Philips Xtreme Power H7 Bulbs * UPDATED 25/09/14*

[sub39h]

WHY

Eveer since I had my car lowered the light cone has been weak. For a while I was considering facelifting the front of my car to the later style MY09 front with Xenons but it costs at least £2k and that quickly put a dent in my plans 

I couldn't justify getting the pre-MY09 xenons either considering I'd have to get headlamp washers and auto levelling fitted too. might as well save and get the later front end like I wanted in the first place!

So instead I decided on getting higher output bulbs. I wanted to stay on the right side of the law so it was bulbs only. HIDs wind me up anyway with their scattered beam pattern. I'm not convinced they give the driver a better light and they blind everyone else in the process. Plus on the 8P they are associated with wiper motor blow outs which is an expensive fix. I believe this is due to spikes of electricity being sent up the shared earth when they are being turned on. AFAIK this does not affect other PQ35 cars, although I'd imagine the TT would have the same problem.

I was directed towards this article by a forum member on an old thread. I can't remember who, but thank you whoever you are!!

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/243109/bulbs_we_test_30.html

Philips Xtreme Power seemed to be the overwall winner, and seems to have won a few awards so decision made 

SOURCING

Google, ebay. Found them for £30 delivered with a set of free sidelights.

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-xtreme-vision-h7-car-headlight-bulbs

FITTING

I managed to do this in a few minutes. On the Audi it is relatively straight forward, although it's a little tricky to put the bulb back into the holder.

I'm not sure my Audi fitting instructions will be of any use to the majority of the forum so I've left them out. Simple fact of the matter is tho, I'm right handed but was born with two left hands. If i can do it there's no excuse for anyone else.

OTHER VERSIONS

Quite a few. Please refer to the AutoExpress article linked above.

PLUS POINTS

light is MUCH whiter. Aside from obvious aesthetic improvement the light given is MILES better than the OEM bulbs. I don't think any car I ever own will ever stay with standard bulbs after the difference this has made.

MINUS POINTS

NONE!!! Seems the bulb longevity isn't as good as the OEM ones, but that's perhaps to be expected for a brighter bulb.

SUMMARY

Obviously without comparing with other bulbs it's difficult to give meaningful advice, but all I can say is I 100% recommend this modification. I fully believe there has been the claimed 100% improvement in light output. For the price it makes a huge improvement, and my roads are well lit up again 

PHOTOS
So far only the one and not a great one  - I haven't had a chance to take photos of the light beam as yet.

On the UK driver's side - Philips Xtreme Power 100%
On the UK passenger side - OEM bulbs
OEM sidelights both sides

You can see there's a difference

[Trekmeister]

Looks like these will be joining my wish list thanks to your post

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

[gizmo68]

Eveer since I had my car lowered the light cone has been weak.

Sorry but to me that says the alignment is not correct, unless the car has been lowered exactly the same at the front and rear it is going to mess up the alignment.

Better bulbs are a good idea but don't mask the true issue, get the lights set up correctly 

[sub39h]

Eveer since I had my car lowered the light cone has been weak.

Sorry but to me that says the alignment is not correct, unless the car has been lowered exactly the same at the front and rear it is going to mess up the alignment.

Better bulbs are a good idea but don't mask the true issue, get the lights set up correctly 

fair point well made. but it was lowered same front and back on coils lol. it's had an MOT at Audi since and no alignment issues detected 

either way i wanted a whiter light. this does that. will look into the headlight alignment when i next get to my specialist.

[stealthwolf]

I use these. The standard ones are just too dim! I swear I could barely see two car lengths ahead at night on an unlit road. These definitely double it to at least 4-5 car lengths. They are ever so slightly yellow but IMO I prefer these over blue lights.

My sister inherited my old fiesta and she had a bulb fail recently so I took the opportunity to change all of the front lights. She is much happier with the results.

[rolfgti]

i also have these much improved over standard bulbs!!

[mo5in]

where is cheapest place to buy these thanks .

[sub39h]

eBay

[homesqueeze]

I bought these a while back. I had wet sanded my headlights and wanted a good bulb to go with my improved lenses. I was sold on Auto Express' top review as I always trust their group tests. It's a massive improvement over the originals and gives the car a better look aswell!

[GS WAX]

Just changed too these over Halfords super jobbies, slightly more yellow,only a hair mind but a much better spread and focus,less of a V in middle of road now.matching sidelight bulbs a bonus too from a cosmetic point of view.

[Lesgodoy]

I went for the same bulbs and cant believe how much they improve visibility, really happy with them especially now heading into winter! 

[Andy]

Had there bulbs in for a while and found them excellent

[MC71]

Great bulbs, can't believe the improvement in light.

 

[Eccie]

Just had a bulb go in my Audi so I've gone for a set of these bulbs found them for £19.49 via Amazon - just thought id share the link

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00440CWCG/ref=asc_df_B00440CWCG10127426?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B00440CWCG

[weedope]

Swapped all 4 bulbs with these :)