I'm hoping to find the brand of the bulbs are generally shipped with my LR three. I'm just trying to figure out if they had ever been replaced in my 2009

I just swapped in a set of Osram Nightbreakers, and removed some standard looking Phillips.

Thanks

 

Fairly certain you answered your own question.

I believe they are standard Phillips 4300 D2S bulbs. The best you can buy is probably their new xtreme vision bulbs which are OE quality but 5000k temperature and an up-rated 3200 lumens.. so best of all three worlds, but very expensive.

You can get a good set of re-based bulbs on amazon for about $80, but I wouldn't spend less than that!

It's also worth noting the lumen output graph vs. age for a xenon bulb. I can't find the exact graph but when I first got my RRS w/ Adaptive Xenon they were amazingly bright and every a$$hole would high beam me on country hilly roads. Then nadda, then I sold it for same year LR3.

..same thing, no one ever high beamed me and they weren't very impressive anymore. Then I saw one of those graphs, and essentially from what I remember - after about 5 years the equivalent lumen output was nearly that of standard halogen conventional bulbs.

The temperature also gets VERY BLUE for old age xenons and there are graphs for this as well. I like the color though, especially with the high quality ellipsoid optics LR uses.

Definitely noticed an improvement when I swapped out the original xenons (almost 10 years old) for some good ones on amazon (5* rating and a good warranty - about $80 vs. $40 for cheapest) - but the top of the line superceeded Phillips ones with the higher lumen rating of around 3200 will be impossible to beat IMHO, but also 3x the price so..

 

Well then mine were 6+ years old. I installed Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited and so far they are very nice. The output in the first day has been a bit warm and yellow-ish but from what I understand, they will turn to white after several hours of use.

The Philips were actually still pretty decent, I just wanted better as it's getting very dark here in Seattle.

 

...can't go strictly by years to determine life cycle. Some of us (like me) only fire up the Xenons when absolutely necessary, for this very reason. I worked in aircraft lighting for many years so I knew a few things about this technology...could be why I avoid using them AND avoid turning them on/off/on/off because the cycling is one of the arc lamp's failure modes.

So...idk...maybe you can make a loose correlation with age of vehicle, but not a strict one.

 

What beams do you run for headlights? I'm confused by your statement. My regular beams are the xenons. I have good, true yellow fog lamps in the bumper and don't generally run those for daily lighting.

 

Let me clarify: I have the Xenons....I just don't turn them on unless it's ACTUALLY night time. I don't use any auto settings for my headlights, I don't turn them on at dusk/dawn/bad weather (I opt for my fog lights instead, which are still white).

Agree that yellow would be better for fog...let's call the white in-bumper lamps "driving lights" because that's mainly what they are. Illuminating the close-in stuff. They are still helpful in fog but not as much as yellow. BTW, in the industry the data is mixed on weather or not that's really true (the color) but it sure passes the eyeball test.

 

We agree. I occasionally turn the Xenons to Auto so they calibrate, but only turn them on at night - I have some super bright amber LED running/parking lamps that are typically bright enough for visibility at dawn/dusk

 

So for ~$80 every 10 years, you guys DONT use the auto headlight convenience feature? I agree that the auto features is wear on arc bulbs, but the lights in my 2006 still look better than anything new I have ever rented. My LR3 even fires up the lights unnecessarily for a few seconds in the garage every time I leave and return.

I hope that they someday dim to the point that I actually "need" my aux lights.

 

Nice rig.

I absolutely hate the auto headlight feature, and I despise the follow me home lights. I wish there was a way to deactivate them completely.

 

I agree with my fellow Seattleite, Schwaggy....I just don't see the need for it.

I DO however, use the auto feature on my Infiniti because there are always some lights on (inside and out), so it's tougher to remember to turn on your actual headlights in the dark. I've been fooled by that before!

PS: Full disclosure, when I first got the LR3 I thought the headlamps would have to be replaced in their entirety (like the whole assembly) if damaged or if the bulb went out. I didn't realize that replacement would be so relatively cheap 'n easy. Not a big deal, now, I suppose....but at this point my habits have been established.