lights. Later I replaced the high beams with Cibie headlights. When I bought the Cibie lights the salesman asked if I was using them off road as they were illegal for street use. I assured him that they were for off road use only! Ha! I later replaced the H4 bulbs with 125w/100w bulbs and the inner bulbs with 100w bulbs. With the high beams on you could read a newspaper at 1/8 of a mile! Luckily, the bimmer's electrical system was up to the load.
 
Off the top of my head I remember halogen to be 55W, HID xenon to be 35W, and LED even less. So doesn't seem like you could. v=ir
 
Marcozi said:
Decades ago I bought a new BMW 325e. Btw, "e" is the Greek letter for efficiency. This car was slow off the line but a great highway car. Anyway, it was delivered with sealed headlights. I replaced the outer lights with Hella H4 lights. Later I replaced the high beams with Cibie headlights. When I bought the Cibie lights the salesman asked if I was using them off road as they were illegal for street use. I assured him that they were for off road use only! Ha! I later replaced the H4 bulbs with 125w/100w bulbs and the inner bulbs with 100w bulbs. With the high beams on you could read a newspaper at 1/8 of a mile! Luckily, the bimmer's electrical system was up to the load.
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when I was a kid a friend's parent got a 528e. It was a terrible BMW. The redline was 4600 if I recall. Man I forgot all about those cars until now. Those, and possibly today's, should be forgotten. 2000-2012 were the golden years. Strike that if screens and android auto and auto trans are desired
 
repairman54 said:
Incandescent bulbs are not polarity specific only LED's.
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Thank you!!!!!
OK I thought maybe these were LED.
Hooked it up - 12 Volt drill battery, Red+ Black- Bam! Lights right up!
And Red- Black+ Bam! Lights right up!
 
Are/Is the cars with the 9005/9006 2 headlight on each side system, considered better than the single 9007 on each side.
Mine is an 2001, but I see in 2006 or maybe sooner, Grand Prix went back to the 9005/9006 set up.
 
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