David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
10/4/09 1:46 p.m.

I just talked to my dad about lights for his new (to him) BMW 325i, and I'm about to install H4s in the 911. That got me thinking: What are most of you running for lights: Euro-code headlights, old halogens, auxiliary lamps or just whatever came with the car?

VClassics
VClassics New Reader
10/4/09 2:33 p.m.

'66 122S: old halogens

'67 1800S: Cibie E-codes (fantastic)

'79 Westfalia: old halogens

'84 DL wagon: Hella E-codes (horrible)

Tommy Suddard
Tommy Suddard SonDork
10/4/09 5:39 p.m.

I've got H4 lows and H1 highs in the E30. Great light, better than most new cars.

Series6
Series6 New Reader
10/4/09 5:56 p.m.

Halogens out of a Class 8 truck..... If the brakes fail, I hit the high beams and use them as retrorockets...

bmw327
bmw327 New Reader
10/4/09 6:13 p.m.

H1/H4's in the E30 too...What Tommy said.

DneprDave
DneprDave New Reader
10/4/09 6:56 p.m.

On the XJ-12C, I run halogen low beams and aircraft landing light high beams. Landing lights are available at NAPA and fit right in the high beam headlight buckets. I use a Ford starter solenoid as a relay and 10 gage wire to the high beams so as not to toast the wiring harness.

Dave

ddavidv
ddavidv SuperDork
10/5/09 6:13 a.m.

I use Euro spec lights in anything with newer aero lamps. For old stuff I generally use a Hella H4 type lamp. However, the Mini still retains it's candle-wattage sealed beams because they have city lights in them and I think that's cool. So I stuck a pair of Ring Rally Giants on the front.

rconlon
rconlon Reader
10/5/09 10:32 a.m.

Modern halogens with a relay so I get 12+ volts to them. All I wanted was to get as good as my Honda and I feel I accomplished that.

Cheers Ron

VClassics
VClassics New Reader
10/5/09 11:20 a.m.

A few more comments...

The lights in our '84 Volvo suck because they are rectangular, not because they are Hella specifically. There's no way to make optics work well in a rectangular shape.

Cibies are available with city lights.

If you want to run halogen sealed-beams, and/or DOT compliance is an issue, the only ones worth bothering with are the GE Nighthawks.

Relays are a Good Thing, and I usually use a 12 AWG wire per filament.

KaptKaos
KaptKaos Reader
10/5/09 1:10 p.m.

In reply to VClassics:

RE: Those Cibie e-codes on the 1800. I assume you can run those on a 122??? Anything special needed to make them reliable? Relays??

VClassics
VClassics New Reader
10/5/09 2:04 p.m.

Sure, the Cibies are direct replacements for any 7" round headlamp -- I've put them into a number of customer 122s.

Whether or not you need to upgrade the wiring depends on what wattage bulbs you put in them. I think it's a good idea no matter what lights you're running, but it's not mandatory with standard wattage bulbs.

Article on upgrading wiring

The one problem I've seen, and only once, was on a car that had an alternator and an external regulator that was slow to react. Turning on the headlights while the battery was recharging after cranking the starter caused a voltage spike that would instantly blow the bulbs. A solid-state regulator fixed that.

Series6
Series6 New Reader
10/5/09 5:03 p.m.

Thanks for posting the article on wiring for high output lamps. I think even I can follow that.

63Alpine
63Alpine
10/7/09 9:00 a.m.

Thanks for the diagram. I have a 60s car that had a slight meltdown in the middle of a rainstorm at night a few weeks ago. A tow truck ride, new alternator and a few new wires and im back running. I got a universal wiring harness, just waiting for the time to put it in. That diagram is exactly what I needed. I was thinking about upgrading to one of the hid xenon kits with ballasts on ebay, the 6024 replacement for 7 inch bulbs. Does anyone have any thoughts/pros/cons on those?

slantvaliant
slantvaliant HalfDork
10/8/09 11:17 a.m.
slantvaliant
slantvaliant HalfDork
10/8/09 11:27 a.m.
63Alpine wrote: I was thinking about upgrading to one of the hid xenon kits with ballasts on ebay, the 6024 replacement for 7 inch bulbs. Does anyone have any thoughts/pros/cons on those?

How about these: XE7's

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