Marshall, Are you running the Sylvania SilverStars that are commonly available in the USA, or the "good" Osram SilverStars ones that you have to buy from Dan Stern or PowerBulbs.com? The Osrams are +50%, the Sylvania are +30%, and are NOT the same bulb despite the same name (terrible marketing, aaaargh!). The Osrams should be brighter, but would have an even shorter life.
The 130/100 bulbs I had in my white car (with relays) lasted about 4-6 months, since I drive with low beams on all the time as DRL's. But WOW did they ever light up the road... 460w total on high beam (with 500E Euro lights). I think the total current draw was something like 25-30A on high beam, lol... good thing I had the 150A alternator. I've got the same setup on my blue diesel and E500 now... relays, big bulbs, and big alternator. :-) +dm > ------------------------------ > Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 12:14:24 -0500 > From: Marshall Booth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [MBZ] CR report on headlight bulbs > > > I'm running Silver Stars on several of my cars. Very minor improvement > in illumination (I ran each car with one new Silver Star and one NEW > conventional light to compare). The slightly "whiter" color is an > improvement and they are marginally brighter, but not worth more than > double the price for the lamps. They've been in for several years now > but I hear they are short lived. I will NOT pay a premium again if they > don't last at least nearly as long as the conventional halogens. > > Marshall
