Replacing MB bulbs for Performance Halogen Bulbs

[MidLife Crisis]

Hello,

I was thinking of changine my headlight bulbs to increase the lighting. I really would like to have HID's but,...$$$$. Has anyone had any experience with these bulbs? Thanks.

Silverstar Bulbs

by SYLVANIA


$19.95 - $39.95

Now you can add the newest technology in bulbs to your Truck or SUV. The new SilverStar High Performance Halogen Bulbs burn brighter and whiter than halogen ever has. They illuminate with a searing intensity, exceeded only by far more expensive High Intensity Discharge Lighting. SilverStar provides drivers with an unparalleled level of illumination.

[SkiWithG]

I did exactly that for the same reason. While they are brighter than the stock bulb, my complaint is that the lights just don't shine down the road far enough. The silverstars did nothing to improve that.

BTW, I bought them for $31.95 for the pair on eBay.

Glenn

[linh]

I try it too and there's no improvement. It just nicer in color. I got mine from PepBoy same price as E-bay.

[Bazzle]

I tried Silver star, green star, big boys , fat boys, etc.
Finally gave in and Fitted 4500K HIDs from Ebay.

All that time and effort I could of saved[:(]

Bazzle

[cocktailsfirst]

The consensus is

For looks:
Nokya's or Falcons

For performance and distance:
PIAA or Phillip's

[YellowSLK230]

If you look at the specs for the Silverstars, they are not as bright (96) in terms of MSCD output as the Halogen+ (125 MSCD), and don't last as long (135 hours versus 370). Primary difference is the "color temperature", which is closer to the blue-white look of a Xenon HID lamp, but without the higher output and greater efficiency of the standard long-life halogen. In other words, they pay a lot for that "blue-white look" in output and bulb life, probably by using a thinner filament that runs at a much higher temperature, and adding a blue-pass coating that cuts down on total specification light output by filtering out other parts of the color spectrum.

The advertising text doesn't match the engineering specifications, suggesting that the Silverstar is brighter than the standard bulb. Unless the different color light is better received by the human eyeball, the result would be LESS perceived brightness rather than more. Unless someone here has done a direct LEFT versus RIGHT comparison in the SLK with a Silverstar on one side and a NEW regular Halogen+ on the other side (all bulbs dim with age) and found the Silverstars to be perceived as brighter, I would stay away from them.

[slick02]

Check out 16falcon's comments and pics in the following thread. I think the bulbs are significantly cheaper, and may be brighter, too.
http://forums.mbnz.org/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1222010&posts=12