Bulbs and how long yours lasted?

[SilentRacer]

Thinking about going hid, but I've been told they can melt the headlight lens.

What? Thats completely untrue, they do not melt anything and run on less power than stock bulbs.

[HeresMyMind]

my phillips d2s 85122+ hid bulbs have been good for over 2 years now. and i use them for about 20 hours a week.


(posted HID info write up)

-B

[LegacyRob]

I got some Narva +50 about six months ago and am really happy with them so far.

[subbyobs]

Hyper bulbs (85/80) bought in April 07, still working.
H3 Yellowstar (85) bought in Sept 07, still working (for Impreza RS)
Hella XB (100/80) burned one for 6 mos, the other one still working
Yellowstar (H4 bulb, 130/90), burned one for 3 mos, the other one replaced by the Hyper bulbs.

All bulbs are bought from Rallylight. Beside the Hyper bulbs, the yellowstar and XB are Hella boxed light bulbs.

I got a pair of PIAA GTX (or GT-A), the one with the purple coating, it lasted for nearly 2 years; but the output was dramatic lowered after 1 year or so.

[LegacyRob]

I got some Narva +50 about six months ago and am really happy with them so far.

well it's been about 14 months now with the narva +50 and they are still going strong.

[Black Sunshine]

In 2005 I decided that my OEM (I believe they were Sylvania) bulbs in my '97 Legacy wagon needed upgrading. They were orginal and still working, but I figured the output was probably deminishing. I replaced them with Sylvania Silverstars, they worked well until '06 when it seemed that the extra current they required caused a ground short and melted both of my connectors simotaneously. I've heard these vehicles have a voltage drop problem at the headlights. I replaced the connectors with some from a junkyard and I used a modiefed embry board to clean the all connective surfaces then I gooped all up real good with di-electric grease. This worked great until '07 when I hit Bambi's 150lb. mom at 55 mph. Once the shop replaced my entire front end they install the Phillips Silverstar counterpart. They didn't go through the great lengths I did to make sure their connectivety would endure. I was too lazy to mess with them since they worked fine. Then last summer the bulbs melted the connectors, again. I'm really bored with this problem so I'm going to upgrade to JDM/HID Bi-Xenon. I'm hoping that since the HID uses a separate more direct power source I shouldn't have any more problems.

Ironically, compared to most posts here, I never had any actual bulb failures. I currently have three bulbs out in the entire twelve year old vehicle. The left rear sidemarker/signal bulb, the illumination bulb for the HVAC, and the illumination bulb for the gear selector. I've been amazed that more of the bulbs haven't gone out. I never turn my headlights off, so the bulbs run all the time and I have 183k on it.

[beckleysuby51]

98 with factory bulbs and new lamp assemblys 106,908miles

[Legacy89]

The first thing i did when i got my car was to replace the bulbs.
H7 Osram Nightbreaker - Lowbeam
H1 Osram Nightbreaker - Highbeam
H3 Osram Nightbreaker - Foglight
H3 Osram Nightbreaker - Drivinglights
All bulbs are fine but they have only done 2 months, I got a set of Phillips Xtreme Power to see if there is a difference. The highbeams got a little break during the winter because of my HID but the output of the HID was crap so i removed it.

[Shale]

Hehe. OEM lasted 2 years for me... then when I got STi suspension, BANG.

Since then I've been through countless, countless bulbs. Only off the shelf brands worth considering here are Narva and Phillips; they last between 1 month and 6 months in my car. I can't even remember which ones fare slightly better now, as I'm buying new bulbs about once every 3 months.

This is for foglamps and headlights. Tails and parks tend to last a year or so. I drive with all my lights on, as NZ is a cloudy b@stard and the road, sky and my car all share a colour in common... GREY.

IMO the bulbs I use would last longer if I didn't have my blasted current suspension. It eats bulbs and tyres something chronic. It's got what, about 10mm of travel in it...camber to feed the starving in Africa...and has created all sorts of rattles from one end of the car to another. But the handling is worth it. It really is

So it might be time for a HID retrofit

[99OBTT]

I used the Hella and Optilux all the time.

Hella H4 and 9007 (used for both Legacys), the XP with 100W (High Performance), last around 1 year.
Optilux (manufactured by Hella), last around 1 year.

Both are xenon bulb and given out not the white light and very good in the rain.

(Hella cost around 40 a pair, while Opt cost around 20-30 a pair).

[HeresMyMind]

phillips 85122+ d2s bulbs lasted me 4 years at 55 watts until i swapped them for phillips Dl-50's. both are still in perfect working condition.

-B

[grt3]

reg headlights have lasted over a year now.

[YVK]

got some Ebay H3 Yellow bulbs for fogs, one died out in like a month..

[Quest]

I got some Narva +50 about six months ago and am really happy with them so far.

well it's been about 14 months now with the narva +50 and they are still going strong.

My Narva +50s lasted 2 years. Replaced them with Osram Rallye 70/65 +50. They are only slightly overwatt and have more lumens. http://store.candlepower.com/64205.html

[geckoboy86]

Not Subaru related but Recently replaced a headlight bulb in a 96 Jeep...Had the manufacturing date on them 05/96...

mine last about 2-3 years.

[rkrenicki]

I have Narva 50+ for my low beams, and they are doing quite nicely after about 8 months now..

[98legwag]

I have Narva 50+ for my low beams, and they are doing quite nicely after about 8 months now..

I had H3 Narva 50+ in my fogs. One lasted 3 months, but the other is still good. I now have Hella Yellowstars in the fogs. My projector lows have Phillips Diamond Vision and are sweet. I don't know how long they've lasted since they were in the lights when I got them.

[Danny-G]

There was a set of PIAA H4 bulbs in my sedan when I started driving it in '09. They had been in the car since '07 I think. They lasted atleast four years, with alot of rough gravel road driving. My only complaints were them only coming in sets and those sets cost something stupid like $115 or so. But those were some damn good quality bulbs and if I wasn't running projectors in my sedan and 100w/55w bulbs in my wagon, I would still be using them. One from '07 still works without any issues.

As for the H1 bulbs that the projectors take, I had one go out cause the element came out of the base (bulbs were used and came in the projectors). I upgraded from standard 55w to 100w and that started melting the headlight lense a bit cause I put the projectors too close to the lense.

And for all the H3 bulbs I run. I've had three 100w blubs go cause the element came out of the base. I've blown a few 55w cause they got a bit wet while I was out playing in the wet.

[BlazingAsura]

2010 Legacy - OEM Bulbs: Driver Sider - 3 years and 65K and still going. Passenger Side - 3 years, burnt out at 60K in June. Replaced with OEM. Fog lights - OEM and going strong.
2006 Legacy GT - Bought the car in May, replaced both headlights earlier this month with Sylvania XV, doing good so far. Passenger headlight lost the retainer clip, so the headlight is of no use. Thankfully I have fogs, which were replaced in July due to both bulbs being out.

[Quest]

Osram Rallye 70/65 +50 lasted 6 months before I lost 1 low beam

[rkrenicki]

I have Narva 50+ for my low beams, and they are doing quite nicely after about 8 months now..

Ne-ne-ne-necrobump...

These Narva 50+ bulbs migrated to the high beams of both sets of my Japanese headlights. I still have them, and they still work great. If they were 8 months old in 9/2012.. that makes them 4 years old now. That being said, I dont really use my high beams that much, so that as artificially extended their life.