H4's, ellips, or Cibies?

[spencers]

I'm looking to do a lighting conversion on my car which currently has stock sealed beams.

I found a set of Hella H4's (new in box) for $76 shipped with bulbs. The guy said it would be a direct bolt on and no modification of the wiring is needed. Later on I would purchase some Osram Silverstars to replace the hella bulbs included for like $20 from greg. How is the lighing on the H4s when going from sealed beams?

So now that I've been talking and reading about it, I've heard that ellips provide a much better beam. How much better than the H4s? If I were to get ellips (from say, another vehicle that had them stock), would they simply just bolt on like the H4's would? And what are some good prices for ellips that came stock on another e30?

Last part:
Cibies. I've heard they are better than H4's but compete pretty well with the ellips. I found a place on the net that sells them for $120 a pair without bulbs. Do these lights bolt on like the H4's would? Are these worth it for the price? Here's a neat page I found with pictures of the difference between the Cibies and sealed beams. http://www.rdgarage.com/Cibie%20CSR.html

Please help me out by answering my many questions! :D

[nando]

H4s are far better than sealed beams. I don't know what ellips are like since I haven't put mine in yet, but I doubt they are really much better than H4s, except maybe in the looks department. Either way, you're still much better off, anything is better than sealed beams. :)

ellips don't bolt on (you need the whole assembly including the bucket), cibies should go right in like th H4s.

[KenC]

H4:
MUCH better than stock sealed beams, especially with the Osram Silverstars.

Cibies:
Cibie is the brand (like Hella, Bosch, etc.). They still use H4 Bulbs. I'm not sure that they're superior enough to Hella or Bosch ones to warrant an extra $50.

Ellipsoids:
European Ellipsoids are your best bet since you can use Osram H1s or convert to HID if you choose.

It depends on how much you want to spend. If you can shell out $200+, go for the euro ellips. If not, get some H4s with Osram Silverstars and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[spencers]

Sounds good.. I did a little bit of searching on the forums.. Silly me I didn't search for Cibie before but found a topic that was beat to death about the Cibies..

I would have to agree with you (after reading that thread) that the Cibies are no better than the Hella H4's. I think I have also just zoned out the US ellips because I really dont want to spend extra just for the buckets and all. I think euro ellips would be a far better investment than the us ellips...

And yeah, I'm on somewhat of a budget currently.

Euro ellips I hear are definately worth it, but are expensive as hell (in my books).

[bimmerphile]

spencers, you should know better by now. This topic has been beaten to death :)

That said, ellips are the winner. Time after time.

Cibies are good if you want to stick with a non-elipsoidal headlight (god qhy I don't know) and have a sharper/better beam pattern than the H4's.

H4's are an improvement over sealed beams.

[spencers]

so if I'm strapped on cash I will go for the H4s and the silverstars..

If I manage to pull some more cash out from wherever, I'd consider the Euro Ellips.

[bimmerphile]

so if I'm strapped on cash I will go for the H4s and the silverstars..

If I manage to pull some more cash out from wherever, I'd consider the Euro Ellips.

Hell,

Even US ellips and new lenses.

[spencers]

so... what about these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6763&item=2449680427

EDIT! Whoops! I meant these

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6763&item=2454358927

[aaron_silva]

I dont know if you can use the e34 buckets in an e30. I dont think they are compatable.

[spencers]

Alrighty!

What about going the way of US ellips and getting new lenses.. Bimmerphile says to get the lenses on ebay and the cost is about $60.. but where else would I find some lenses for an equal or lesser price?

[KenC]

Don't waste your time with US ellipsoids.

[spencers]

gotcha. :?

[nando]

so... what about these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2449680427

he sells them for the E30 too. They are not hella, they are copies of hella made by depo. they are definetly cheaper than hella, but they don't seem too bad. the lenses and important parts seem fine. Mine were broken during shipping, but he's sending me another set. I also want to get a set of smoked hella lense assemblies and replace the broken set with them, the buckets are the same as the hellas. :)

[spencers]

Anyone have a quote from Greg on some clear hella euro ellips?

[nando]

I think they'd be around $150 for a used set. not sure what shipping would be, but it would be under $200 total. Don't quote me on that though!