I know that everyone has heard about the 9005 conversion, but considering I woke up at 4AM in the morning and did this conversion, I thought I would share my impressions. First of all, I went to Walmart and picked up a relatively cheap set of 9005 "Super Blue" lights. I used needle-nose pliers and a sharp kitchen knife to cut the plastic pieces inside of the 9005 bulb and nail clipers to cut the outside piece. Initially, I changed just the driver side to get a good comparison. Wow!! The driver side light is completely white (other than HID's) and it puts the OEM 9006 bulb to shame. The main difference as far as I can tell is much more light to the sides, not including the brightness. With both bulbs installed there seems to be much more light produced, nothing spectacular, but for $18.97 (Walmart Price) I am not going to complain. So for those of you wanting HID's or something equivalent, I would definitely recommend doing a 9005 Bulb Conversion. (I need a digital camera to take pictures)

Here's a good link for the install: http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Upgrade/More_light.htm

 

Hhhmmm, I might be taking my *** to wal-mart today...

 

Or you could just walk into any auto supply store and ask for higher power bulbs... I know you can get 100w if you're prepared to go that big, then the pattern is the same and everything... I seem to remember I paid $18cdn each for 80/100W for my '92 Civic.

 

I just upped the high light bulbs to 100w and the low light bulbs to 85w. works fine. no need for any cutting or trimming. in addition to the fogs, that I keep on whenever the lows are on, I have lots of light.

 

Keep the stock wattage. It's not worth the trouble to upgrade the wattage, considering the risk of blowing the bulb, fuses, burning the wires or the entire unit. The 9005's are about 10W more, which isn't much. Also, the other alternative many people are happy with are the new Sylvania Superstars which can be had at almost any local auto store. I need pictures...

 

FWIW, I've done this upgrade to every car and motorcycle I've owned. Only problem I ever had was having to increase the fuse rating by a few amps in an 88 bmw 325iS. Hondas and Acuras have been just fine. Just don't go overboard with the wattage ratings and you'll be fine. and, use only high quality, name brand stuff. I use phillips or koito bulbs in the regular halogen type bulbs. No super white or ion blue crap. I think a lot of problems come from the cheaper bulbs base which don't interface nicely with the sockets.

 

Yeah I did the conversion not too long ago. I went to NAPA and picked up some of their Lazer Blues. I noticed so much more light. I haven't actually did a comparison of the two, but I think I will tonight just to see. I recommend this upgrade to anyone. Quick and easy too.