Replaced the right headlight today and aimed it.
It was an easy swap.
New Osram Xenarc Night Breaker Laser D1S bulbs, too.
I was going to swap my old headlight's xenon control module
into the new headlight assembly, but low and behold the headlight
part has been superceded and now only takes a module with an
oval gasket instead of the old one with the square gasket.
Any searches for the original headlight 63122754794 (right
bi-xenon with white lens) brings up the newer part
63127270026, so you really can't get the old style one anymore
anyway. I had to order a new module for another $200+,
but they gave me free overnight shipping. I guess I can use
the old module in the left headlight if that one ever fails.
The new Osram bulbs are brighter (by at least 1/2 stop by light
meter measuring the hot spot up close and about 5 feet away,
and slightly bluer. There's a very faint blue coating on the bulb
and I estimate the color is definitely slightly more than 4200K
but also less than 5000K. Probably about 4500K.
That's good in my book.
While I had the old headlight out, I could see what was wrong with
my right foglight which was loose in its mount and I was able to snap
it back in securely. The original owner or his lackeys must have been
heavy handed with replacing bulbs somewhere along the way for the
headlight projector mount to break and the foglight to be partially out
of its mount.
Auto makers love plastic. Trouble is after an amount of time it becomes so brittle that things do break. The auto makers don't care as long as you are out of warranty. I like the metal stuff used in the good old days.
I had that happen to my OEM headlight and was able to fix it with some epoxy - formed a blob of it, stuck my big old hand in there and made it work. I’ll see if I can find the photo.....
The white plastic looks like Delrin but it’s
probably something more brittle and less
durable.
Am looking forward to seeing how the
Osram night breaker lasers compare to
the 10 year old OEM Philips ones in
there now.
I’ve seen various specs quoted, with
lumens of 3200 and 3500, and colour
temps of 4200, 4350, 4500, and 4750K
listed on different sites, and Osram doesn’t
give any official numbers at this time.
I still use my Gossen Luna Pro F meter
occasionally (yesterday, for instance).
I used Canon manual focus film SLRs
and a Fuji GS645S until I moved to
digital in 2011.
BTW the part that broke inside the old
headlight is the arm of the mount that
goes over laterally to the horizontal
adjustment mechanism.
I ordered an AL brand housing that’ll
be here by Friday for under $500
with free shipping.
Same manufacturer and model as what’s
In there now.
The bulbs should get here tomorrow.
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