Headlight - Halfords $15 to change...
 

So i've had a dead headlight now for a while and wandered up to my local Halfords at the weekend. They said they'd change it for $15....which is pretty neat considering the dealer quote i'd gotten before for $280....

Question is, anyone know what bulbs I should go for? I'd prefer to upgrade them from the OEM's in there right now.

They sell Bosch purelight (Bosch 477 H7), GE Megalight Ultra +120, GE 477 H7 +130, and then their own versions.

Stupid question, but why wouldnt one just go for the brightest bulb available?

I see a lot of Polish lads driving Audi's, Merc's etc with really white bulbs.....but read here that they might look white but no good if you're in the rain, fog etc.....

What i've read here is that going Xenon's (this is HID, right?) etc require ballasts and a chunk of change. So looking for plug n play....

And the off she shelf HID's they sell won't fit?

Sorry for all the questions but a bit bamboozled with it all.....

I did email a company, I think it's Trups? But didnt get a reply.....

thanks again folks, any feedback would be great....

I suggest staying well away from Halfords, unlikely they'll have a clue what they're at. I would buy LL (Longlife) bulbs from a reputable maker such as Bosch or Hella.
They being such a pain to change, LL bulbs last way longer.
Any 30% brighter etc bulbs, I ever bought never lasted more than 6 months and should be replaced in pairs.
Aftermarket HID's can be a bit boy racer look.

I always changed my own on my D3, takes 20mins and a bit of swearing.
From Memory, the Airbox had to be moved out of the way on one side, mine was a 3.0 TDI.

Thanks joe....good advice.....

One of the chaps did post a good thread on how to change...

So, i think then, LL is the way to go..unless I want to change them regularly.....

Halfords changed mine, and it's fine....

My experience of Halfords is with their ROI stores, the UK ones might be better.
I've seen them struggle to change headlight bulbs on a ford fiesta !

Aye but your's is a D2, my cat could change them in a couple of minutes;)

Ah, but does it charge less than Halfords? :ROFL:

The monkeys at Halfords won't have a clue unless it involves sticking their head in to see the back of the headlamp unit and unclipping the cover to access the bulb, which the D3 certainly doesn't.

You can either go in from the top and remove the airbox, or turn the wheels to full lock and undo a couple of screws in the wheelarch liner to peel it back and get your hand up to the back of the headlamp. But saying that, access might be slightly better in your V6 than it is with the V8s and V10 :Confused:

Either way, it's not the nicest of jobs and much swearing is usually involved. On that subject, I've got a little Ford Ka runaround and it's exactly the same on that - almost impossible to get to access from the engine bay unless you have fingers like toothpicks so you have to either remove the wheelarch liner or unbolt the whole front wing, simply to change a headlight bulb on a Ka. :ROFL:

I seem to remember OEM colour temperature is 4300K. I've gone for 5000k in the past when I replaced mine and been very happy with them. It's worth spending more ££ to get decent Philips or Osram bulbs, instead of generic Chinese eBay jobs. Not looked for a while but a pair is usually around £100 and sometimes down to around £80 on some websites.

Even then, beware of fakes, buy from a proper distributor. Philips in particular are regularly faked, and to look at initially they are very very good!

That's true, I say 'some websites' but I'd only really recommend buying them from somewhere like Eurocarparts or Autobulbsdirect.co.uk

The latter is always good for checking what size bulbs your car takes.