My 2014 RDX needs front low beam bulbs as one of them went out after 10 months.
I had upgraded the Basic lamps to Sylvania Xtravision 10 months ago.
Thinking of upgrading to Sylvania Silverstar as I do a ton of Highway driving at night. Any experiences with this lamp?
Don't want to pay for bulbs like the Sylvania ZXE Gold, etc. as they seem to go out quickly. Money is no object if they last but it seems they don't last.
Whiter beam would be nice but don't want lamp that lasts 4 months.
Any other brands to consider?

While we are at this, how to brighten the dull headlight assembly? I had used a method I saw on the net but they have gotten worse in the last year.

Thanks.

 

Following this thread also to see what people have to say. I can tell you that I have had Silverstar Ultra in my 14 RDX for the past 11 months. During the first few months I had great light output but recently they are dimming to the point where it is dangerous and they are only 11 months old.. I am looking to upgrade to a LED bulb or another brand halogen bulb. Before my Ultras, I had PIAA in my car which were great but only lasted 6 months before burning out. Hoping someone can make a suggestion. At this point, I am willing to spend more on bulbs (led or not) so that I don't have to reach inside my hood every year and cut open my hands while replacing the bulbs haha.

 

First, buy a 3M headlight polish kit, it is very simple to do with a drill. Second, buy LED bulbs to replace the old halogen bulbs. The price of LED bulbs has really coming down in recent years. I have replaced all the non-LED bulbs in my RDX. In addition, I also replaced HID headlight bulbs in my Sienna and Outback (both were halogen bulbs in the beginning). It is super easy job!

 

Is there one particular brand of LED bulb you recommend?

 

Not really, buy the one with hundreds 4 plus rating or labeled as Amazon choice(4 plus rating).

 

Thanks for the advice. No pattern/blinding issues with LED bulb in the halogen reflector housing?

 

You should not have any wire issues. LED bulb is directional, changing the direction if it doesn't light up the first time.

 

that wasn't the question

Sorry I didn't respond to the PM earlier. I can't in good faith recommend LED bulbs in a halogen reflector housing just like I couldn't recommend HID's in the same housing. The reflector housing is best suited for halogen bulbs because it was optically built for that type of bulb. LED bulbs are great and all, but for headlights, LED must have a proper LED projector to get the best quality of light without blinding others. I, unfortunately don't have any good halogen bulb recommendations outside of a traditional OEM style (Phillips, etc.) bulb. PIAA, Sylvania Ultras are great at first, but they burn hotter and as such, life expectancy goes down; like you've already noticed. Hopefully, the reflector bowl itself hasn't been damaged by using the other bulbs as that could cause a decay of light output as well. Can you examine the inner bowl of the headlight assembly to see if there are any scorch marks or pieces of the reflective housing being burnt off? Additionally an outer lens cleaning is not a bad idea but MAKE SURE you seal it properly, or UV will deteriorate it even quicker the second time around.

 

my bad, no pattern/blinding issues for me!

 

No problem at all on the PM! I am sure you are busy! I was fearful that you were going to say that regarding LED bulbs in halogen reflectors. I will be sure to check out the inner bowl of the headlight assembly to see if there is any damage. Any opinion on Hella bulbs? I have been reading good things about them.

 

Thoiboi -- finally got around to getting a picture of my projector. As you can see, there is strange brownish haze on one of the projector (passenger side) and I am worried this could be burn marks? Regardless, my current low beam headlights are so dim that several passengers have asked me if my headlights were on! Any suggestions on better lighting options would be much appreciated! Thank you.

 

Damn man... that’s not good. Silverstar ultras burn extra hot to get their marketed “increase in lumens” and it looks like it burnt up in your headlight and caused some soot to fog up your projectors... and if it did to the inside of the lens chances are it fouled up the inside projector bowl as well.. you can try to clean it up but that’s not a good sign at all and explains your poor headlight performance

 

Yah, I don't know if that can be fixed. If the burn is bad enough, you only have a few options. Might be time for a new set of headlights, and for the love of god please stick with OEM (Acura) headlight assemblies if you buy them. I've tried the Chinese headlight assemblies and they are garbage.

 

Thank you for the replies on this. That was going to be my next question: what are my best options? If I am going through the expense of buying new headlight assemblies, would it be possible to upgrade to the factory HID? Also, can you buy just new projectors and projector bowls instead of replacing the entire headlight assembly? If so, where would I find such parts? Again, thank you for the input.

 

I'm pretty sure it's possible to upgrade to the Xenon bulbs, it's just not that easy to do. In theory you could replace the projectors, but it's not worth it. You'd have to open up the headlights and trying to source the projectors without the whole assembly is a pain. I'd stick with OEM (Acura) since you know what to expect. If you want to branch out and go aftermarket, I'd suggest 1A Auto because I've bought headlight assemblies from them and had good luck.

 

The current projectors are halogen projectors, you can put Xenon bulbs in there, but it's not ideal given the optics of the halogen projector. If you want to replace with a Xenon headlight, you'd have to buy other parts like wiring harnesses and ballasts and the wiring may be different between the RDXs. Personally, if i were in your shoes, I would just a new set of halogen proejctors and put in Xenon (h11 perhaps?) bulbs and call it a day.. If it were me personally, I would retrofit in xenon-specific projectors to get the best performance but I've done headlight retrofits in the past

 

Thank you all for the responses. I really appreciate it.