I have long thought about replacing my 55 watt low beam 9006 bulbs with the 65 watt 9005 high beam bulbs. Some modification to the plastic vanes on the back of the bulb is required, but it looks pretty straight forward. I recently came across this article on how to do it (on a BMW w/ the same lighting setup), so I now know it is possible. The author reports very good results.
Has anyone else tried this?


http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Upgrade/More_light.htm

-Stoplight

 

Using a higher wattage bulb like 65W on the factory 55W might burn your wiring harness. I know some who tried the HIDlike 95W got theirs smoked.

I heard that Philips make some Premium or Plus bulbs that are brighter than factory. Check out its website.

 

sc400,
Thanks, I have heard of similar incidents with high (> 80w) wattage bulbs. The OEM high beams are 65 watt 9005 bulbs and it looks like high beams have the same gauge wiring as the low beams, so I don't see a risk of burning any wiring. I'm just suggesting using the OEM ( 65w 9005) high beam bulbs in place of the low beam (55w 9006) bulbs in the low beam projectors. Besides the slightly higher wattage, the 9005 high beam bulbs do not have the black capped end on the tip of the bulb, so they should deliver more lumens to the road.
I will let you know how it works out.
-Stoplight

 

I "upgraded" my low beams to higher wattage bulbs in 92. After a few years the connectors and wires became very brittle, and cracked. The connectors would not maintain contact, and I had to replace them. Fair warning. (On the other hand the lights were much brighter, and did not result in "flashing" from other cars".)

 

Have a look at the Philips BlueVision, 65watt, excellent and no problems with the power handling on the factory loom.

In the UK with jap spec lamps the 9006 is a bitch to fit as the mounting radius is too big, hence the 9005 buls go in with just the vane mod.

Also the Premuim range again 65watt but offering 30% brighter - I used these in the main beams, excellent.

I got the info from this site a while ago:

http://www.autolamps-online.com/halogen/index.htm

I always thought the standard lamps where a bit poor, now they are about 100% brighter - best mod I have ever made.

 

OK, I did some research and I thought I’d let you know what I found out.
The OEM low beam 9006 bulbs and high beam 9005 bulbs are governed by DOT specifications. The low beams are allowed to produce 1000 lumens plus or minus 15% while consuming 55w and the high beams are allowed to produce 1700 lumens plus or minus 15% while consuming 65w. So any bulb that claims to be “up to 30% brighter than standard” may be, if it is operating at the top of the range (ie 1000 + 15% or 1150 lumens) as compared to a bulb operating at the bottom of the range (ie 1000 – 15% or 850 lumens). All DOT approved bulbs are subject to these limitations to include the superwhites and blues. As it turns out, in independent tests, most of the superwhites and blues, despite their carefully worded advertising claims, actually deliver less usable light to the road unless they up their wattage above the legal limits. Blues and superwhites use either blue filters, treated glass, or colored glass, all which restrict some of the visible light to give off the desired appearance. So be careful, there is no way around Ohms law.
Now back to the original post. If the high beams are allowed to produce 1700 lumens plus or minus 15% (1445-1955 lumens), in theory, good (non-colored “30% brighter”) 9005 high beam bulbs have the potential to be over twice as bright as mediocre 9006 low beam bulbs (1955 compared to 850 lumens). The nice thing is the availability, low cost, and ease of modification of the 9005 bulbs to fit the 9006 sockets. It’s time to light up the road.
-Stoplight

 

For the most part you analysis is correct.

However, some bulb materials are infact more efficient than others. H.I.D. are much more efficient. Xenon are slightly more efficient and there are different grades of halogen performance as well. (all of these outperform incadescent bulbs by the way)

I am also looking to put 65W high beam bulbs in my low beam slots. However the high beams only have about 1/3 of the life of the low beam bulbs.

Good luck. Let us know which ones you wind up with.

-Mr. Wigggles

 

Update: I did the conversion and it worked out better than I had hoped. My lights are significantly brighter and the conversion took less than 10 minutes per side.
When I went to buy the new 9005's I couldn't resist trying the blue bulbs to see how they performed.
I bought GE Superblues 9005 bulbs from Walmart for $9.96 each. An unbelievable improvement for $20.

Some suggestions (see link on first post of thread):

1. Trimming 2-3 mm from the left side of the bulb center tab- I used fingernail clippers, one vertical and one horizontal snip and it was done.

2. Removing the 2 plastic ridges inside the bulb connector- I used a small (about 1/8 inch) drill bit and drill to "grind" off the ridges by applying lateral pressure to the side of each. Be careful not to apply too much pressure because drill bits are only designed for axial loading and will break.
(note: it looked like the Lexus socket has 3 grooves to accept either the single center ridge of a 9006 or the 2 ridges of the 9005, but I didn't try it prior to removing the ridges.)

3. I re-used the O-rings from the old 9006 bulbs and slid them up past the O-ring on the new 9005's. They fit snug. The bracket that holds the bulbs is well designed and holds the modified bulb in place perfectly, so there are no worries of bulb misalignment.

These lights are much whiter and brighter. I only wish I had done this sooner.

 

How long have you had this setup in place? Do the wiring harnesses to the bulbs get warmer with those?

SR

 

CmputerWiz,
I have had them in about 3 weeks, they do not warm up all, after all the bulbs are OEM 65w high beam bulbs. The low and high beams have the same gauge wire supplying the power. The increased light comes both from the slightly higher wattage and from the lack of having the front portion of the bulbs capped with opaque material. The wattage is the measure of energy consumed, up just 18%. The lumens are units that quantify how light will cause response from the human eye or perceived brightness, and this is up from 1000 (+/- 15%) lumens to 1700 (+/- 15%) lumens or +25% to +130% on depending on where the old and new bulbs fall in the allowable range.
Like MrWigggles suggest, the only downside is the shorter lifespan of the 9005 bulb, but they are available anywhere for cheap.

 

Another thought,

I was thinking of putting 9006's in my high beam slots. Jacking them down as far as they can go and then just drive with my high beams on.

I recently swaped my factory bulbs for PIAA platinum 51 Watt bulbs. It has been a nice improvement.

With 4 of those guys going my night driving might just get a little more fun.

-Mr. Wigggles

 

I put GE cool blues (9005sb) in both low and high beam slots... no real improvement. A little whiter, granted, but NOTHING like my Dad's AMG. I know it is a bit silly to think there would be a major dif, but I hoped.

The problem is in the temp, not the lumens. These have a color of around 3500k, I think you need something in the 4500k range to get pure white, and the AMG Zenon bulbs are around 5400k, I think. Just about the color temp of sunlight. Very blue looking at night.

What the heck should I do? Ebay has some lights that look promising, but I am reasonably sure they will fry the lens or the wiring harnesses. I contacted the vendor and they said they would assure me they would not burn or melt anything, but they wouldn't be sure enough to promise replacement if they did roast my ride!!

Check out this link on Ebay...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...item=593704117

Do they mean they are 85watt bulbs?? I would think that would toast the housing!! What do you guys think?
Anyone with experience? I know somebody messed up their parking lens, but headlamps?

Please advise...

Kirk Davis

gotta' love a Lexus!!
(did I mention my wife's name is Alexis??)

 

Not to mention it looks nice when they seem more concentrated. I got them some time ago too. I like them a lot and I'm happy to know that they won't demage my car like the HID-like blubs. My friend in his Subaru Impreza had these and they melted the harness. I recomend you stay clear of those. Here is two safe ways of getting these lights upgraded: get the PIAA lights or get the HID kit. PIAA lights will cost you ~70 bucks and the HID kit will cost you anywhere from 400 (if you got connections like I do) to 900 bucks. However, with HIDs police will cause problems for you. Some police officers are real dumb. Infact, I heard some people got pulled over for having PIAA lights on. I am just waiting for that to happen to me so I can go to the Police district with my lawyer, file a complaint, and press charges against the officer and the district.

 

Web site?

 

I got them at a local car boutique. Try www.vtechsports.com. and www.mvpmotorsports.com. For more information try www.piaa.com.