silverstars???

[diamond777]

just popped em in . we shall see what happens tonite. cant wait.. anyone else try em-- 91 535i

[Rigmaster]

There are 2 different types of Silverstars- the common Sylvania version, available everywhere including WalMart, and the OSRAM Silverstars.

Supposedly, the Sylvania Silverstars are pretty much crap- and they do not last long, while the Osram Silverstars are MUCH better.

I've got more info saved somewhere around here about these from Daniel Stern, the Automotive lighting guru- I'll see if I can find it and post it.



Bret.

[laguner]

They are not crap but have a short life rating due to the type of light they emit and the lumens. If you want long life, Silvania sells an Xtra life bulb that has a much yellower light than the Silver Stars. If you go to the Sylvania site they list the life rating, lumens and the whiteness or Kelvin rating for all their bulbs. They aren't crap but they don't have a long life rating. It's what you want from a light bulb that matters. I'm willing to go for a short life bulb to improve visibility. I put the 9005 bulb (high beam bulb) in the low beams for additional lumens and am satisfied. I don't use the lights during the day and save them for when they're needed. I am very happy with the improved lighting since the old bulbs barely lit the road in front of me. Oh yeah, Osram and Sylvania are the same company (see below).

http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/Products/ProductComparison/default.htm

OSRAM SYLVANIA is the North American operation of OSRAM GmbH, Germany, one of the world's leading lighting manufacturers, and a member of the Siemens international family of companies.

[Qube]

If you're using the 900x series, then by all means do the bulb swap (see bmwe34.net) and 'upgrade' your lighting at the same time!

[Rigmaster]

Laguner- I am aware that Osram and Sylvania are the same company. Here is an email I got from Daniel Stern about this exact question (my original comments/questions are preceded by ">") I tend to believe what he has to say, as he has no stake in this, and he seems to have a pretty good reputation in the automotive lighting arena.
--------------------------------------------------------

> I am curious about the US vs. European Silverstar debate.

It's a difficult debate to have, because of Osram-Sylvania's
name game.
Here's how it works: Osram is the parent company of Sylvania.
Many bulbs
marketed in North America under the "Sylvania" name are in fact
made in
Osram plants in Germany. That DOES NOT, however, mean that they
are the
same bulbs.

The European Silverstar line contains H1, H4 and H7 bulbs only.
These are
ultra high efficacy "Plus 50" bulbs, with colorless clear glass,
and
produce the very maximum street-legal amounts of light. This
product is
not marketed by Sylvania in North America, under any name.

The Sylvania Silverstar line is sold outside North America as
"Osram
CoolBlue". (Sylvania also sold a "CoolBlue" line that was
similar but not
as blue as the current Osram CoolBlue/Sylvania Silverstar).

Confused yet?

> I was looking at a set of H7 bulbs the other day- they were US
Market
> Sylvania (Osram) Silverstars, and the package said "made in
Germany".
> Do you know if these are the same as the European Osram
Silverstars??

NO, see above.

> I read your comment about the US Silverstars having blue glass
and a
> short life, but is that true for all of the US market
Silverstars??

Yes, all of them, and performance is *lower*, not higher. The
only
products worth a damn in the US Silverstar lineup is their
signal bulbs
(the ones that look like a blue chrome ball when off, and shine
legal
amber when on). The Silverstar sealed beams and halogen bulbs
are junk,
see below:

Here's manufacturer data, from internal engineering databases,
for output
and lifespan at 13.2v for H1 bulbs. The numbers here are a
composite of
values applicable to the products of the big three makers
(Osram-Sylvania,
Philips-Narva, Tungsram-GE). Each manufacturer's product in each
category
is slightly different but not significantly so. I picked
H1-type bulbs
for this comparison, and while the absolute numbers differ with
different
bulb types, the relative comparison patterns hold good for
whatever bulb
type you consider. Lifespan is given as Tc, the hour figure at
which 63.2
percent of the bulbs have failed.

H1 (regular normal):
1550 lumens, 650 hours

Long Life (or "HalogenPlus+")
1460 lumens, 1200 hours

Plus-30 High Efficacy (Osram Super, Sylvania Xtravision, Narva
Rangepower,
Candlepower Bright Light, Tungsram High Output, Philips
Premium):
1700 lumens, 350 hours

Plus-50 Ultra High Efficacy (Philips VisionPlus, Osram
Silverstar, Narva
Rangepower+50, Tungsram Megalicht, but NOT Sylvania Silverstar):
1750 lumens, 350 hours

Blue coated 'extra white' (Osram CoolBlue, Narva Rangepower
Blue, Philips
BlueVision, Tungsram Super Blue or EuroBlue, Sylvania
Silverstar):
1380 lumens, 250 hours

Now, looking over these results, which one would you rather:

(a) Buy and drive with?
(b) Sell?

The answer to (a) depends on how well you want to see versus how
often to
change the bulb. If you want the best possible seeing, you pick
the
Plus-50. If you don't care as long as it works and you don't
want to
hassle with it, you pick the long life.

The answer to (b) is determined by how rich your company's
shareholders
want you to be, and is obvious: You want to sell the bulb with
the
shortest lifespan, highest promotability and highest price.
That'd be the
blue unit, e.g. Sylvania Silverstar.

As far as H7 bulbs go, there are other options, as well. Osram
makes a
very clever 65w H7.

Standard H7: 55w, 1400 lumens, 500 hours
H7 ultra "Plus+50": 55w, 1550 lumens, 225 hours
H7 rallye+65: 65w, 2100 lumens, 500 hours

The extra 10w is of no consequence as far as electrical power or
heat.
Those 80w to 100w bulbs are a different story!

DS

[laguner]

Like I said, they light the road better than what I had and I'm willing to pay the price. It sounds like he is saying that you can't get the European bulbs here, so there's little point in worrying about it. They work for me, especially moving up to the 9005 bulb. I was interested to note that he said the in house engineering life expectancy was 250 hours for the Sylvania SilverStar but the website says 60 hours, so I just got some good news.

[diamond777]

holy **** what a can of worms i opened. frankly i dont care if they dont last very long,as long as its better light than what i have now..just a few more hours and i will let everyone know what they are or are not missing mike:D

[laguner]

I already have em' Mike. I was saying the same thing. I guess nobody actually reads other posts all the way through.

[Rigmaster]

Like I said, they light the road better than what I had and I'm willing to pay the price. It sounds like he is saying that you can't get the European bulbs here, so there's little point in worrying about it. They work for me, especially moving up to the 9005 bulb. I was interested to note that he said the in house engineering life expectancy was 250 hours for the Sylvania SilverStar but the website says 60 hours, so I just got some good news.


Not the way I understand it.

If you take the example he posted- the "Normal" H1 bulbs put out 1550 lumens while the Silverstars put out 1380 lumens. Unless I have less of an understanding of this terminology, lumens is a measure of light output, so more lumens = more light. Now, you can argue about different light colors being better than others, but I'm just going with the data provided.



Bret.

[diamond777]

i read your post. they sound good at least for the money laguner.i will try tonite and give my opinion. i just dont want to sink 800 bucks into headlights:(

[diamond777]

very clean and WHITE. i like for 25 each.happy so far and tonite is a near full moon.so i will like more on darker nite:D

[peterllo]

Put them in mine about a 16 mos ago, nice color seem brighter, helps these old eyes. One burned out quickly, Sylvania sent me a replacement set and said they tend to last only about 100 hours. Turned out the slight moisture seepage in that housing killed the bulb, no problem with the replacement (resealed the housing) nor the one that didn't burn out.