VUe BULB sizes and replacement Guide!!

[mellissam]

As usual, my digital camera batterie were dead....
I put in the 9005 Sylvania Cool Blues for my low beams. The difference is amazing...true white light. Although, others have put in the Silverstars with great results, I have to say these will do the job and then some. According to Sylvania they both have the same Lumens (1700), just different temp ratings . I only had to take off the two top bolts of each headlight assembly to change the bulbs...and shaving the 'nubs' off was pretty straighforward (see earlier posts). One thing I noticed, was that it was difficult to screw one side back on (passenger side lamp), so I adjusted the headlight 'down' a few notches and it seemed to work...not sure if it was the reason or not.

However, I disconnected the battery (for the K&N filter change - other threads suggested I do so), and now i have no running lights, and my dash and steering wheel lights are out.... I checked all the BCM fuses, but no luck...a trip into the dealer to see what the f^&%$! is the problem.

[mellissam]

Car fixed!!

Turns out I blew a fuse..LOL
I checked darn near everyone last night, but I must have missed one. Must have been the LED turn signal lights I tried out...only half of the LEDS lit up, and the flasher was going nuts (fast). This fuse (turning lamp - interior fuse panel), apparently controls the intrument cluster, steering wheel lights, and running lights. Anyway, with only half the LEDS lighting up, I took the product back. If they were all going, I think it would be brighter and cooler (RED) than OEM.

Got my dealer to give me a 'Canadian' deal on roof bars for those with chrome roofs rails ($203cdn - 179usd). Happy happy.

[mellissam]

I wonder if there is a limit for repetative posting by the same poster...???
Anyway, here are some shots of the Cool Blue Sylvannia's;
-link in case I can't get the pic to post-

http://www.saturnfans.com/photos/sho...0829&cat=12544



and



and the package (sounds umm...bad)

[James Gerber]

I've seen the term/product HID mentioned alot around here, and after doing a search found there are many different HID lights. I just had a few questions, if anyone could help out it would be greatly appreciated:

A) Would they actually help out Low-Bean visibility? (or would simply adjusting the angle of the factory ones be just as good? The last thing I would want to do is think about installing something for a bit of money, only to have it cast the same distance/area as my current ones)

B) What kit/product is the one that should be used with an '03 vue?
(after doing a search I eventually came across this page
http://www.slickcar.com/HID_lights.asp but was overwhelmed by the different products.)

I'm willing to spend a bit of cash in order to make my vehicle safer for myself as well as other, and am looking for the best solution.

Thanks,

jg

[mellissam]

Hey James, I was pretty happy with the conversion discussed in this thread - going from 1000 to 1700 lumens (whether you go with Silverstars or Cool Blue is up to you). HID has "three times the lumens per watt of traditional halogen light" (sylvania site), but your looking at this kit;

9006 HID Headlight Conversion Kit (6000K) or the other 9006/9005 conversion kits - depends on which beam you want to upgrade.
Which was $300 - $400...ouch.

You might want to read up on light, as there is more at play than wattage - the temp of the emitter-metal (expressed in Kelvins) tells you what colour of light to expect. Generally, Halogens are around 3000k, and HID are anywhere from 4000-7000K, which closely resembles that of true white light. Your lumens (brightness or candle power) for typical auto app are around 3500+ lumens.......Requires much more effort to install than taking a 9500 type halogen and modifying it. If I go there, it would be for fog lamps...although, they say a more yellow light is best (i.e. halogen). Mind you, they make a variety of metal-halide lamps that can emit different colours.

Whereas, Silverstars were $29 CDN or Cool Blues $13 CDN each.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-in...discharge_lamp
http://www.brightheadlights-hid.com/xenon_bulbs.htm
http://www.halcyon.net/lights/hid-faq.shtml
http://www.sylvania.com/LearnLighting/LightAndColor/
http://www.sylvania.com/LearnLightin...HIDTechnology/

I heard you mention in a previous thread that your lamps are aimed a little low? You might want to fix that before any mods.

[James Gerber]

Thanks for the info!

I was currious if regardless of the type of light used, it could be the brightest light in the world but will still only cast the same distance with a sharp cut off line. Maybe the adjustment of the light is all I need to do.

I guess now the thing to do would be to figure out how to adjust the low beams. I didn't see the two adjustments that allow you to lower/lift the light. Unless you need to completely remove the light assembly or something?

(and I can't get the dealer to do it because I tried that the first time and they won't adjust them higher for me).

jg

[mellissam]

Hey James...Read the manual (should be in there), as for 06's there is a white post above the lights (pop hood) that is quite simple to adjust.

[James Gerber]

The manual doesn't show anything about adjusting the angle of the lights... but does show how to replace the bulbs. So I guess I'll open some of the stuff up and see if there is anything to adjust for angle. (2003 VUE)

thanx,

jg

[James Gerber]

Okay... my manual didn't mention anything about adjustment screws.. but I think a found them.

after adjusting them quite a bit, it really increased my range by alot!
Am I free to adjust them to any angle?

I basically tested by getting them to a decent range, then walking out infront of the vehicle and lowering my eye level to the ground (close to what a car drivers level would be) and seeing if they were blinding or not.

I'm trying to figure out why the Saturn Dealer I took it to refused to adjust them for me. At least now I think the 'safety' factor for night driving in the Low Beam setting is alot better.

For example, before:
Stop sign (up around 6-7 feet high) would not illuminate 'cause beams were too low.
I could hardly see children biking on the towns streets until they were 10ft away

Now:
I can see the stop sign illuminated
I can see pedestrians from much farther.


jg

[mellissam]

Originally Posted by James Gerber

Okay... my manual didn't mention anything about adjustment screws.. but I think a found them.

after adjusting them quite a bit, it really increased my range by alot!
Am I free to adjust them to any angle?

I basically tested by getting them to a decent range, then walking out infront of the vehicle and lowering my eye level to the ground (close to what a car drivers level would be) and seeing if they were blinding or not.

I'm trying to figure out why the Saturn Dealer I took it to refused to adjust them for me. At least now I think the 'safety' factor for night driving in the Low Beam setting is alot better.

For example, before:
Stop sign (up around 6-7 feet high) would not illuminate 'cause beams were too low.
I could hardly see children biking on the towns streets until they were 10ft away

Now:
I can see the stop sign illuminated
I can see pedestrians from much farther.


jg

James, since everybody is scared of lawsuits....I must give you a caveat emptor (buyer beware)...but in my Hella fog lamp kit, they had low beams measured at bulb height at 25 ft...which means park your car facing a wall, 25 ft. away...your low beams (top part of beam) should hit the wall at the same level of your lights (measure equal distance from ground to lights, and the same on the wall)....
Hope this helps....anybody else have condratictory testimony, please share....to avoid pending lawsuit....
LOL

[James Gerber]

thanks! I wasn't sure.. just thought I heard about it somewhere.

I guess I"ll start looking around tomorrow for actual 'verification'. (ie: our MTO, or something)


jg

[GearGuy]

Headlight Aiming Procedure Links
Advance Auto Parts

[David 93 SL2m]

Originally Posted by m4gician

...if you want a BRIGHTER bulb...

There are a few other bulbs we can also substitute which produce more light (but have a shorter lifespan). Here is one list:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nal_bulbs.html

And here is another list from the same web site:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...ulb_types.html

[David 93 SL2m]

My substitutions.

Rear turn signal
3057 (MSCD 32) --> 3457 (MSCD 40, 25% more light)
Tail light
3057 (MSCD 32) --> 3457 (MSCD 40, 25% more light)
Stop light
3057 (MSCD 32) --> 3457 (MSCD 40, 25% more light)
Front sidemarker
168 (MSCD 3) --> 2825 / W5W (MSCD 4, 33% more light)

[David 93 SL2m]

For my low beam headlights I replaced the 9006 bulbs with 9005 bulbs. Beforehand I used my Dremel to remove the pair of ridges inside the bulbs that are supposed to stop us from mixing up the 9005 and 9006 bulbs in our headlamp assemblies. That was easy and afterward the electrical harnesses popped on without any issues. But before attaching the wire harnesses I had a very rough time getting the 9005 bulbs into position in the headlight assemblies (where we are supposed to be installing 9006 bulbs). I had to sort of force the 9005 bulbs into place.

Did anybody doing this mod have to do anything not mentioned in this thread to get the 9005 bulbs to fit easily...? Did anybody need to trim or slightly reshape the outer "ring" with the 3 tabs that are used to secure the bulb into the headlamp assemblies to get them to fit easily...?

[daddy-o]

David, I don't have an answer to your question, I just purchased an '06 Vue, but I'm curious as to the improvement you saw with the 9006 to 9005 replacement. Was it noticably better, and did the "pattern" on the road change? Did you have to re-aim the lights?
Thanks.

[David 93 SL2m]

Originally Posted by daddy-o

David, I don't have an answer to your question, I just purchased an '06 Vue, but I'm curious as to the improvement you saw with the 9006 to 9005 replacement. Was it noticably better, and did the "pattern" on the road change? Did you have to re-aim the lights?
Thanks.

Using high beam bulbs where we are supposed to use low beam bulbs is not dramatically better, but it is noticeably better. Besides the bulb fitment (meaning the grooves inside the base of the bulbs that are present to prevent us from doing this), there are two primary differences in the characteristics of the bulbs. First, low beam bulbs are usually rated at 55 watts while high beam bulbs are rated at 65 watts, about an 18% increase in wattage. Second, low beam bulbs have some sort of painted "cap" at the end of the bulb so light is emitted from just the sides of the bulb while the high beam bulbs lack this "cap" so light is emitted from all sides of the bulb. Either of these differences generally mean the high beam bulbs give off more more light.

No, the pattern on the road did not change.

No, I did not have to re-aim the lights. However proper headlight aim is very important for seeing well at night, and I would recommend making sure the headlight aim is correct before using a brighter bulb to avoid annoying other drivers. That would be anti-social as well as dangerous. Car dealers and most service garages can check and possibly re-aim headlights rather quickly and for low cost. You could also do this yourself if you have patience and a nice dark level area in front of a wall or the like.

[daddy-o]

Thanks for the response David. This car is primarily driven by my wife, who has trouble seeing well at night. Now that darkness is falling sooner, it won't be long before she gets a good idea of whether the lights will be OK as is.
It's good to know that a slight improvement is possible, if neccessary. The lights seem to be aimed correctly now, and I do know of several methods of checking this myself if need be.
After I posted to you earlier, I did a little more research into the "mods" necessary to the 9005 bulbs, and found the following:

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

Part of it is the same as someone posted earlier, but it also talks about having to remove, or shave down, part of one of the tabs on the side of the bulb to get it to fit properly into the headlight assembly. Sounds like that is the difficulty you ran into.

Thanks again.

[David 93 SL2m]

Originally Posted by David 93 SL2m

But before attaching the wire harnesses I had a very rough time getting the 9005 bulbs into position in the headlight assemblies (where we are supposed to be installing 9006 bulbs). I had to sort of force the 9005 bulbs into place.

Did anybody doing this mod have to do anything not mentioned in this thread to get the 9005 bulbs to fit easily...? Did anybody need to trim or slightly reshape the outer "ring" with the 3 tabs that are used to secure the bulb into the headlamp assemblies to get them to fit easily...?

Originally Posted by daddy-o

...I did a little more research into the "mods"
necessary to the 9005 bulbs, and found the following:

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

Part of it is the same as someone posted earlier, but it also talks about having to remove, or shave down, part of one of the tabs on the side of the bulb to get it to fit properly into the headlight assembly. Sounds like that is the difficulty you ran into.

Yes, this was my problem and I didn't bother to compare the outer tab discussed in this other web page. It is odd that this part of the bulb modification was not mentioned or discussed by any of the other people responding earlier in this thread before daddy-o, especially after I commented that the bases of my bulbs didn't seem to fit right.

Anyway - here are the important parts (without any editing or embellishing) for everybody including their pictures in case the hyperlink fails for if the web page vanishes one day. Hopefully this will help others.

More light



Why using a 9005 bulb: 9005 bulbs are 65W and are not capped at the end, 9006 bulbs are 55W and have a cap at the end. You have to slightly modify the 9005 bulb to fit the 9006 socket. Tim experimented with the Sylvania Cool Blue 65W 9005 ($15 ea) and was really happy with the bright light.

Light increase is from the increase in lumens from the 9005 bulb. A 9005 bulb has 70% more lumens than the 9006 (1700 lumens vs 1000 lumens). HID has 3200 lumens.

Procedure

* File or chisel tools.
* Sharp knife, blade, soldering iron or Dremel like tool
* 2 x 9005 bulbs.
* Protective glasses (you don't want to lose an eye) and gloves

1. Remove 3mm of plastic from the left of the center until you have 5-6mm of plastic left.



2. Remove the two guides inside the socket (I used a knife and a soldering iron). Install 2 or 3 O'rings from the old bulb in the new bulb to ensure a tight fit. ( didn't and it worked fine for me)



3. Install the bulbs in your car and have your light adjusted if not already.

[m4gician]

Mod, thanks for making one of my posts a sticky!