Superbrightleds.com H8 halo bulbs in LCI headlights review

[AtlasM]

I just changed out my 135is halo bulbs with H8 LEDs from Superbrightleds.com. I didn't want cheapie "xenon" halogen bulbs but also didn't feel like springing for the admittedly nice fancier conversion kits. These were $25 each.

The color temperature is almost an exact match for the LED eyebrow at the top of the LCI headlights. Maybe an ever-so-slightly green tinge to the eyebrow compared to a little more blue in these. The ring around the low beam is kinda dim compared to the high beam but I guess that's to be expected with any replacement bulb. Overall though, I'm happy with the results.



Comparison shot with OEM halogen bulb on the right side...



This is what the bulbs themselves look like. They seem to have a bunch more actual LEDs on them than many of the other H8 options I've seen out there. Whether that makes much of a difference...who knows?

[Chandon]

The LED bulbs I've got from my local vendor are pretty much a dead on match with the eyebrow. Although they did cost a fair bit more.

[Acheron83]

I'm surprised the LED units aren't triggering a fault/bulb out error of some kind. This is why most of the H8 kits have separate ballasts

[AtlasM]

Originally Posted by Acheron83

I'm surprised the LED units aren't triggering a fault/bulb out error of some kind. This is why most of the H8 kits have separate ballasts

No error messages, at least not yet. That includes some testing when putting in the bulbs last night, and my 20 minute drive to work this morning.

[Joaco135]

If they hold with no faults it will be a great find since these have no external boxes to mess with inside of the headlight.

[Grimlock85]

How do they look during the day? Pics?

[AtlasM]

I just went out to my car to try and get a daylight photo with my phone. Unfortunately, it's so bright out right now and the bulbs have a slight flicker to them that you can't see with your eyes, but messes with cameras if you use a fast shutter speed, that I couldn't get a picture with them fully lit up. I'd need a better camera than my phone.

In searing midday sunlight (it's seriously bright right now) you can't really see the low beam ring or eyebrow, and see a little of the high beam ring. I'll try to get a decent shot later this afternoon, and report back on what you can see when it's daylight but not quite so ridiculously sunny out.

[AtlasM]

Ok, got a mostly daytime picture. It was somewhat cloudy when I got home to use a proper camera instead of my phone. You can see them reasonably well in these conditions. But when there's nary a cloud in the sky and it's the middle of the day in summer time, well, it's a lot harder to make them out.

[Overpar56]

Give us a full report back in a couple weeks. This might be a good option since you don't have to cram the ballast back into the cover.

[Grimlock85]

Thanks for posting the daylight pics! This seems like a good option for those who don't want to cram all the extra stuff into the headlight housing. Thanks for the post!

[135ivert]

I thought one of the points of the ballast was to provide a heat sink (of course I could be wrong). Regardless of the ballast, I would still worry about these generating a ton of heat and melting something.

[Converted1]

LEDs generating heat?

[takrdown]

I'm ordering a pair right now. I'm going to bump the voltage too to see how that looks. I'll let you guys know.

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by 135ivert

I thought one of the points of the ballast was to provide a heat sink (of course I could be wrong). Regardless of the ballast, I would still worry about these generating a ton of heat and melting something.

Originally Posted by Converted1

LEDs generating heat?

My concerns as well. Especially if you bump the voltage on them. All the other LED offerings use fairly large heat sinks to disperse all the extra heat. I dont see a heatsink on that unit.

Maybe it runs cool! That would be nice. I'd be cautious though. The hardware components that would be damaged by melting are much more expensive than the cost of those bulbs.

[F80_M3llow]

very interested in these

[pinmagic]

Don't know much about the halos, but I bought under-cabinet lighting for my kitchen from superbrightleds.com - service was great, and the product was excellent. Great place to deal with.

[AtlasM]

A bit of an update.

A couple days after putting in the bulbs, I did get a fault code...because one of the bulbs was fried. I sent the offending bulb back to SuperbrightLEDs last Friday. They have a box to check on their return form to request a shipping refund, which I checked. They refunded my shipping cost last night, and a new bulb is shipping out today. The process isn't quite as seamless as returning something to Amazon (what is?) but I have no complaints about their return process.

So I'm running 1 LED and 1 halogen at the moment. I could've gone back to halogen on both sides but those stupid doors on the back of the headlights are enough of a pain that I figured I'd minimize the amount of times I have to mess with them. I can report that I have no faults with this combination, going on several days now.

I'll post an update once the replacement bulb arrives.

[135ivert]

Originally Posted by AtlasM

A bit of an update.

A couple days after putting in the bulbs, I did get a fault code...because one of the bulbs was fried. I sent the offending bulb back to SuperbrightLEDs last Friday. They have a box to check on their return form to request a shipping refund, which I checked. They refunded my shipping cost last night, and a new bulb is shipping out today. The process isn't quite as seamless as returning something to Amazon (what is?) but I have no complaints about their return process.

So I'm running 1 LED and 1 halogen at the moment. I could've gone back to halogen on both sides but those stupid doors on the back of the headlights are enough of a pain that I figured I'd minimize the amount of times I have to mess with them. I can report that I have no faults with this combination, going on several days now.

I'll post an update once the replacement bulb arrives.

Any signs of melting or a burnt smell? Will Superbrightled's do a post-mortem on the bulb or they just toss them in the trash? I would imagine that we will probably never know if it was a heat-related failure.

[E92-Lighting]

Originally Posted by AtlasM

A bit of an update.

A couple days after putting in the bulbs, I did get a fault code...because one of the bulbs was fried. I sent the offending bulb back to SuperbrightLEDs last Friday. They have a box to check on their return form to request a shipping refund, which I checked. They refunded my shipping cost last night, and a new bulb is shipping out today. The process isn't quite as seamless as returning something to Amazon (what is?) but I have no complaints about their return process.

So I'm running 1 LED and 1 halogen at the moment. I could've gone back to halogen on both sides but those stupid doors on the back of the headlights are enough of a pain that I figured I'd minimize the amount of times I have to mess with them. I can report that I have no faults with this combination, going on several days now.

I'll post an update once the replacement bulb arrives.

+1, this is expected without any driver modules, we tried our very best to warn all members in advance numerous times...

[Riley1524]

Originally Posted by E92-Lighting

+1, this is expected without any driver modules, we tried our very best to warn all members in advance numerous times...

Yup...I tried a while back and the 3 different sets never worked. Either one would crap out or it would throw a bulb out warning. Sucks, but thats just the way it is currently\

[AtlasM]

Originally Posted by E92-Lighting

+1, this is expected without any driver modules, we tried our very best to warn all members in advance numerous times...

I will say, the bulb that burned out was on the passenger side, where I had a hell of a time getting the door back on the headlight housing. So there's a possibility I managed to mess up the bulb in the process.

The driver's side LED has been fine for a week and change now. I received the replacement bulb yesterday and am planning to put it in tonight. We'll see how it goes.

Originally Posted by 135ivert

Any signs of melting or a burnt smell? Will Superbrightled's do a post-mortem on the bulb or they just toss them in the trash? I would imagine that we will probably never know if it was a heat-related failure.

I didn't notice any burning, and Superbrightleds just sent me a new bulb, no "autopsy" done on the old one.

[AtlasM]

I put in the replacement bulb on Friday night. This weekend I drove from Madison to Milwaukee and back. No problems whatsoever. I'll report back on them in a month or two, unless something goes wrong before then. Fingers crossed.