Best LED Headlight bulbs???

Anyone have good luck with any specific LED Headlights bulbs for the low beams on a Halogen (H7) headlights ?

Watching - since I don't like the ones I have.. there are "issues" in using LEDs in halogen projectors.. primarily with the resulting pattern and dark areas in the pattern due to the bi-sided light source vs. a 360 deg. light source. I don't know if that's solvable, but one or two manufacturers are now making drop-in LEDs with more than 2 sides. And I think it's Hella who is making TUV-approved ones for some Porsche headlights , unfortunately not the 987 headlights (yet?).

OSRAM, many still made in Germany. Sometimes if you buy Sylvania, they are just re-packaged OSRAM. If you are just trying a safe no-fuss brand, go with OSRAM. The Sylvania packages are clear and you can see if they are OSRAM inside. I hope that helps.

The issue with bad patterns is why I am asking. I think I may try one of the new "360deg" type LED bulbs .

After reading this - I searched on 360 degree LED bulbs - and Amazon and eBay popped up with lots of options, including ones down to $14/each. They look interesting to me. The idea of having multiple LEDs encircling a shaft to create a continuous 360-degree light source certainly seems like it could go quite a way towards curing the poor performance found with the 180-degree LEDs (2 sources back to back). Here are a few of the designs: They look good enough I'm springing for a pair from Amazon (return policy rules!).. will let you know how it works. They arrive today (gotta love same-day delivery..) Amazon.com: Stone Banks H7 LED Headlight Bulbs, 360 Degree 80W 12000LM Bright Headlights, LED Headlights Conversion Kit 6000K Cool White IP68 Waterproof, Pack of 2 : Automotive Buy Stone Banks H7 LED Headlight Bulbs, 360 Degree 80W 12000LM Bright Headlights, LED Headlights Conversion Kit 6000K Cool White IP68 Waterproof, Pack of 2: Headlight Bulbs - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases www.amazon.com

I am trying a slightly different set. Amazon.com: otrlenur H7 Led Headlight Bulb Super Bright Upgraded 360° Illumination H7 LED Lights Bulbs 26000LM 6500K Silent Waterproof Plug and Play All-in-one Halogen Replacement Bulb : Automotive I did not want the box bouncing around inside the light housing. Bulbs like these worked really well in my son's Escape high beams (Reflector lights) but not so well in the Projector lights. (Seems projectors (at least the small Ford ones) like a very small point light source. If these don't work well next I wil try this style. Amazon.com: WerlIn 30000LM H7 LED Quartz Tube Turbo 120W Headlight Bulbs 9012 9005 9006 HB3 HB4 H11 H8 LED Car Lights Projector Lamp 12V 6000K (Size : H7) : Automotive

Don, I'm interested in your result. About 4 years ago replaced my aftermarket HID kit with some LEDs from Amazon ( HIKARI H7 LED bulbs ) and I was very pleased with the 6000K color and the brightness. Admittedly I don't do a lot of night-time driving in the Porsche. They seemed much more reliable than those HIDs since these have fewer add-on components (balasts and some other gizmos).Well about a year later I got an email from Amazon alerting me that those bulbs had been recalled by NHTSA order: "Excessive glare or brightness to oncoming drivers can increase the risk of a crash". I think that may be a problem generally but I don't feel it applies as much with our projector type housing with a very good horizonal cut-off. So I kept them. I've never had an oncoming driver flash me (except to warn of a speed trap). But the only long night driving I've had since installing was an 11 hr trip when I transported the car from central FL to my new home in W NC. Anyway, I might be interested in these newer tech bulbs. I don't see how these could have less glare than my old brand, but as I mentioned, that didn't seem to be a real issue for our cars. Now I wish LEO would do something about all these jacked-up pickup trucks running around with aircraft landing lights.

The ones I'm not too happy with are the same HIKARI, and I received the same message from Amazon, so I got hold of the company HIKARI and asked what they intended to do. The offered to pay for a bog-standard halogen replacement bulb, after I shipped (at my expensive) the bulbs back to them that were recalled. I think part of the reason besides the very sharp horizontal cutoff that we never get flashed is - we sit so low. Our headlights are maybe 2' off the pavement? They'd have to be pointing at the moon to blind anyone, especially the low beam. The reason I'm not too happy with the HIKARI is - I do enough night driving in the Boxster to realize these really aren't any better than the rather aged halogens were. They're a different color - but they really don't seem any brighter. Some decades ago I did an article for the Roundel (BMW-Car Club of America magazine) on headlight options for the E36 series BMW cars. They had miserable headlights. What was popular at the time was HID conversions - which put out a LOT of light, but not very well directed, and the arc was directly visible looking into the headlight (notice that H7 bulbs have a black coating on the end...) That flaw was the biggest reason they were blinding. I left them in the car about a week, then took them out since I was tired of being flashed. I ended up using some bulbs that were developed to give HID brightness using a filament. These really did work well, but the life on them was a bit short, and they were eventually outlawed by DOT. These were used in the original BMW 850i and 850s. They required snipping off a tiny plastic tab to fit right into the H11 sockets the BMW headlights used. Along with those bulbs, I managed to source a pair of genuine Hella euro headlights - with glass lenses. Those combined with the high output bulbs were a good solution. I don't believe there is a euro-only headlight housing available for our cars, but I could be wrong on that. I haven't gone into any depth looking for one. So we'll see how these do. I have the box sitting on my desk next to he keyboard... mebbe I'll open them... BTW - I'm not too concerned with the electronics lump these have. A bit of velcro in the housing should keep them from banging around.

Not that it's much to see... but here is the one from my message above mounted in the light: I marked the connector that's part of the housing for the + side. I determined which side that was by looking at the plug from the old HIKARI light (which had it marked on the plug.) I assume I determined this by trial and error on the orignal HIKARI light installation since the factory female socket has no markings. The new light also has +/- marked on the male plug. I struggled a bit with the wire-bale that holds the light in place, until I realized the light assembly slides out of the retraining ring that is used to hold it in.. so I could mount the ring, and then just slide the light assembly in place. It has 3 O-rings that secure it in place. There is no need to "clock" (rotate) the light assembly since it's 360 degree design. It was necessary to clock the Hikari light. The electronics box is velcro'd to the only flat surface I could find in the light - happily that's a good location for it. A quick look on my garage door revealed what looks (in daylight so it's not photographable) to be a pattern with a flat top and a small bump up toward the right side of the pattern. I'll see more tonight once it gets dark.

I ended up putting in a set of "Quartz Tube" lights I bought for my wife's E350 and never put in because we sold the car. The "360 Degree" LEDs are going back to Amazon . I never tried them, but assume they would have the same issue I had with the Escape. These are not bad, but do soften the cut off lines, so I know the focus is not perfect. They also seems to have two hot spots just right and left of center instead of one right in the center. I changed one at a time so I could compare and they are definitely brighter and much whiter than halogen bulbs. I am thinking that with both lights on, the slight weak spot dead on will not be that noticeable if at all. I did see a set of "Quartz Tube" bulbs with a much thinner light tube, but don't see them on Amazon now. I'll get some pics later. EDIT: Found on Ali 2Pcs 360 Degree Quartz Tube LED H8 H7 H1 H11 HB3 9005 HB4 9006 9012 HIR2 H16 H9 H10 100W 16000LM 6500K Car Headlight Bulbs - AliExpress

Here is the traditional garage door shot of the 360 degree LED 's: Driving report: The bright part of the beam seems a bit narrower than the 2 sided LEDs. It has decent reach (where road-signs light up) but nothing close to the highbeam. I think it's possibly marginal in dark parking lots, not too easy to see curbs as you're driving alongside them. I have no idea what the artifacts above the primary beams are.. there are 3 for each headlight, the two lower ones in the center overlap to make one wider one. My feeling - meh. Probably going back to Amazon once I get some good halogen higher power bulbs. I was about in position for the right bay of the garage.. it's a 14' door and I'm back about 11' from the door.

@N_Jay - the quartz tube ones concern me a bit by the length of the tube. In the photos on Alimarket it looks as if the entire thing lights up, and it's shorter than where the filament in an H7 would be. I'd be very interested in seeing what sort of pattern that results in. I assume the tube must be frosted to cause the light to dissipate, perhaps the lower part of the tube isn't frosted - maybe just the tip is where a filament would be in an H7 halogen. Any pics of the ones you have? One from AliExpress - I note the wording on the photo.. I'm certain this has nothing to do with Osram, and I'm not sure how "Higher Price / Smaller Decline = Better Penetration", but I'm glad to see it's a "Patented Product, Global Non-Infringement" - which doesn't say it's their patent, just that it is patented. This one and another one imply the light only comes out at the pointed end (possible to some extent using the quartz element as a light guide) but I'd have to see a garage door photo to believe it.. I did Google "Orginal Osram Level Lamp Bead" and got no exact matches, and nothing that remotely resembled this - but it did bring up Osram's page for replacement LED lighting: LEDriving LED replacement lamps | OSRAM Automotive With OSRAM's comprehensive portfolio of excellent LED retrofits, you can cover a wide range of applications, including high and low beam headlights, fog lights, signal lighting and interior lighting. www.osram.com They are a pretty reputable company so one might hope these actually improve lighting, but all of these are listed for "Off-Road-Use". And also this page: OSRAM Automotive | OSRAM Automotive This page you'll have to let Google translate from German, but it's interesting these LEDs are the ones that apparently meet some euro standards for some cars or street use: NIGHT BREAKER LED | Automotive ALL of the Osram are two-sided LEDs.

I'm curious if you tried that without the exterior garage lights on. Is it possible those artifacts were collected and reflected back? Also, what happens it you backup some (assuming there's room your driveway behind you.

The lights were always on, but I saw something similar inside my garage, and they remained even if I moved the car back further. I moved it to the position I had it in to try to get as much of the pattern on the door as possible. The two garage lights are not very bright ( LED equivalent to 60W bulbs) and the cover is white translucent. I wouldn't expect that well-shaped an artifact if it was a reflection from the garage lights. I should note the artifacts aren't noticeable when driving..

Watch high wattage Halogens, because car wiring is optimized for the designed bulb. The wiring is probably undersized for a higher current bulb. Also, high power is a lot more heat, and I have seem many halogen projector assemblies with insulation failing due to heat and age. As for the quartz tube it is like a piece of fiberoptic light pipe. Very little leaks from the sides. It is the angle at the top that acts as a prism directing the light out the sides. It doesn't matter if it is frosted or polished.

Just to be clear, the +30 and +50 bulbs are not higher wattage. They're stock wattage, just a higher efficiency design so they output at the higher end of the lumen spec range. The allowable range is pretty large so this does make a difference. The tradeoff is that they usually have shorter life. You're correct about overwattage bulbs, those are not a good idea. But those wouldn't be street legal, the bulbs above are.

What is this this "Street Legal" you speak of?

I used Auxito 2023 upgraded H7 (from Amazon ) in my ‘08 Cayman S . It is working perfectly with no issues. I have had good luck with Auxito in other cars so stuck with it in the Cayman . I also put Auxito H11 led for the high beams but had to modify those a tiny bit to get them straight for the correct light pattern this is how they look from the backside and provide great bright white headlights

These are interesting since they've managed to build the cooling fan into the housing so it's not actually visible or taking up more space. Some of the claims I found Googling them (350%, 400%) seem a bit absurd, and one video they show of halogen vs. them - lighting up the front of a house - is scary in the amount of light blasting the house with no discernable pattern to the beam. It would badly blind anyone coming the other way. If you have some garage door photos of them in use - it would be great to see them. There were some user-submitted ones on their website that looked fairly impressive. It appears these can't be "clocked" (rotated in the housing so the blank areas line up vertically)?

Here are some photos from today Low beam (seems brighter on camera but looks comfortable by the eye) High beam

This shows the clock angle of the H11 high beam led (below the projector)

This one is very interesting - it has the same block pattern I saw with the 360-degree LEDs.. perhaps a bit less pronounced (I think you were closer to the door than I was) - but it's there.. so it has to be something about the projector and reflector that's causing those. It does have a nice wide beam spread and reasonably uniform.

For H7 low beams, the Sealight Brightest Series is a solid go-to. True plug and play, clean beam pattern, runs cool, and no flickering issues. If budget isn't a concern, the Morimoto 2Stroke 3.0 H7 is the top tier option with the best beam quality and least glare for oncoming traffic. Just double check if your vehicle needs a CANbus adapter to avoid error codes, and re-aim your headlights after install since LEDs sit slightly different than halogens.