HID look headlights

Anyone try Sylvania Silver Star bulbs in their MKV.

I was thinking about getting them for my 06 TDI Jetta. Also, I've heard stories about them getting hot enough to damage wiring - any truth to this?

My old Passat W8 had the xenon lights and I loved them.

Interesting article in the most recent consumer reports. Long and short, they looked at all the aftermarket light bulbs and found none were as effective as OEM bulbs.

JeffKlatt said:

Anyone try Sylvania Silver Star bulbs in their MKV.

I was thinking about getting them for my 06 TDI Jetta. Also, I've heard stories about them getting hot enough to damage wiring - any truth to this?

My old Passat W8 had the xenon lights and I loved them.

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I tried them in my wifes Passat and my Jetta. While they are slightly whiter in color, I don't find much lighting difference between them and stock. They are the same wattage as stock. If you were to purchase a higher wattage bulb which are available(someone tried to sell me 100 watt bulbs), you may damage you harness.

JeffKlatt said:

Anyone try Sylvania Silver Star bulbs in their MKV.

I was thinking about getting them for my 06 TDI Jetta. Also, I've heard stories about them getting hot enough to damage wiring - any truth to this?

My old Passat W8 had the xenon lights and I loved them.

Click to expand...

Going with Sylvania Silver Stars is not exactly HID look.

Try this (four day delivery) http://www.powerbulbs.co.uk/

Better than Sylvania, pure white, but do not confuse these with HID 'look'.

Silverstar & Cool Blue I have tried them both on my 04 Volvo. They are a little whiter and a little brighter...but they don't last. They burn out much quicker than OEM bulbs and they cost $20-25 to replace each time. I also noticed that people flashed their high-beams at me quite often with those too. The ones I used were the "H7" bulbs. They were rated at 55w IIRC.

Silverstars are 55 watts.

There are 2 types...

Osrams (available from www.powerbulbs.co.uk and www.danielsternlighting.com ) and the US Market Sylvania.

What's the difference? The Sylvania Silverstars starts out as Osrams (which are brighter than stock, with modifications to the gas mixture and filament design), the a light blue-purple ion coating is applied to change the color output and reduce the lumens thrown out.

I've had both-- and Osrams (no tint) are a lot better imo.

Also, keep in mind, since the low beams are DRLs, the OE H7 bulbs are of the "Long-Life or extended life" variety-- which lasts twice as long as standard H7s (about 1000 hrs vs. 500 hrs).

Also, modified for output H7's also come with reduced life over standard H7's

I had my DRLs disabled for that reason...but 500hrs is a severe stretch. I don't think they lasted 150 hours. Maybe 100 after I disabled DRL. With the DRLs on, I was replacing them once a month. That's about 65-75 hours of operation given my driving habbits at the time. When I disabled the DRL they lasted much much longer because most of my driving was done during the daytime hours. This was with an 04 Volvo S40. It had seperate bulbs for low and high beam operation, but with DRLs on, the low beams ran all the time as it did not have seperate DRL.

no-blue-screen,
Do you have VAGCOM? If not, who turned your DRL's off?

Funny you should ask.

I just ordered my vag-com and bentley manual on CD-ROM from Ross-Tech today

The DRLs that were disabled were on my 2004 Volvo S40 not my TDI. They are easily disabled on the S40 by performing a combination of steps while at the steering wheel and didn't require any ecu mods.

Once I have my VAG-COM, one of the first things I am going to do is disable the DRLs on my TDI. I hate DRLs. I will also be adding my name to the VAG-COM list once I receive it.

*thumbs up* for the Osram Silverstar's from powerbulbs.uk!

They have a much broader spread of "white" light than the stock bulbs, giving better illumination to the sides of the roadway in my MkV.

I've had Sylvania Silverstars in my last 3 Suburbans - like them alot, but will definately stick with Osram's from now on.