Osram Night Breakers

[RedBarediver]

I have managed to get hold of some Osram Night Breaker Laser lights. Apparently these are 150% brighter (or better or something) than standard light bulbs. Got a good deal on them too. Managed to buy two sets for £38.98. I was in a hurry when I bought online so didn't check out the packaging which contains two bulbs so now I have four bulbs.... That's all good and fine but I have a few questions for everyone who has experience with these (or similar) bulbs.

- Will they run hot and burn the plastic lenses on my 1998 model?

- do I need to replace any of the other bulbs with the same (ie Osram Night breaker laser etc etc) or can I just pop them in and go?

- these are 55W - any idea what the original spec for headlights is (I'm lazy and don't want to make a mistake when I check so I'm relying on other people's experiences).

 

Thanks in advance for all your insights.

Edited December 6, 2021 by RedBarediver

[edc]

Most headlight bulbs are standard 55w. As long as you don't increase the wattage you should have no problems. 

[iborguk]

I gonna say "up to 150%" marketing and disappointment will be delivered , along with a shorter bulb life.

They will be perhaps a tad brighter but the car won't have grown Bi-Xenons (ask me how I know)

I also see there is a new generation of marketing in play on "up to 200%"

https://www.nightbreaker.co.uk/night-breaker-200?gclid=CjwKCAiAhreNBhAYEiwAFGGKPBxHUrJm2zZjH-W-oSP7SYOwQLMcufH3_ugDVdQLclXmfhMmMjvaGRoCxC0QAvD_BwE

 

 

 

[½cwt]

I have these night breakers in my main beams (car has Xenon dipped form factory) and they work well together, however nothing like as good as current factory fit LED lights.  I ahve also run them in other cars with plastic lenses with no ill effects to the plastic.  Best solution if you want to avoid the grey area of fitting LED bulbs to lights designed for halogen bulbs and the technicalities of MOT compliance.

The 150% is a 50% uplift on the most basic 55w H7 bulb lighting standard, so don't expect full daylight in front of you.

[iborguk]

7 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

 

The 150% is a 50% uplift on the most basic 55w H7 bulb lighting standard, so don't expect full daylight in front of you.

^This^

I wonder if anyone has tried the "200's" to see what they are like...?

[usman10316]

Which bulbs would you recommend that make a "good difference" from standard ones? 

Been looking for some and these were ones that I was thinking about getting, till I read these comments of course. 

[iborguk]

I've tried the equivalent Philips 150's and they were "OK".

 

[K.I.T.T.]

1 hour ago, RedBarediver said:

- Will they run hot and burn the plastic lenses on my 1998 model?

Possibly.

Having been through this journey myself, there are only two effective routes to better light output on cars with halogens / reflector housings.

1. Upgrade to litronics (and refresh the bulbs).

2. Use a decent LED kit such as this: https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/piaa-hyper-arros-led-h7-twin

 

My old 2.7 had factory litronics, and it was clear how bad the standard lights are when I got my 3.2 with halogens. Have since replaced this with litronics. I use the PIAA kit in another car which had halogens / reflectors - need to get the beam pattern checked / aligned, but at first glance all seems well, and haven't had oncoming traffic flashing me. YMMV with other kits which are built to a price point.

The PIAAs are (at least) as good as litronics (with fresh Nightbreaker D2S bulbs), and they will fit fine in the stock halogen lamps. The design of the lamps means there's space for the LED driver units too.

LEDs run cool - it's the electronics that get hot. As such, no chance of lens burn.

[TV8]

I have changed my 996 headlights to something similar and on dipped I am pretty pleased with them. The standard bulbs were bad and these are not. Assuming the reflectors and the main lens are ok, give them a try as it’s an easy change. 
there is a thread on 911 U.K. about a bid projector conversion kit and i will dig it out for you if you are interested?

[myfirstboxster]

I've used them in the past and found that the lifespan of them wasn't that good compared to standard bulbs 

[edc]

I used the Ring XenonMax in my first Boxster in around 2013. Noticeable improvement but not a complete game changer in the way that HID or LED would be. I fitted some similar to my sister's Fiesta 5+ years ago and they seem to be going fine. 

[½cwt]

4 hours ago, usman10316 said:

Which bulbs would you recommend that make a "good difference" from standard ones? 

Been looking for some and these were ones that I was thinking about getting, till I read these comments of course. 

Not saying don't. just be aware that the result is good compared to a standard halogen but if you have had modern lights (Xenon or LED) the result will not be outstanding.  As I say I have night breakers as the main beam bulbs in my Boxster as they are good enough to go with the Xenon dip of the factory fit Litronic dipped, although these do tilt up a little on main beam to spread more light and boost the main beam halogen bulbs.

In rallying (I was a co-driver) back in the 90s we used all sorts of halogen bulbs up to 120W H1 or H3 bulbs in 8" lenses to throw as much light as possible down the road.  Still the first time I sat behind 4 little 3" Xenon main beams back in 2003 it was light daylight and a better quality of light.

Just tempering expectations.

[Boxsum]

I wasted money on a few different types of bulbs but ultimately found for me the best thing was to restore the headlights themselves. I was amazed at the difference.

[usman10316]

8 minutes ago, ½cwt said:

Not saying don't. just be aware that the result is good compared to a standard halogen but if you have had modern lights (Xenon or LED) the result will not be outstanding.  As I say I have night breakers as the main beam bulbs in my Boxster as they are good enough to go with the Xenon dip of the factory fit Litronic dipped, although these do tilt up a little on main beam to spread more light and boost the main beam halogen bulbs.

In rallying (I was a co-driver) back in the 90s we used all sorts of halogen bulbs up to 120W H1 or H3 bulbs in 8" lenses to throw as much light as possible down the road.  Still the first time I sat behind 4 little 3" Xenon main beams back in 2003 it was light daylight and a better quality of light.

Just tempering expectations.

Thanks for that! The 911 and Boxster are my main cars so I'm not too accustomed to new technology, yet 😛 

[GmanB]

5 hours ago, RedBarediver said:

 

- do I need to replace any of the other bulbs with the same (ie Osram Night breaker laser etc etc) or can I just pop them in and go?

The bulbs you've ordered will fit main, dipped and fog lights. 👍 

[½cwt]

3 minutes ago, Boxsum said:

I wasted money on a few different types of bulbs but ultimately found for me the best thing was to restore the headlights themselves. I was amazed at the difference.

Oh yes this too... about £25 for the kit, a good dose of confidence and an afternoon's work.

[swang]

13 hours ago, K.I.T.T. said:

Possibly.

Having been through this journey myself, there are only two effective routes to better light output on cars with halogens / reflector housings.

1. Upgrade to litronics (and refresh the bulbs).

2. Use a decent LED kit such as this: https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/piaa-hyper-arros-led-h7-twin

 

My old 2.7 had factory litronics, and it was clear how bad the standard lights are when I got my 3.2 with halogens. Have since replaced this with litronics. I use the PIAA kit in another car which had halogens / reflectors - need to get the beam pattern checked / aligned, but at first glance all seems well, and haven't had oncoming traffic flashing me. YMMV with other kits which are built to a price point.

The PIAAs are (at least) as good as litronics (with fresh Nightbreaker D2S bulbs), and they will fit fine in the stock halogen lamps. The design of the lamps means there's space for the LED driver units too.

LEDs run cool - it's the electronics that get hot. As such, no chance of lens burn.

I looked at this in the past too, but the link says they are not road legal?

[Menoporsche]

I got a HID conversion kit in my Toyota; wonderful but apparently now an MOT fail in the UK.  (Fingers crossed they don’t bring that change in Portugal soon). 
My experience with Philips and Osram promising 150% brighter was quite underwhelming. And while my OEM bulbs were working for 7 years, the new ones managed 1-2 before blowing. 

Edited December 7, 2021 by Menoporsche

[½cwt]

14 minutes ago, swang said:

I looked at this in the past too, but the link says they are not road legal?

Technically, yes they are not road legal however, as we dive down the MOT rabbit hole of whether a tester can identify an LED bulb behind a projector lens and as long as the light pattern complies, it is a case of whether you get caught...

[swang]

What’s the technical reason behind making LED conversion mot failure, was it just to prevent people from putting overly bright lights in?

Edited December 7, 2021 by swang

[RedBarediver]

Wow, thanks for all the helpful info guys. 😀

I am not looking for daylight in front of me, just a little better than what I currently have. My main concern was burning the plastic lenses. Also, since i have two sets I may just put them into the hi and lo beams and see what the difference is. Hopefully it will make a difference for the better. 

Moving house on the weekend so don't know when I will be able to install and test them out but as soon as I have I'll report back.

[RedBarediver]

15 hours ago, TV8 said:

I have changed my 996 headlights to something similar and on dipped I am pretty pleased with them. The standard bulbs were bad and these are not. Assuming the reflectors and the main lens are ok, give them a try as it’s an easy change. 
there is a thread on 911 U.K. about a bid projector conversion kit and i will dig it out for you if you are interested?

Thanks, but I'm not planning to mess around with the lights that much (I'm not much of an auto electrician - or any sort of electrician to be honest). All I want to do is put decently bright bulbs in so I can see. I also don't do silly speeds at night so as long as the light throws far enough I'll be happy.

[dpg123]

I fitted a set of these to my car a few yrs ago now. I can confirm that they are "up to infinitely brighter than standard"*

 

*when standard are switched off

[ATM]

19 hours ago, Boxsum said:

I wasted money on a few different types of bulbs but ultimately found for me the best thing was to restore the headlights themselves. I was amazed at the difference.

This

 

I think its something like 60% of light lost if you have a dirty lense.  If it is all faded and rubbish this can go higher.

[tonyplymouth]

I use Nightbreakers in my three originally-halogen headlamp cars and can report a useful improvement in light output whilst retaining the good focus and minimum scatter of halogens, with no overheating problems.  Polishing the lenses on my 1997 986 made a further useful improvement in light output.  The headlamp units are easy to remove from the car and polish "on the bench".  I used a 3M headlamp polish kit and an ordinary power drill which worked well.  So far, my NBs have lasted over three years without blowing.  Probably the life of halogen and NB bulbs is as much a function of how many times they are flashed or switched between main and dip, as actual hours in operation.