I replaced my stock 9006 bubls with Sylvania Silverstars this week and I'm pleased with the results. I'm going to do the 9005 high beams next.

Anyone else tried them? Comments?

I've actually heard they are a downgrade since they have a slight blue tint, but I'm definitely impressed.

I really recommend getting the HIR 9011s. They are really, really bright and worth the extra hassle.

I have 9012 lows in the A6 and HID lows in the S4. Both huge improvements over the weak stock lowbeams. The A6 was almost undrivable at night when I first got it -- it had poorly aimed old generic 9006s. The 9012s are I'd say 50% of a full HID upgrade for 30% of the cost.

I should be able to go pretty high in wattage.

I want some S4 headlights :(

I'd love a set because the US spec 100 headlights are horrible.

not big on the silvania silverstars myself.

more info here:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/blue/good/good.html

or an except:

"It's a name game: Osram, the well-established German lampmaker, sells a line of automotive bulbs they call "Silver Star". These are Osram's top-of-the-range headlamp bulbs, equivalent to Narva RangePower+50, GE Night Hawk, Philips VisionPlus, and Tungsram Megalight Premium. They produce the maximum legal amount of light while staying within legal power consumption limits. They have colorless clear glass.

Osram bought the well-established American lampmaker Sylvania in the early 1990s, so Osram is now Sylvania's parent company. Sylvania also sells a line of automotive bulbs they call "Silver Star", but it's not the same product. The Sylvania Silver Stars have blue glass. Light output is of legal levels, but as with all blue-filtered bulbs, you do not get more light from them. The Sylvania SilverStar bulbs have a very short lifetime, because the filament is overdriven to get a legal amount of light despite the blue glass.

To get the best possible seeing performance at night, don't choose extra-white bulbs."

However, in my case, I also upgraded to 9007 bulbs, and there was a very noticable difference.

But, this is only a tempory "fix" for me anyways.

I was thinking silver star and forgot he recommends the Osram Silver Star's. I just sent him an email to see he suggests.

It wont be more than a few months... My record for a Sylvania was 2 days, and no I didn't touch the lens.

I should have asked here first. I thought since I was going with a reputable company I would be getting something decent.

Though I'm sure it's only a matter of time. ;[

Sent an email to Mr. Stern, asking what he'd recommend and sell me. Here's what he wrote back:

"There are 9005 and 9006 +50 bulbs, but they
offer only a minor improvement. The bulbs you want are the 9011-9012
items.

The new bulbs are not some tinted or overwattage version of 9005 and 9006,
but rather employ a relatively new technology called HIR, Halogen
Infrared. The mechanical dimensions of the bulb are all virtually
identical to the 9005 and 9006 bulbs, but the bulb glass is spherical
instead of tubular, with the sphere centered around the filament. There is
a "Durable IR Reflective" coating on the spherical glass. Infrared = heat,
so the coating causes heat to be reflected back to the filament at the
center of the sphere. This causes the filament to become much hotter
(producing more light) than it can by passing electricity through it,
*without* the shorter life or greater heat production that comes with
overwattage bulbs (to say nothing of overwattage bulbs' incompatibility
with stock wiring.)

Here's the comparison:

Low beam stock: 9006, 12.8V, 55W, 1000 lumens, 875 hours
Low beam compare: 9006+50, 12.8V, 55W, 1090 lumens, 300 hours
Low beam new: HIR2, 12.8V, 55W, 1875 lumens, 875 hours

High beam stock: 9005, 12.8V, 65W, 1700 lumens, 320 hours
Low beam compare: 9005+50, 12.8V, 55W, 1830 lumens, 175 hours
High beam new: HIR1, 12.8V, 65W, 2530 lumens, 320 hours

So you're looking at nearly 88 percent more light from the low beams and a
grand total of 137% more light (49% of which from the high beam units, 88%
of which from the low beams, which may be wired to remain on with the high
beams) on high beam. The beam pattern will not change, but there will be
considerably more light within the beam pattern.

These bulbs are spendy - $27/ea - but their cost is worth considering in
context: Any number of companies will charge you more than this for a
tarted-up 9005 or 9006 with blue colored glass (PIAA and Sylvania
Silverstar come to mind) that doesn't produce more light and has a very
short lifespan.

The HIR bulbs have a double-wide top ear on the plastic bulb base, this is
to comply with the law requiring different bulbs to have different bases.
The extra-wide plastic top ear is easily trimmed or filed to make the bulb
fit your headlamp's bulb receptacle. Once that's done, they go directly
into the headlamp, and the existing sockets snap on.

Can also make your brake and front / rear turn signal lamps 40% brighter
for $6.10/bulb, your reversing (backup) lamps 100% brighter for
$7.20/bulb, and your fog lamps considerably more effective for $13.50/ea."<ul><li><a href="http://www.danielsternlighting.com">Daniel Stern Lighting</a></li></ul>

fog. Muahahaha. I'm going to install an H1 HID kit in the low, 100w H1 for the high and either the standard 55w fog or somewhere in between 55w and 100w, I think the 100w might blind someone. Then I'll swap the wire from the parking light on the turns and hook it up to the parking light in the headlight so it will be like the lights in Europe. Maybe I'll jumper the fogs so I can have all three on at once. I gotta get the wiring for the adjucters and the switch. I'm a little afraid you might drool in the car after that though.

All I know is that these things are going to be hid real well so they don't dissapear;-)

You should search the "S" forum for the Hong Kong HID kit, it fits the 9005 or 9006 (not sure) low beam on your headlights and only costs $200. I guess everyone over there has good stuff to say about it.

i'm curious what brand etc these "+50" bulbs are? i am interested in getting some for both my VAG cars, as i have them both running e-code lenses with H4 bulbs.

retrofitting HID bulbs into regular lenses also seems somewhat iffy. I have seem some resuits from pictures on the web (beam patterns on wall etc) and soem are quite frightening.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

have on the S4/S6 forum with great results. Dan Stern is trying to sell a product, therefore I really don't care what he says. Also, I am using 100w bulbs in the high beam as they are a better fit than the HIDs.

But the projectors on the S4/A6/S6 are an exception. HIDs in reflector lamps would be awful though...

most people respond that way. "He hasn't seen MY lights, and MY lights are super special. -therefore he's wrong".

But if your happy then that's cool I suppose. :D

the "S" forum.

"Dan Stern is trying to sell a product, therefore I really don't care what he says."

if you think he's just saying that to make money your not making much sense. If he thought they were worthwhile he'd say "these are the bomb" and sell them. But since they are not worthwhile, he does neither.