I am sure I can improve on the headlamp visibility by upgrading bulbs. I do not, however, want that blue-after-market-boy-racer look. Nor do I want to change anything but the bulb.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

4300k is going to appear normal. 6000k will appear so white it has a bit of blue to it, like a bright, slightly hazy day. Anything above that will be increasingly blue to purple.

It's doubtful you'll be able to significantly improve the lighting without upgrading to HID bulbs. A lot of decent kits on eBay these days for around $35. Just be sure they are properly aimed before hitting the street with them.

 

I'm assuming you have standard halogen bulbs, not HIDs. If so, your car uses 55 watt low beams. On eBay you can buy 100 watt low beams. Here's a link:

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

I purchased those same bulbs recently to replace my fog lights and they are definitely a lot brighter. Your car uses H1 bulbs for both fog lights and low beams, so replace all four. They are only $3 each and the vendor combines shipping, so you can buy four bulbs for $17 including shipping.

Your high beams are 9005, which are supposed to be 65 watt. You can also buy 100 watt 9005 bulbs from that same vendor. The link is below. Make sure you get the straight 9005's not the angled ones. The angled ones can be made to fit but it's rather difficult to contort your wrist into the correct position.

9005XS Halogen High Wattage Car Bulb Lamp 12V 100W | eBay

 

By the way... Those bulbs aren't street legal. But no one has flashed me since I've been using the 100 watt fog lights. Just make sure you have your lights aimed properly. I don't know how it is on Cape Cod, but around here I see people driving around with all sorts of weird green, pink, purple, and blue lights. Some people obviously have poorly installed and aimed aftermarket HIDs with blinding glare, yet they never get pulled over. Just be sensible and make sure your lights are aimed so they don't blind other drivers. 95% of the glare comes from poor aiming, not the wattage of the bulb.

 

I thought one needed to add relays when going to higher wattage bulbs?

 

I'm using the 100 watt fogs with no problem. I have HID low beams, so I haven't tried higher wattage halogens.

I'm sure it's possible for the ECU to detect the bulb wattage in some way, but if there is some sort of circuit to sense the bulb, I would guess that it is just looking for an open circuit to tell if the bulb is blown. But like a said, I'm not speaking from experience. I'd be curious to know if anyone has tried it.

 

The headlight circuits are controlled by relays.

 

Rev...

Thats perfect! I will give it a whirl. Thanks!

Oh...by the way...we mostly have blue-hairs...not not blue bulbs around here...

 

Beav,

Need I worry then about adding the 100w to the low beams?

 

I have 100w in both the fog and low beams, no worries.

Seems that the low beam is so focused that while there is more white light compared to the stock bulb, it is not a blinding light.

Tha fog lights and low beams together give as much coverage as my BMW 740il does with the factory HID lights.

Go for it and it does help you to see more road than what you have now.

 

I'd do the HID kit for the projector low beams, and upgrade the fogs, ONLY if you find them useful (I've had them on once, driving at night, down country roads with corn fields on either side). With HIDs, the light output is seemingly 10x brighter than the halogens. Spend $50 $75 and get a 4300k HID kit...you'll love it. (as the wise Beav has suggested)

 

I agree with h20boy, also. The HIDs are great. You can find them on eBay for about $30. However I've heard that if you get the slim ballasts the ballast will fit right in the headlight housing which makes installation a snap. The slim ballasts costs a bit more.

And I'd also recommend the 4300K bulbs as h20boy suggested. When I replaced mine recently I got 6000K and I don't particularly like the look.

 

Yep, found the page in the wiring.
main, dip and fog each have relays. each main and dip are fused at 10A. the fogs share a 15A fuse

MY2000, YMMV

 

15 amp fuse on the fogs? That's interesting. At 12.5 volts two 100 watt bulbs would draw 16 amps. So if you turn the fogs on with the engine off you might blow the fuse. At 14 volts, which is roughly the voltage with the engine running, the fogs would draw 14 amps, which is marginal.

I haven't had a problem with the 100 watt fogs, but I've never turned them on with the engine off. I might try it just to see if the fuse blows. If so, I might up the fuse to a 20 amp. Before anyone starts yelling at me for putting in a higher value fuse, I'm sure the wiring can handle the current, and it's my car, so if it burns up it's on me.

 

MY2003 each main (high) is fused 20A, each dip (low) is 10A, fogs still share 15A

 

I turned on my fogs with the engine off and it didn't blow the fuse.

 

'Normal' electrical practices rarely are considered in automotive wiring. Typically one would use 12ga wire for a 20a circuit, 10ga for a 30a, etc. I recall my tool truck having 47 individual exterior running light bulbs, all wired with a single 18 ga circuit. The wiring never got hot but it would occasionally burn-out the headlamp switch. My favorite Ford instructor had a 2.3 engine mounted on a cart and would routinely demonstrate that a 14 ga wire was adequate to power the starter - provided the engine started very quickly! ;-)

Typically the fuses on those circuits won't open immediately when the current flowing through them is close to their rating. The relays are robust enough to handle the 100w bulbs (200w/12.6v = 15.87a.)(2.1v/cell * 6cells in a '12v' battery = 12.6v)

BTW! I've seen many OEMs send out TSBs regarding the use of 'Storehouse' brand fuses, available at Harbor Freight stores/on-line. It seems there have been a number of cars burn due to the fuses NOT opening anywhere near their rating. If I recall correctly, GM tested a number of the fuses and found (again, we're relying on my feeble memory here) 5a fuses not opening with current in excess of 40a flowing through them! For my money I stick with Buss and Littlefuse products.

 

Oh, and personally I prefer 6000k bulbs, but that's just me. To each their own...

 

Idiot question: I have an '06 XKR. What kind of lighting system do I have?

 

govatos, you've got the xenon (HID) system. All 03 and up have the self-leveling HID systems.