Ok, so I have scoured the posts on headlight bulbs and still have a few questions. I have a 04 facelift and the lights are terrible. I need to polish the lenses again this spring but that only helps a little. I think the plastic might be yellowing from UV and that can't be fixed. It's also not helpful that your wife's model 3 has incredible lights (like most new cars) and my night vision isn't what it used to be.
With all that being said, what bulb swap actually works and is plug & play? I am not interested in splicing wires or carving up the housing...yet.

So far I have -

H7 55 watt. This is stock and I am assuming they all work about the same. Regardless of the marking. I don't think increasing the wattage is recommended.
HID - I don't know much about this type or if it is plug and play.
LED - I see options that are H7 direct fit. Do these actually work? Or flicker and not play nice with the halogen reflector design, etc?
LED - Others that have ballasts and cooling. Which usually means a bulb that doesn't fit the housing or require modification.

Which really works?

 

I put in a pair of these:

Auxbeam H7 LED Bulbs, 1:1 Halogen Exact Fit Design, 6500K Cool White 300% Brighter LED Conversion Kit, Halogen Replacement Fog Lights DRL Bulbs, NF-Q10 Series, Pack of 2

From Amazon. The package does state not for use as low beam, but legally for fog lights only. Don't care. They work great and they are a direct swap with not cooling fans or anything. I will be buying a pair for my fog lights when I get a chance.
With regards to the legal use, I have not seen any unmarked vans from the DoE or EPA following me. MOLON LABE my LED's!!

 

https://auxbeam.com/products/spu00174

These. Get these. They're direct fit and work wonderfully.

 

Retrofit HID projectors is the best option imo but not the cheapest or easiest.