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19K views 32 replies 9 participants last post by  sudz932007-2@yahoo.com  
#1 ·
Is there any headlight bulb you can recommend to me? Or what's the brightest and whitest bulb in the market that's compatible with the 200's? I hate the yellowish stock bulbs!

I was thinking of going with HID's but I don't even know what to look for or the size for my vehicle. Please I need some information on both.
THANKS

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#5 ·
Unless you go HID, you won't find a better light than what Chrysler uses in these cars from the factory. They're referred to as HIR, which essentially means that heat is redirected back onto the filament, causing it to burn hotter and thus brighter on the same amount of power. Generally speaking, HIRs are 75% of the intensity of HIDs, which is far superior to standard halogens.

Also, a word of caution: I've done reading on HID installations on a forum dedicated to HID and projector enthusiasts, and the overwhelming consensus is that it's dangerous to other drivers to use HID bulbs within halogen projectors (like those on our cars). HIDs and halogens have different characteristics; Halogens have one light source whereas HIDs have two; since the halogen projector is designed around the one source, the other source within an HID bulb comes across as obnoxious glare to other drivers.
Some people put in HIDs regardless, but it is largely frowned-upon amongst enthusiasts.

Personally, I've decided to leave mine alone. The low-beams seem relatively dim, but the brights are among the best I've seen (including those of bixenon vehicles); dim low-beams are actually better for distance visibility anyways, as the foreground is less distracting.

I know it's probably not the answer you wanted to hear, but it's the way it is.
If you just want the blue tint of HID in a regular bulb, you can use those SilverStars from Sylvania; but note that they have significantly less usable light output than the stock bulbs, and their life is shorter to boot.
 
#7 ·
Thank you @bierman.d for this brilliant insight. You definitely broke it down for me to understand. I will definitely think about it before putting HID's on my car because I don't want to blind other drivers. I don't care for that bluish tint
that much. I just want some WHITE bright bulb to match my OEM led day running lights from mopar. Will try the SilverStars and see.

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#8 ·
What bierman.d said. I don't think there are many options for HIR2/9012 bulbs. Phillips makes an OE replacement. I'm guessing it will look identical. There's some blue cheesy ones on ebay.

We have more options for the fogs (H11s).
 
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#9 ·
All that said, I was thankful when some SUV with bright HID lights pulled up next to me in the pounding rain last night because I could actually see the road! Completely overpowered my stock lights and made me feel like mine were dangerous, even after I had raised them slightly for better distance as most owners do. I don't think HIDs can be beat for dark, wet roads.
 
#10 ·
Ahem, the whole problem with putting in HIDs in halogen housing is indeed a huge issue, but for REFLECTOR type housings. For projector, it almost always ends up still giving you a sharp cutoff.

I had HIDs in my projectors and they give a very sharp cutoff (even sharper than the halogens somehow). So if you're worried about blinding others, don't be. It's not a thing with our projectors.
 
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#11 ·
Apparently from my snooping because I really didn't want to believe all that, the differences are small between the type of projectors. HID will be wider but the cutoffs and lenses are identical. The pattern is what somehow causes the glare? IMO if there is no light above the cutoff and they are aimed low enough there shouldn't be any glare to other drivers, even if the pattern isn't ideal or the focal point isn't calibrated exactly right.
 
#12 ·
Well here's a picture of the output from mine. That little patch on top of the cutoff is normal and serves a purpose: to lightly illuminate road signs. As you can see, the cutoff remains very sharp and as such, HIDs are perfectly acceptable in the 200's projectors.

Image
 
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#13 ·
Within that same thread regarding HIDs in halogen projectors, it was discussed that the level and sharpness of the cutoff isn't necessarily a reliable indicator of whether it was a successful execution. Something about the distribution of light, yada yada. I don't know much about that. What persuaded me were the people who claimed they tried it and ended up with poor results all while disturbing fellow motorists. There were multiple members who claimed to have tried it, and either reverted back to halogen or a proper retrofit.

Actually, mKTank, when I did a search on that forum for 200-specific posts, I found out that you're a member! Haha, small internet.
Frankly, if you don't get flashed, you must have pulled it off against the alleged odds. Personally, I decided I didn't want to mess with it when I'm satisfied with the stock performance (high-beams are what matter most to me). The only reason I was considering it was to give it that "high-end" appearance at night. And because I thought it'd be cheap lol.
 
#14 ·
Honestly HIDPlanet is full of elitists and they have the impression that anything but a retrofit will suck, but that's simply not the truth. HIDs in our projectors are really good and have very good throw, all while maintaining a very nice sharp cutoff and not giving off ANY glare at all. It might be a rarity (I wouldn't know, I've put in HIDs only in this car) but we are actually pretty lucky with the projectors our cars have in that they handle HIDs quite well.
 
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#15 ·
In other words, you can pay me the extra $200-400 it would probably cost for an ugly bi-xenon retrofit that looks like it has no business being in that housing! Other than that I am still waiting to see the TRS job once those bulbs get in, anxiously awaiting the results!
 
#17 ·
Thanks for the feed back, I heard what all you guys said...I think I made up my mind already. Wanted to go with the SilverStar zXe but they not compatible with chrysler 200. So I have no choice but to go with HID's.
will the MORIMOTO ELITE HID SYSTEM 9006: 3Five 5000K work for our vehicle types?
 
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#19 ·
Silk.. that's what I got except I got the 6000k so that will work perfectly.. they said if you get the 9006 kit you have to shave down the tabs a bit to make them fit, but not a big deal
 
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#25 ·
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#23 ·
Rule of thumb never go beyond 6000k unless you are a ponce. 5000 really but I can understand how some people like the more exotic look and they aren't TOO distracting. 7, 8, 9, even 10k is ridiculous though and asking to get pulled over.
 
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#27 ·
Lol, glad you caught it beforehand, but also sorry to disappoint.
I realized and cancelled my order hardly five minutes after I placed it. I kept thinking "this is too good to be true." I tend to be right about that LOL.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Argh, stop trying to save 50 bucks and just buy from theretrofitsource.com

Seriously, these brands you're looking at will die in months, and often come with mismatched colours and flickering issues out the ass. It's not worth the relatively small amount of money you save. Morimoto is a quality brand and their stuff nowadays is almost on par with OEM. They're _the_ best aftermarket HID brand, period.

Now for sizes: H11 for fogs (I wouldn't bother, though. The entire point of fog lights is to help out in the fog. White/blue light is much worse than yellow light for penetrating fog...so yeah).
9012 for HIDs BUT 9006 is the more common size and it fits our cars just fine (that's the size of the HIDs I had installed!).

As for colour, you get the most lumens at 4300k. It's what most OEMs use (BMW, Mercedes, Mazda, etc). As you increase or decrease the colour (5000K+ or 3000K-), you lose lumens. And you lose them hard. If you look at a graph, the output just plummets. Any time you see some guy rocking 8000/10000K HIDs, feel free to laugh at them because they make less light than the lowest tier of low beam halogen bulbs, let alone our HIR2s (which is actually the highest tier for halogens).

Now for wattage...if you get 55w, prepare to inhale pure charcoal through your vents from that point on, because 55w turns our reflector bowls to a crisp in not a very long period of time at all. Always, ALWAYS go 35w. Again, it's what OEMs use, and it's safe to use with our projectors.

Next, for the harness, DO go with the MOPAR-specific harness with the capacitor. Our car's electrics like to screw with headlights a lot. The inconsistencies in wattage can and do cause a tiny amount of flickering occasionally unless you have your wiring done properly and with the right harness. What I actually plan on doing later on this summer is hook up the HIDs straight to the battery with a manual switch. I'm sick and tired of dealing with this CANBUS bs and you'll understand why pretty soon.

So:
God tier - 4300k, 35w
Meh tier - 6000k, 35w
JDM riceboy tier - 8000K+, 35w
Car Barbecue tier - xxxxK, 55w
 
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