Cay-ute

I have an 03 C4 Cab with Litronic headlights. The light that the current bulbs project is pretty weak and I want to consider replacing the bulbs. Does anyone have any advice as to whether I go with OEM bulbs or something else? In addition, should I replace both the low and high beam with the same bulb? I have searched alot of the posts on this topic and I find more info on HID conversions than I do on xenon bulb options. Any help would be appreciated!!

Riad

Here is a recent post about head light replacement:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...996+Headlights

LVDell

The XENON lights (low beam) and the high beam and fog are different. You can try to match color of light but CANNOT use the same bulbs for all 3.

bet

The original poster has a MY '03. Didn't that year come with Bi-xenons? The thread mentioned posted above deals with the 99-01 Litronics, which only has "xenon" lights in the low beam and uses halogen lamps for the high beam, not to mention it is specifically discussing the "parking" light and not the low beam lamp.

Unfortunately I don't know the answer to the original question about bulb replacement. However, I will suggest that you check the alignment of the lights (instructions are in the manual). The nature of xenon/litronics is that they have a very specific light pattern with "bright line" cut offs in direction. The problem is if the lamp gets misaligned there is very limited light "spray" from the headlight and the area that is illuminated can be quite small or in the wrong direction. An alignment may dramatically improve the illumination.

Cay-ute

Riad/LVDell, thank you for your responses. I should have been clearer in my first post. I would like to improve the overall lighting in my Litronics. I have read enough now to learn that the original Xenon bulbs degrade over time due to a variety of factors. So in looking at the options I pulled out the manual and saw that the Bi-Xenon low beams take a Philips, DS@ socket with a 35W bulb (I could not find a type rating in the manual so I assume DS2 is what I am looking for). The bulb chart on page 223 of the 2003 996 manual has a second category which is called "additional high beam" (with Bi-Xenon headlights) and calls for a PGJ 19-2 socket and a H11, 55W type and rating. So this tells me that the low and high beam Bi-Xenon bulbs are different. The foglights require a PK 22-S socket and an H3 55W bulb.

Given all that, my real question is should I stay with OEM bulbs for replacing all three in effort to improve nighttime lighting or are there other options? I looked at a site called Xetronics, a Japanese company and they offered bulbs with different colors and I assume different intensity. I believe the OEM low beam bulbs function at about 4300-4400K and there are bulb options listed that increase the K amount (and also change the color of the lights). I am looking to get the best illumination for night time driving, not for color or bling. I am confused by what increasing the K of the bulbs means in terms of illumination. I would like to see farther down the road that my current headlamps allow.

I hope this helps clarify my original post. Thanks again for the replies.

programmatore

You have 5 different types of bulbs on you 03 C4 Cab.

Bi-Xenon lowbeam: Philips D 2 S
Additional high beam (with Bi-Xenon headlights): H11, 55W
Fog lights: H3, 55W
Parking light front: H6W

You also have the turn signal light which is a PY 21 W.

For the Xenon bulb you don't really have a lot of choices. You need a D 2 S Xenon bulb. Philips (OEM) makes it and so does OSRAM/Sylvania. Brightness will be the same. They do change in color over time (to the bluish side) so if you need to replace one you might have to replace both so that the color will match.

You could try a brighter H11 bulb, like the Sylania Silvelstar, for the additional high beam but that won't do a lot of difference since the Bi-Xenon high beam will probably be brighter than the H11.

For aesthetics you can swap out the parking/city light with an L.E.D. H6W and the fog light with a Hoen H3 so that they will more closely match the Xenon low beam. Again, this is just for aesthetics and won't really make it brighter.

programmatore

I replied to your original post the same time you wrote your second post. Anyway, there are aftermarket Xenon bulbs that have a different Kelvin (color temperature) rating. This means that they are either more blue or more purple than the stock "white" bulbs. The bluer bulbs are popular among the ricer crowd. However, this has nothing to do with brightness -- just color. Actually, if you want good visibility you are better off with the OEM bulb. The bluer bulbs would actually give you less contrast. Think about it: white light on black asphalt or blue/purple light on black asphalt.

bet

Not only is the contrast better but depending on how the bulb manufacturer achieves the color rating you may actually lose output becuase some of the after market bulbs just use coatings on the bulbs to achieve the bulb color which can reduce the light output.

Cay-ute

Programmatore, thanks for your two responses, I agree with your assessment that white light on a black top is better than purple or blue and I am not looking for asthetics, just improved functionality. I did notice your earlier post regarding the use of LEDs for the parking light, I have noticed that with my current set up, all factory, that the parking light is pretty yellow in comparison to the Litronics, I might consider giving in a little to asthetics on that one.

If you were going to replace the original OEM bulbs and did not want to pay the dealer, where would you suggest I look?

Thanks again for the advice.

LVDell

The manual. It is very simple and outlined step by step.

Cay-ute

LV Dell, My comment was about where I should purchase them instead of at the dealer, I guess I am struggling with English this morning, sorry for the confusion!!

LVDell

good one. grab another cup of coffee before typing anything else

You can pick up most of these bulbs (other than the LED like prog's) at Pep Boys, AUto Zone, etc.

BillJ

Programmatore - are the Hoen H3's plug and play? Have you done this already? Need to replace the City lights and would love to get all the yellow tones out of the the lighting system without getting ricey and/or compromising the system.

programmatore

Hey Bill, you're talking about 2 different bulbs -- the fog lights are H3 and the city lights are H6W. They are bulbs so, yeah, they are plug and play -- just replace the old bulb with the new one.

I have a MY2000 with Litronics so my fog light bulbs are different from yours (H7 vs. H3.) I used the Hoen H7 Xenonmatch bulbs. They have the same wattage as stock so no problems. For the city lights I used white LED bulbs.