HELLA vs. BOSCH

[Kingb]

Wrong.

Just like he said and a couple others. There are both Bosch and Hella euro smileys. i have a couple sets of both. Look at my location. "Germany" I prefer Hella smileys, the lense is more clear compaired to the bosch above. I even spend the time and switched mine to Hella's from bosch when one lense cracked

[theox69]

but Bosch has metal housings -- so wouldnt it make them better quality of you're installing HID's, as opposed to Hellas plastic housing.

[LovableSheep]

A number of people have been running HIDs in Hella housings without any issues.

[theox69]

but running 100w+ without the plastic melting?

[mikeedler]

I was under the impression that HIDs are actually not nearly as hot.

the euro headlight breakdown goes this way.

all cars after august 1988 recieved euro ellips in europe.
for about 1 year (the first year) they were non- smileys- after that they were all smileys.
both smileys and non smileys were made by both companies- like stated, there are alot more Hella lights in circulation than Bosch.

which are better is a matter of taste. - I personally prefer the Bosch lights. they seem to be less pitted, the chrome seems to be shinnier longer- and the lenses seemed to hold the seal better/longer.
Bosch has a metal rear housing- with a plastic cap(interchangable with hella)
Hella has a plastic rear housing- with a plastic cap. with the hellas being plastic and chrome plated in the reflector area- if water does get in there( and will over 20 years) they seem to "fade" a bit- causing a not so bright pattern to shine out.

my 2 cents.

[nando]

but running 100w+ without the plastic melting?

most HID kits are only 35w. the stock bulbs are 55w, so even if you got one of the higher output kits (which are 55w), you still aren't going to melt anything.

[theox69]

I was under the impression that HIDs are actually not nearly as hot.

the euro headlight breakdown goes this way.

all cars after august 1988 recieved euro ellips in europe.
for about 1 year (the first year) they were non- smileys- after that they were all smileys.
both smileys and non smileys were made by both companies- like stated, there are alot more Hella lights in circulation than Bosch.

which are better is a matter of taste. - I personally prefer the Bosch lights. they seem to be less pitted, the chrome seems to be shinnier longer- and the lenses seemed to hold the seal better/longer.
Bosch has a metal rear housing- with a plastic cap(interchangable with hella)
Hella has a plastic rear housing- with a plastic cap. with the hellas being plastic and chrome plated in the reflector area- if water does get in there( and will over 20 years) they seem to "fade" a bit- causing a not so bright pattern to shine out.

my 2 cents.

very helpful, thank you

[Sam Cogley]

Wrong.

Interesting. That's the first time I've seen those, and I've seen a number of posts here indicating that they don't exist. Thanks for the correction.

Of course, there are still Euro ellipsoids without the smileys. :p

As far as construction goes, the Bosch headlights I have seem pretty darned indestructible.

[reelizmpro]

I have a set of Bosch smiley euro ellipsoids on my M3. Got them off a sport evo in the UK. I'm curious has anyone converted the two auto adjusters to manual? Are manual adjusters and grommets still available? Thanks.