LED Low beam options

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
Morimoto 2Stroke 2.0 and deAutokey H7 LEDs are among the better quality out there.
 

thundershorts

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Location
west chester pa
TDI
2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
the original reflector housings are the problem. The screwy h15 bulb for high/ lows really limits what you can do with them. Ed,s headlights work pretty well and you can adjust low and high beam separately. The standard factory headlights are a disgrace.
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
the original reflector housings are the problem. The screwy h15 bulb for high/ lows really limits what you can do with them. Ed,s headlights work pretty well and you can adjust low and high beam separately. The standard factory headlights are a disgrace.
H15 bulb is the high beam & DRL. Lows are H7s.
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
LEDs in a reflector housing are a viable option for someone on a tight budget that wants significant lighting improvement and doesn't expect laser-sharp definition/cutoff or super even light distribution. Or someone who needs an easy installation. HIDs in a reflector would be the next step up in performance (with the same caveats as LEDs) and a step down in installation ease. Of course, Bi-xenon projectors are the ultimate upgrade, but there is a legitimate middle ground here.

While I will be installing Ed's projectors eventually, I wanted a quickie temporary, modest improvement and installed what some consider the highest performing standard wattage halogen bulbs: Osram Night Breaker Laser Next Gen. They upped performance of the reflectors from virtually unsafe to barely acceptable ;). Even if someone considered the performance of this combo OK for a final solution (which I think few would), I expect these bulbs to last months, not years. When these go, in go Ed's.
 

thundershorts

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Location
west chester pa
TDI
2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
I moved my h7 night breaker lasers to the ed's highs when I installed them and they work well.
 

dobeonguard

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2009
Location
Canton, OH
TDI
98 Jetta TDi
So deAutokey H7s are probably the best plug and play solution? It’s like I’m driving by candlelight when I get I to the Golf after driving my Outback Limited with LED headlights.
 

RIP TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 16, 2000
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
TDI
'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
So deAutokey H7s are probably the best plug and play solution? It’s like I’m driving by candlelight when I get I to the Golf after driving my Outback Limited with LED headlights.
Yes, but I would trade the increased performance of deAutokey's HID kit (vs. their LED kit) for the slightly less plug-and-play-ability. Price is the same. Also you get a choice of higher or lower color temp. with the HIDs compared to the 5500K of the LEDs.
 
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thundershorts

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Location
west chester pa
TDI
2015 passat tdi sel premium 2015 golf s tdi gls tdi b5.5, 2002 eurovan,Peugeot 505 td,Citroen cx25 prestige
Hylux hid's are another high quality good choice and a bit less expensive, 5000k is the pure white and go well with the night breaker lasers.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
blind everyone i want to light the road 2 counties away!!!!
 

Mrrogers1

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Location
Omaha NEEEBRASKA
TDI
2011 Golf TDI 6MT, 2011 Jetta TDI DSG, 2015 Golf Sportwagen S TDI DSG
LEDs in a reflector housing are a viable option for someone on a tight budget that wants significant lighting improvement and doesn't expect laser-sharp definition/cutoff or super even light distribution. Or someone who needs an easy installation. HIDs in a reflector would be the next step up in performance (with the same caveats as LEDs) and a step down in installation ease. Of course, Bi-xenon projectors are the ultimate upgrade, but there is a legitimate middle ground here.
While I will be installing Ed's projectors eventually, I wanted a quickie temporary, modest improvement and installed what some consider the highest performing standard wattage halogen bulbs: Osram Night Breaker Laser Next Gen. They upped performance of the reflectors from virtually unsafe to barely acceptable ;). Even if someone considered the performance of this combo OK for a final solution (which I think few would), I expect these bulbs to last months, not years. When these go, in go Ed's.
Yeah, Ed's with Morimoto 5k are amazing! Look fabulous and work VERY good.
 

Beeah

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2006
Location
Plymouth, MI
TDI
15 GSWs 6MT | 02 Jetta TDI(Sold)
Stumbled on these on Amazon. Looks like they would fit our lights brackets but the lumens are pretty low, 1600lm each.

https://www.amazon.com/H7-Newest-Version-CSP-Chips-Lights/dp/B07FPS35LN/ref=sr_1_27_sspa?crid=2Y936FB6ZWQUL&keywords=h7+led+headlight+bulb&qid=1554206754&s=gateway&sprefix=H7+LED+%2Caps%2C305&sr=8-27-spons&psc=1

Anyone know what the real effective raw lumens of the stock lights are? Be interesting to know.

I'm considering the deAutokey H7 LED's but making sure I search out every possible option. I hope I stumble on a new cheaper solution!
 
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