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Sylvania ZXE Headlights and Fogs. Pics

68K views 111 replies 55 participants last post by  Kent253 
#1 ·
I know many of you think it's a waste of money buying this bulb or that bulb that claims to be brighter than stock or whatever but I just would like to share my pictures in case someone wants to go this route. I have tried HID's with issues so I took them out after only 2 weeks.

These are the H11 ZXE bulbs from Sylvania. Pricey but so far they are pretty nice compared to OEM. I only have about 30 minutes of use from these in the pictures so far. They say a color of "up to 4,300k" and have a 12-month warranty.

Before with 6,000k HID Fogs:


After with all of the Sylvania ZXE's:


OEM Low beam only:


ZXE Low beam only:


ZXE Low beam and fogs:



ZXE Low beam and OEM High beam:


Down road before and after: (I have more but need to get them off my phone)




 
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#5 ·
Thanks for this, i'm also looking to upgrade the bulbs in my car. When dark and rainy i find it hard to see, my old car had 55 watt hid projectors that were awesome and i'm finding it hard to get used to these headlights.

How is installing the bulbs do you need to remove the entire headlight housing? what about the fogs, are they easy to swap out?
 
#7 ·
For the headlight bulbs you dont technically have to remove the whole housing but I did since its much easier to get to the foglights that way. To remove them just take a T30 Torx bit screwdriver and take off the two screws per headlight and they slide on out. Then unclip the connector and you have full access to the foglights.

Just untwist the foglight and then pull it towards you, unclip the bulb and put your new one in, then slide down and twist it back into place. The headlights are the same but you can do them at eye level since you have the housings off.

Very very simple. Thanks for the interest. I am loving them more and more as I drive more.
 
#12 ·
It's really easy (I'm writing this from memory). With the car's hood open look down on top of the headlight housing -- there are two screws one on each end, remove them (it's a T30 hex or a large slot screwdriver). Then the headlight housing sort of comes out and up and there is plenty of wire slack to pull them out of the socket. Then right behind where each bulb is in the housing there is a large rubber gasket that just pulls off -- it even has a pull tab. Then for the headlights gently turn the bulb housing about a 1/4 turn and pull out and swap the bulb. For the highbeam the bulb housing has a clip you release then pull the bulb straight out. While you have the headlight housing off you can reach down and swap the fogs if you want -- they 1/4 turn the same as the headlights.
 
#14 ·
Ya these ZXE bulbs are the same wattage. the OEM and these are both 55w so no issues with burning up wires or anything

And anyone interested should get these from Amazon because there is no tax, free shipping and when i bought mine they had a $10 off a pair instant discount.
 
#15 ·
And I guess I should way what benefits I have noticed from these so far since I have had them for a little while now.

I say side road visibility has risen about 40% and down road visibility has risen about 10%. So basically I can see a little further plus I can see a lot further into the ditches and sides of the road than before. Plus the nice color reflects off signs better.
 
#16 ·
Just installed the Zxe's on my low beams. Will let you guys know how I like them once I put some miles on them. Install was a joke.. Unscrewed 4 screws, peeled back the rubber gasket, popped off each plug, and twisted the old bulbs out. Maybe 15minutes from start to finish.
 
#17 ·
I just ordered two sets of the H11 ZXE bulbs. Will let you guys know how they work once I get them. I'm thinking that I might replace both the low beam and foglight on one side and then take pictures facing the car and then of my garage door with the lights shining on them. If I can get someone to go with me for a drive, I can also take pictures of the light output/color on the road. I'm not sure I know anyone who would be into this enough to go for a drive in a car with mismatched lights just to take pictures unless I promise dinner/drinks, though. :)
 
#18 ·
I'm glad a couple others here are doing this too. Post up pics when you both get a chance.

And I thought about doing that before I went to install the bulbs and then forgot. Lol. Had then all in in less than 30 and said, oops. Haha
 
#26 ·
I got my new Silverstar ZXE bulbs in today and swapped them out tonight. I was pressed for time and it was cold and misting rain, so I had to hurry with taking pictures. The crappy quality of the pictures show that haste, but I promised to post pictures so here they are. The first three are of the low beams and fogs shining on my garage door. In order, they are both sides with factory bulbs, one side factory and one side ZXE, and then both ZXE bulbs. You can see the slight advantage in brightness and whiter light of the ZXE bulbs. The last picture is a shot looking toward the front of the car from the garage door with one side with factory bulbs and one side with ZXE bulbs. It's an ultra-crappy shot that makes both sides look more yellow than they actually are, but it's still easy to see the color and brightness difference.

All in all, I think they were worth the $35 per pair that I paid for them. They are nowhere close to the HIDs that I had on my previous car, but they're better than they were.







 
#28 ·
Hmm, I got flashed today for the first time. It was by a Lexus SUV... I first thought they did it on accident but they did it 3 more times until I turned my high beams on and they shut their high beams off and then we passed eachother so I didn't see them again but no one else on my way hone flashed me tonight. Oh well,sensitive person I guess.

Also, I noticed that after about 5 or 6 hours of run time (cumulative) that the lights are even whiter than before which is great. Kind of like they set in
 
#29 ·
I went to pick these up, but the fine print on the packaging stopped me. Even Sylvania can't claim they are brighter.
Although that have a table on the back of the pack that says something like 30-40% brighter (so-called "edge-to-edge" brightness). There's that conspicuous asterisks that leads to the fine prints that basically says when compared to a regular bulb's brightness averaged edge-to-edge after the bulb is old enough to lose 30% of its brightness. So basically they are saying, new bulb is brighter than old bulb.

Whiter light does give the appearance of brighter though.

Then the life chart. One bar out of 4 for the standards indicates like 25% of the life of a standard bulb.... yes, they have a 1 year warranty... but still... what to do while I'm waiting for a replacement to be shipped?
 
#30 ·
Then the life chart. One bar out of 4 for the standards indicates like 25% of the life of a standard bulb.... yes, they have a 1 year warranty... but still... what to do while I'm waiting for a replacement to be shipped?
do what i did swap them out and keep the stock bulbs.they fit in the same case for safe storage [thumb]
 
#32 ·
I'm sorry but which Silverstar ZXE's did you use for the H1? I only see Silverstar ZXE H11s on Amazon.
 
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