HID bulb question - answered, I'm cheap

"You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much" (youcantellafinn)
04/29/2015 at 15:01 • Filed to: None

My 07 STi has HID’s and one of the bulbs is shot. The local parts store looks like they have bulbs, but they carry Sylvania. The bulb that I took out is a Phillips bulb. Will I be able to tell the difference?

Never mind, they are 1/3 the price on Amazon for the Philips bulbs. I can wait until tomorrow.

Have a picture of my car for your time. I think changing bulbs shouldn’t be this complicated. In unrelated news I checked the lug nuts and air after swapping the summers on and running them for a week or so. I’m running 36 psi in the front drivers side and 37 psi in the front passenger side. #YOLO !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

DISCUSSION (15)

Arben72 > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
04/29/2015 at 15:05

Are you sure it's not a ballast? Usually hids don't burn out. But just order two online for $40. I got 4500k for my saabaru and they look perfect.

Milky > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
04/29/2015 at 15:06

Yea good idea just getting the same bulb. Friend has one slightly yellow and one slightly blue HID …. its weird.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Arben72
04/29/2015 at 15:31

Definitely the bulb. Swapped bulbs between sides and the flicker followed the bulb.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Milky
04/29/2015 at 15:32

It would have driven me nuts if they were slightly different colors so I got two new ones on the way. At $40/each instead of $100 for one it was worth it to me.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
04/29/2015 at 16:27

My guess would be the info printed on the base. If not I’d just get two new bulbs since if one bulb went bad theres a chance the other will too. Plus different brands will get you different “burn” color so they’ll be off a bit.

GTI MkVII > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
04/29/2015 at 16:35

Always replace HIDs in pairs, and I’d stick to Osram (Sylvania, but the better European version) or Philips over any others.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > GTI MkVII
04/29/2015 at 16:37

Got a pair of Philips on the way, they are what came out of the car. Luckily Amazon has them for sort of reasonable, but locally they are $100/each. At $100 there was no way I was replacing both.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
04/29/2015 at 16:39

I ordered a pair of Philips bulbs from Amazon. I suspect the reason the bulb went bad on one side is that the housing had a cracked bracket and was vibrating much more than the other side. I found all the parts and am gluing and reinforcing everything, so hopefully the housing will mount up solid and my repairs will hold.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
04/29/2015 at 16:54

Sounds like a logical cause and a smart fix. Also please tell me you didnt have have take your bumper off to get to your bulbs.

Just4GP > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
04/29/2015 at 17:23

I just replaced the HID lamps in my car. The $50/pair no-name lamps I picked up from Amazon last year finally gave out. For the record, my headlights are always on when the car is running.

Autozone wanted $100/side for the Philips lamp. Amazon had the same price. The guy behind the counter suggested I contact DTM Tuning. They’re local (San Diego) so I stopped by their store and picked up 2 5000K lamps with a 1 year warranty for $25/pair. I only needed one but there was a huge difference in the light color so it was worth it to replace both of them.

Just4GP > Arben72
04/29/2015 at 17:29

I’ve had HID’s go out twice so far. The first time it went from white to a dull purple color for a few days then stopped working altogether. The first cheap replacement lamp stop stopped working completely. Both times it was the lamp and not the ballast.

CaptDale - is secretly British > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
04/29/2015 at 20:12

Just saying from experience from working at a Subaru parts dept. Aftermarket bulbs will work, but they will go out quickly. Its better to go for the stock Phillips and send a bit more and have them last a lot longer.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > CaptDale - is secretly British
04/29/2015 at 21:16

The bulbs I ordered are the Philips bulbs. All the same data printed on the bulb according to the picture.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
04/29/2015 at 21:19

Sorry, I can’t tell you that. You could swap bulbs, but would have to remove the battery to get the drivers side bulbs. I needed access to the housing because one side had the bracket cracked off and I wanted to fix it. Official method according to the interwebs is - step 1, remove bumper.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
04/29/2015 at 21:27

Man, that’s rough. At east for mine I have to take the headlights out yet you have cars like the BRZ that has plenty of room to pop the bulb out.