bbergero1181

I ordered Osram Xenarc 66240 CBI bulbs from The Retrofit Source and I love them. If any of you are contemplating these bulbs or replacing your bulbs in general check these out! http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...#.U8xJ_PldV8E\

I believe they even offer a coupon for Acurazine.

The bulbs are much brighter and whiter that my stock bulbs, they have a cleaner cutoff and slight hint of blue. They throw light further and have a better contrast to the road and reduce the nasty glare from street lights.

I am no the most mechanically inclined and in order to install these I removed the bumper and removed the headlight housing from the car to have the easiest access to the bulbs. Removing the headlight housing isn't necessary but i felt that it made the bulb change easier. I recommend removing the bumper to change them because it is not that hard and much easier than going through the wheel well.


These bulbs have only a few hours of burn in and they are already brighter than the old bulbs and will only get brighter over the next few hours of use. These bulbs match my 5000k fogs perfectly. (I couldn't get a picture of the front of the lights that did these bulbs justice since i only have a cellphone camera). If your stock bulbs have a few years on them sometimes its hard to tell that they re dim until your replace them, my old OEM bulbs started to color shift so i decided to replace them.

Before:



After:

iHeartmyHonda

the cut off is much sharper. looks good !

rossv1

Did you change the lenses to get that sharp cutoff or is that with just a bulb change? Either way it looks good.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Wow, very nice.

dezymond

Wow what a difference.

Nick216

Cutoff looks sharper but not as sharp as zkwr. Either way CBI is awesome

bbergero1181

Thanks,

I did not change the lenses but I bet if i did it would be even more amazing, but i'm not comfortable opening up the headlights. There is too much risk with my inexperience in doing it where moisture could get trapped. I would love to do the ZKWR lenses though. I also need to recondition the headlight housing exterior soon, its got some pitting and wear from a lot of highway driving and the road salt etc in the winter.

TurnerDan

Those look great!! Are they worth the price tag?

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Looks great thanks for sharing. IMO the cutoff doesn't look any different from the original bulbs. The reason it appears sharper is because the brighter output of the CBI bulbs. It looks great don't get me wrong, but I think it's an illusion that the cutoff is sharper. If the lens or spacing hasn't changed then there is nothing that could have changed the cutoff....assuming the bulbs arc is at identical location as the original bulbs.
I like the color and output though, makes me want to consider the bulbs.

I know some people say it's supposed to be that way, but I don't like how your headlights are aimed in that step fashion. I like when both sides are aimed in sync with each other. Just looks more consistant to me, which is how I have seen every car come from the factory. Actually now that I look at the before and after pics again, the first picture with original bulbs is aimed good, but then after you put the CBI's in somehow your left side ended up lower (or your right side went up).

bbergero1181

So far so good. They usually take a few hours of use to get brighter so i think these will get even a bit brighter since they only have 3 hours on them tops. I got them on sale for the 4th of july. Shipping was like $4 for the cheapest option i got them for around $150. But they have an acurazine coupon.

If you notice your bulbs getting yellow or color shifting i would get these no doubt. I love bright headlights and being able to see as much as possible at night.

These bulbs are German engineered and manufactured(i think) and German things are usually the cream of the crop.

bbergero1181

I have always seen the cutoffs have a step like that. My 04 had a step from the factory. after 80k plus miles of bumpy roads the bulbs can shift slightly and change orientation causing cutoff to change and reduce light output (according to the retrofit source). As far as i know the old bulbs were original so 7 years and change old.

I don't notice a difference in light from the left/ right side due to cutoff. I could be wrong but do they put the driver side lower to keep from blinding oncoming traffic and illuminate the side of the road where signs and pedestrians are?

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Well thats the reason for the step on the cutoff. On the left side it lowers the light output so that it stays below oncoming drivers, and the right side steps up to illuminate the side of the road better and signs. So that feature is built into your headlights and not really dependent on differential aiming between the sides...although proper aiming of projectors is critical. Im one that likes each side aimed at the same height, not left lower than right. And who is they that puts them that way? I have never seen a car come from the factory that way, but apparently people say they do, I just haven't seen it on any car I have owned, or test driven, or was loaned, or driven next to....

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

I work with automotive lighting pretty much every day. The correct way as described by the factory service manual is as how jts97z28 said, the slopes need to overlap each other and be at the same height.
I suppose it doesnt hurt to have it as how the OP has it but hes sacrificing visibility on the left side

here is a picture of my cutoff to show what I mean:

GOOSEej

iTrader: (2)

Wow that looks great did you replace the projector lenses?

sopmodm14

some good info here

what are the stock acura bulbs ?

are the OSRAMS a direct fit ?

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

yes I did, genuine ZKW lenses

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

^^^very nice output! Paperboy knows his stuff with lights too. It's funny because after all these years on the forums you pick up on what people know a lot about or what their main interests are in modding ;-)

bbergero1181

Sorry I was confused about which step you meant. I thought you were talking about the step in the middle there. But looking back at the pictures I see the second step to the left side, i guess that projector is aimed a bit low. (also that picture is from my driveway which isn't perfectly flat or straight). I had to crop the picture so i could upload it also.

Can that height be changed just by using the Philips head screw driver from the engine bay or do i need to actually get access to the projector?

bla8291

My bulbs are due for replacement also. No pink-eye just yet, but they are still the original bulbs from late 2006. I've already decided on the CBIs, but can anyone tell me where can I find genuine ZKW lens? And what's the difference between the genuine ones and the replicas as far as optical quality?

Silva95teg

I am waiting on the new philips 85122xv bulbs that i ordered on their last sale, I am hoping they are as good as the CBI's.

opboarding

That's a big improvement from just changing bulbs. I am definitely considering these for when my bulbs die.

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Late 06 isn't all that old, unless your car has a ton of night miles on it then I can see them possibly needing replacement.
As far as genuine ZkW vs zkwr. Don't waste your time and money. A properly "tuned" zkwr will get you 95% of what the genuine ones will do....all for a fraction of the cost and as far as I know they are readily available.

bla8291

I always assumed it did, given that I got the car at 175k miles, and that I also drive at night a lot. When I compare my headlights to a brand new car with Xenons, the difference is pretty big. I just don't want to have to deal with one headlight being out...because I hate it when people ride around like that.

Good to know about the lens.

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

Yeah thats a lot of miles. Yeah I can see that in your case new headlights would be beneficial lol. My late 06 built 07 only has 14K miles on it and even tho the bulbs are 7 or 8 years old they have very little usage, so I guess it really just depends on mileage.

nate_0022

iTrader: (2)

Yes, the projectors can be aimed with a philips screwdriver, you'll see the slots on boths side by the headlights when you open the hood. I believe the OEM bulb for our cars is Osram 66040.
Just need to raise the left side up a little bit so the top lines and bottom lines both line up with eachother.

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

^^^amazing cutoff!