Osram Nightbreaker Question

[Aussi55]

Hi,

I had my headlamp bulbs swapped out for Nightbreaker bulbs as the standard bulbs were poor.

I just tried them and the beam seems worse.

Is it possible to fit them the wrong way round? They are both working on low and high beam. As far as I can tell the alignment is about right.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Davemac278]

I believe they have to be put in correct sides. Have a look on YouTube. Several videos on changing headlight bulbs.

 

[Aussi55]

Thanks,

I did look and found the video from Pat, you are right.

I will check myself, hopefully the garage made a mistake and got them the wrong way round.

Thanks again.

 

[Kithmo]

I believe they have to be put in correct sides. Have a look on YouTube. Several videos on changing headlight bulbs.

Someone else said they were handed, but when I took mine out they were identical on each side.
(The new ones were too).

 

[Aussi55]

Hi,

Many thanks for taking the time to respond.

Just checked and it's the same, both old and new.

The nearside light however was upside down compared with the videos, namely the black plastic connector was upwards rather than down. I have corrected this and checked both low and high beam is working.

Fingers crossed that is the issue, will try later when dark.

Thanks again to you both for your help, it's much appreciated.

 

[Aussi55]

Good news, turning the nearside bulb the other way up has fixed it.

The new bulbs make a big difference, ?.

 

[Shippo]

Hi,

I had my headlamp bulbs swapped out for Nightbreaker bulbs as the standard bulbs were poor.

I just tried them and the beam seems worse.

Is it possible to fit them the wrong way round? They are both working on low and high beam. As far as I can tell the alignment is about right.

Thanks in advance.

I also changed mine and they seem worsr

Hi,

I had my headlamp bulbs swapped out for Nightbreaker bulbs as the standard bulbs were poor.

I just tried them and the beam seems worse.

Is it possible to fit them the wrong way round? They are both working on low and high beam. As far as I can tell the alignment is about right.

Thanks in advance.

Hi, I also changed mine, when going from dip to main, no visible difference seem to illuminate the trees..

 

[Aussi55]

Hi,

Take the cap off the back of the headlamp unit and check the black plastic connector is facing down, it will be slightly offset.

On one of mine they had installed it facing upwards which was wrong.

This made a real difference. Picture attached, the beam is much brighter and no dull areas. When one bulb was upside down it was very poor.

To check both low and high beam is working face the car to a wall so you can see if both work.

Failing that it could be out of adjustment.

Hopefully it's just upside down, that's easy to resolve.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Dave53]

Someone else said they were handed, but when I took mine out they were identical on each side.
(The new ones were too).

View attachment 6008

Are the fillaments inside the bulb facing exacty the same way, bit hard to see but they look different?

 

[Kithmo]

Are the fillaments inside the bulb facing exacty the same way, bit hard to see but they look different?

Yes, the bulbs are identical and same part number.
The filaments look a bit out of focus in the picture because my phone camera is a single lens and the the angle looks slightly different because of the perspective.

 

[Brianlescargot]

Even with Osram Nightbreaker the headlights still aren’t very good but they certainly are better than the woeful standard headlights.

 

[ChrisVanRock]

Fitted the night breaker and to be honest still rubbish …. Should I go LED ???

 

[djenson]

Fitted the night breaker and to be honest still rubbish …. Should I go LED ???

There will probably be an improvement on LED bulb, but keep in mind that they can fail a MOT in 2022, or get you in trouble if pulled by police. Up To you if you want to take that risk (or just swap the bulb back to halogens for the mot lol)

 

[biffo]

Fitted the night breaker and to be honest still rubbish …. Should I go LED ???

If you want to stay with halogens, then Philips X-tremeVision Pro150 HB3 will give a whiter light and potentially slightly brighter - but more expensive.

HB3 Philips X-tremeVision Pro150 12V 60W Halogen Bulb

• Colour : 3500K
• Lumens : 1,860 ±12%
• Life : 450 hours

HB3/9005 OSRAM Night Breaker Laser 150% Next Generation 12V 60W
(NIGHT BREAKER LASER HB3 | OSRAM Automotive)

• Colour : Osram web site quotes 3200K for 9005NL
• Lumens : 1,700 ±12% (again from Osram)
• Life : 110-210 hours (again from Osram)

 

[Alb]

If the Nightbreakers only achieve 110hrs life I think it will be back to the drawing board.

 

[biffo]

Must admit, that sounds low but I guess that’s going to equate to 6 months - which is the same as the 200% bulbs which are available. Not really sure what the difference between Lifespan B3 and Tc is ?‍

 

[Alb]

The definition is a bit convoluted but Osram say 97% of lamps will reach 110hrs but that drops to 37% at 210hrs. If like me you were driving in the days before Halogen lamps, you could expect a life of about 50hrs so it's all relative I suppose.

 

[biffo]

Also, don’t believe all the nonsense about LED bulbs having tens of thousands of lumens - it’s misleading statistics. Philips quote a realistic 1850 lumens for their Ultinon Pro9000 range.

What is the real Lumen of a LED bulb? Looking at the numbers.

The lumen of a LED headlight bulb might be confusing, just consider the raw lumen the LED chips create, and effective lumen when installed and illuminated.

blog.betterautomotivelighting.com

 

[sido]

I find driving at night quite difficult with standard MG5 headlights. These are pretty much same as my 1995 Jaguar XJ was. I upgraded those to Nightbreakers and difference was negligible. I changed whole headlight units to Xj8 from a 2001 car and those with the addition of new nightbreakers made a world if a difference. So I thought the real difference was made because the Xj8 had absolutely clear lens and fluted angle reflectors rather than the bulb change. the headlight size and shape were identical on both model. So until there is an improved reflector I don’t think any of us are going to achieve what we want. Opportunity for young Chinese entrepreneur to make an after market LED headlight with improved reflection Perhaps. Ali Express are you reading?

 

[Whiskery]

Have the same issue on my X-Type. Dreadful low beam due to the reflectors. Switching bulbs to Nightbreakers/X-tremeVision didn't improve things by any great degree.