The Diff Headlights

[asubimmer]

Since everone is always arguing over which is better lets have a poll.

ONLY POST IF YOU HAVE THE HEADLIGHTS CURRENTLY OR HAD THEM.

Do not post if you HEARD they were good or bad. 1st HAND ONLY!!!

[MR 325]

Smiley's are Euro Ellipsoids

[SchnellerVert]

You also forgot conventional H4 and H1 styles....

[turnofftheradio]

I have one h4 and 1 sealed beam, h4>sealed beam. quite sure that everything else is better than these options.

[e30evolution]

i have had all the lights listed... never had H4's but my current set up is the best yet

[KenC]

I've had all of them in my car, including H4/H1.

Aside from HID, H-Code lighting is the brightest.

Euro Ellips cut-off pattern>>US Ellips.

[SchnellerVert]

There is the older H1/H1 setups also which are not bad at all.

[BavarianBimmer]

There is the older H1/H1 setups also which are not bad at all.

yeah the parabolic early Euro headlights are not that bad, but still a big difference between the Euro smilies and euro non- smilies

[kansas-ix]

personally like the us ellips with high beam bulb dremeled to fit in the low beam

[Mystikal]

I can't see a difference between Euro Ellips and Hella H4's (NOT BOSCH ONES!) with regards to lighting. I sold my new Bosch Smilies before they even touched the car, bought another set of Hella H4's.

[stylngle2003]

any way to get a city light in a H4 housing without modding it that way (ie, does hella or cibie have a H4 housing with a city light provision?)

[Mystikal]

Cibie does I believe. Cibies are pretty pricey, but worth it.

[bimmerphile]

ken, didn't we make a lighting FAQ that covered all of this?

:-/

Cibié does have a provision for city-lights. As far as non-projectors go, they are incredible. In fact, having seen them I would argue their beam pattern for halogens is far superior to any of the options hear. Their housings support higher wattage bulbs as well.

Also, has anyone here actually installed brand new US ellipsoids? Comparing your new smilies to your sandblasted US ellips isn't really fair. Having seen both, brand new, the Euro provides more illumination of the road because of the angled cutoff.

-Terry

[stylngle2003]

ken, didn't we make a lighting FAQ that covered all of this?

:-/

Cibié does have a provision for city-lights. As far as non-projectors go, they are incredible. In fact, having seen them I would argue their beam pattern for halogens is far superior to any of the options hear. Their housings support higher wattage bulbs as well.

Also, has anyone here actually installed brand new US ellipsoids? Comparing your new smilies to your sandblasted US ellips isn't really fair. Having seen both, brand new, the Euro provides more illumination of the road because of the angled cutoff.

-Terry

i'll check for the FAQ, thanks

also, thanks for both responses. when it comes to me (or my little brother, who's e30 is in question) being able to see the road at night, NOTHING costs more than a crash bc of crappy hardware...

[nando]

ken, didn't we make a lighting FAQ that covered all of this?

:-/

Cibié does have a provision for city-lights. As far as non-projectors go, they are incredible. In fact, having seen them I would argue their beam pattern for halogens is far superior to any of the options hear. Their housings support higher wattage bulbs as well.

Also, has anyone here actually installed brand new US ellipsoids? Comparing your new smilies to your sandblasted US ellips isn't really fair. Having seen both, brand new, the Euro provides more illumination of the road because of the angled cutoff.

-Terry

they have a great reputation, but they also cost ~$450 for all 4 lights. that's 50% more than what I paid for my smoked ellipsoids, and it's hard to imagine them being that much better.