Hi,

I have a pair of Hella Optilux 1500 driving lights (the oval ones) that use the typical 55W H3 bulbs.

Here's the question: can I replace the 55W bulbs with 100W H3s without creating a huge overheating danger? I've got the lights all relayed up with fat wires, so I am not worried about current draw, but they do get pretty warm even with the 55W bulbs.

These are mounted to a plastic bumper-cap, but the 'heads' of the lights don't touch any plastic (the closest is gets is maybe 5-7mm).

Any advice?

i wouldn't do it.... if it was me. i've got oem foglights on my civic and they use 55watt H3's and yes, those suckers get pretty darn hot for 55 watts. almost doubling the wattage would be asking for trouble. the heat build-up will cause whatever hits the lense to melt and stick. i've had this happen with oval driving lights/glass lense a while back(100watt H3 bulbs).

and that's not getting into the extra glare you'd be causing since you have "driving lightings."

Thanks for the advice from experience; I'm glad I asked before wasting the money.

LIEP, I've been wanting to power up my foglamps somehow. These are small valeo projectors in my X5, using 55W H3's. The beam is wide but OHH!! so weak in illumination. I've been thinking of the PIAA H3's extreme white, which are pricey, but I don't know if it'll be really brighter. Also, the projectors have a cutoff shield so no worry about glare there. Any advice ?

i could just be me put anything with "PIAA," to me, is an automatic "all show and no go"......... meaning it's for looks mainly and not function.

any bulb that's coated to give off a whiter light will be dimmer then an equivelant bulb with no coating/filter. fog lights were never meant to be extremely bright.

like my stock foglights.... against my hid low beam, you cannot tell they are on from the inside of the car, not until they are reflected by a shiny rear end of a van/can/truck. then you could see the warm glow of the housing and see that they're on.

i have jerry-rigged an hid bulb into H3 projector foglights before, the result was pretty interesting but decent nonetheless. i wouldn't suggest it though, it's more of a waste of a hid parts then anything else. unless you've got spares laying around that would otherwise be trash...

if your X5's low beam isnt to your liking, the additional light of the foglight isn't gonna do much for it. you could up the bulb wattage for the foglight but you'll run into other problems like mentioned in previous posts.

OK LIEP, thanks, only those PIAA extreme whites are not coated bulbs and advertised as 55w=110w or something like that. But they are not coated. I wonder what all that means. I've seen cheap blue bulbs that don't put out light at all because of the coating, and always wondered why PIAA is so expensive.

That's all it is... advertisement. you cannot take 55watt of power, put it into a bulb, and expect 110watts in return. it just doesn't work that way.

Too many people think that driving lamps are ok to use while driving. Yes, but only when using upper beam. Driving lamps are designed to supplement the upper beam. Simple.

Driving lamps are not foglamps. We're talking foglamps here. The type with projectors that spread a very low and wide beam. So glare is not an issue and many people use them while using their low beams. This kind of foglamp projectors don't bother incoming drivers at all.

Those projector foglamps DO BOTHER many people, even when equipped with stock 55W bulbs. Putting 100W bulbs into reflectors that are designed for 55W bulbs only compounds the problem. See: http://dms.dot.gov/search/ and search Docket 8885

Those foglamps I'm talking about look like courtesy lights to incoming traffic with their 55 watt bulbs on. I seriously think we are mistaking projectors here. Otherwise, the lumens from HID projectors would bother people even more. They are brighter, and are aimed higher than foglamp round projectors.

yep, but in rain a lot of that EXTRA light can easily find its eay reflecting back up into the field of vision of other drivers.. so u have to be careful what you create.

Too many people think that driving lamps are ok to use while driving. Yes, but only when using upper beam. Driving lamps are designed to supplement the upper beam. Simple.

so I hit the back button and the respond button again.

"Driving lamps are designed to supplement the upper beam. Simple."

If you're referring to my original question, these lights are only used when I am alone on gravel roads, which is often. I am well aware that they glare like crazy with even the 55W bulbs but, since they are only used in the absense of other traffic, I don't care if the 100W bulbs worsen that particular problem.

But, since Liep, from his experience, has advised against high-wattage bulbs for heat concerns, it's a moot point anyway.