PM Owners
- Thread starter BXDIVER
- Start date
BXDIVER you looked happier, when you weren't wearing a hat! 
drifter
Expert Expediter
HID ...? Can you please explain more ..thanks
drifter
Expert Expediter
Led and hid are similar but Google them I got mine from xenon. Better lighting and longer life. You don't want to be changing bulbs to much of a hassle with a promaster
The problem with going HID is, in order to do it properly, you have to change out the housing (in most cases) because the housing is full of reflectors instead of OEM projectors. When you retrofit HID into a standard halogen reflector housing, you force everyone to want to pull you over, drag you out of your vehicle, and beat you to a pulp.
Well, if you buy the replacement headlamp assemblies from the dealer it's about $1460 per side. If you buy an OEM assembly off eBay, it's about $1000 per headlamp. Plus the wiring harness kit, of course. It's only about a $900 option if you order your Sprinter from the factory with HID lights, though.
You will read and hear people say, "You can just use your existing housing! Just tilt the lights down so they don't glare and it's fine." These people are idiots. One, that doesn't work. And if you do manage to tilt them down far enough so that they don't glare, you've lost over half your lighting and more than 70 percent of the light distance.
HIDs in a stock reflector housing (notice the light scatter vertically) vs a set of projector housings with HIDs.
Cost to replace headlight at Dodge dealership is $118 including bulb fyi Flying J carries the H7 bulb for $17.99...also to replace turn signal in the mirror is about $47...bulb costs about $5.
I love rockauto. Common parts like belts filters and brake pads are readily available for class 5-6 trucks.
Get a commercial account at autozone and buy 10 packs for less then $30.
Everybody. Light bulbs are designed with lifespan of a certain number of hours. Lifespan hours is reduced by potholes and rough roads, ambient temperature, installation errors (not properly secured, touching the bulb with your fingers thereby getting body oils on the bulb), and quality of materials.
Cheap bulbs may be designed to last 450 hours. Both quality bulbs for 1000. All things being equal, the more lumens a bulbs puts out, the lower the hours.
OEM 55W 1450 lumens Life: 650hrs
Performance 55W 1650 lumens Life: 330hrs
Long Life 55W 1500 Lumens Life: 900hrs (or 1200hrs).
Lights will generally last within 5% of their rated hours.
I use Sylvania Silverstar Ultras. 1571 lumens. A whopping 125 hours rated life, according to the package. It's a lot longer than that, though. I replace mine about 6-8 months. It's rare when I'm driving and do not have my headlights on. In any case, they have a 12 month warranty and Osram/Sylvania (and Autozone) are very good in honoring.
Not at the same time. I used to, when I first got it. But over the years it's worked out that they go at very different times. One goes and then a couple of months later the other one will go.
What probably started that was when I replaced one of the headlamp assemblies, and just left the bulb in it that came with the assembly. Now when one goes I replace it, and will replace the other one when it goes. I keep the old ones and the receipt and take them back to Autozone for warranty replacement. The Silverstars have a 1 year replacement.
What probably started that was when I replaced one of the headlamp assemblies, and just left the bulb in it that came with the assembly. Now when one goes I replace it, and will replace the other one when it goes. I keep the old ones and the receipt and take them back to Autozone for warranty replacement. The Silverstars have a 1 year replacement.
Wow, I'm amazed those silver star ultras are lasting that long for you, when I had my 05 sprinter, I put a pair of those in to try them, I didn't notice that big of a difference in light output, but they were both burned out in a week. Always bought the cheapies after that, they would last 4-6 weeks.
There was a group of 05 Sprinters (and I think some of the 04s) that was really hard on headlight bulbs. Sounds like you had one of those.
I'm surprised they last as long as they do for me, too. I do keep track of when I replace headlights (all light bulbs, actually). I don't keep track of hours burned, but I do note the date and which light was replaced. I use a spreadsheet for that.
The original Silverstar Ultras were rated at 125 hours. The 2.0 version is 250 hours, but they're still hard to find.
If there was a way to put railroad train headlights on the van, I'd probably do that. It might require some new wiring, though. They require 200 Watts (standard light) or 350 Watts (the ditch light).