Are these bulbs a waste of money?

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Bought my wife's 2016 Edge H11 Philips Xtreme vision +100 bulbs, the clear ones (no blue tint), as H11 are what her low beams are. I got them from Amazon for $25/pair and thought it was a good price. Now that I have them I realize we have the Daytime running lights (DRLs) running that use low beams (no clue why not high beams) and and the car has LED signature lamps.

I am assuming these H11's have a shorter lifespan as they burn differently, I believe I can deactivate the DRLs but I don't think those signature lamps are that bright to make the car visible like DRLs would. On the Philips website it claims they get 300+ hours of life, I think I've read once that standard H11's run for about 450 hours but every halogen bulb I've ever had runs for years. I believe the DRLs running all the time will make the new ones burn out within a very short period of time, probably a couple of months. Which is why they may be a waste of money.

Any thoughts on deactivating the DRLs and only using the signature lamps and/or the possibility that these lights may actually work out OK.

Thanks!
 
Are the low-beam DRL's full voltage or low-voltage? Many DRL systems that use a headlight beam for the DRL function (either high or low beam) will run them at half voltage, or at least something less than full voltage when in DRL mode.

If this is the case with your car, then this will not affect the bulb lifespan at all
 
I have not taken a voltage measurement but visually it doesn't look that they get much brighter when switched to "on" vs DRLs. There is a slight increase in brightness but it doesn't look like they get 50% or more brighter.
 
Thanks slacktide_bitog and 901Memphis for your responses!

Good to know that I won't go through these bulbs that quickly. My wife travels two lane roads a lot and I want her car as visible as possible during the day along with getting enough light (hopefully more light than stock bulbs) with these bulbs at night.
 
Ive had those bulbs, gimmicky and dont last and nor are they much brighter. Can you find LED replacements? They run cooler so they wont fog the lenses as easily and in my experience are quite bright. If they last over 1 year, they will have outlasted the philips.
 
Daytime running lights or not, my guess is that they will last you about a year. In the past I put these in a car and had one burn out every 6 months to a year. I have started only using OEM for headlights and they last sooooo much longer.
 
I run Osram Night Breakers Unlimited in my car.

There are two scenarios here:

1: - you have a projector headlight and there will be NO improvement in distance but the 4000K color temperature will give you a better depth perception at night over regular halogen

2: - you have a reflector headlight and you will notice at least a 30% increase in the illuminated patch of road.

What I love about them is that in 2 years of usage I have never blinded incoming traffic, compared to those Xenon retrofit kits that make you want to beat the owner with a lead pipe.

Now the cons:

- They are more expensive

- They will last you no more than a year, especially if you drive on bumpy roads ( my record is 8 months)

- If you have a car where you have to take apart half the bumper, battery, relays and wire harnesses not to mention sacrificing some finger skin to the gods in order to change a darn light bulb, your cursing will improve dramatically in no time.
 
Thanks for the replies!

The car has projector beam headlights for low beam, I always wondered about upgrading and seeing further with them. I think it is going to be a knuckle busting experience... Have to remove the whole headlight assembly.

LED replacement bulbs are not street legal and DOT approved. Philips does make H11 fog light LED bulbs but only approved for fog lights. If and when aftermarket LEDs become legal and have the correct light pattern it'll be what I would do.

Since I have them and they were only $25, I'll give them a try and be ready to replace them.

Thanks again!
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Oh it has projectors? Have you thought about doing an H9 upgrade?

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?254193-Difference-between-H9-and-H11-bulbs


Thanks for the suggestion but actually no for 2 reasons. First the car is under warranty and I wouldn't do anything to void it and manufacturers will try to find fault to void it IMO. And second, it is a 65 Watt bulb so it is not a low beam headlight, I'm not looking to blind other people... can't stand when they do that to me. I have read things like that thread before and it sounds good until a problem happens, problems always happen with me!
smile.gif


My wife's previous car had projector beam headlights and it had the "Z" cutoff pattern, I haven't noticed it in this car I'll have to take more notice. We never modified the headlights in her previous car (Hyuandai Minivan), used stock 55 watt bulbs and every so often people would flash their headlights at us which is why I looked to see the cutoff against the garage door (I know that's too close for aiming purposes), of course they could have been aimed too high from the factory.

Honestly if these bulbs last less than a year and/or no improvement, I'll go back to stock H11, If they last more than a year and there is an improvement maybe I'll stick with them.
 
Originally Posted By: Andy636
I run Osram Night Breakers Unlimited in my car.

There are two scenarios here:

1: - you have a projector headlight and there will be NO improvement in distance but the 4000K color temperature will give you a better depth perception at night over regular halogen

2: - you have a reflector headlight and you will notice at least a 30% increase in the illuminated patch of road.

What I love about them is that in 2 years of usage I have never blinded incoming traffic, compared to those Xenon retrofit kits that make you want to beat the owner with a lead pipe.

Now the cons:

- They are more expensive

- They will last you no more than a year, especially if you drive on bumpy roads ( my record is 8 months)

- If you have a car where you have to take apart half the bumper, battery, relays and wire harnesses not to mention sacrificing some finger skin to the gods in order to change a darn light bulb, your cursing will improve dramatically in no time.


Ran those as high beam on a 2015 Elantra. Turned out they run as DRLs and burned out in 12 months.
 
$25 a pair is still pretty cheap. Standard clear bulbs will run ~$14 a pair anyways.

Don't get too worried about DRLs running the LB bulb at 1/2 wattage. My Nissan has DRLs that are always on and the bulbs still work 2 years later. As long as you don't touch the glass the bulbs will work for a long time. Never had a failure, EVER, unless I touched the glass during installation or it's a cheap $3 bulb that was probably touched during packaging.
 
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