Sylvania Silver Stars

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Eurythmian

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I have an 2005 LS with standard Halogen bulbs.
Low Beams - H11
High Beams - 9005
Fog Lamps - 9145

I've been searching for Sylvania Silver Stars to replace these bulbs because I've used them in my '94 Mark VIII and went from not being able to see at night to having bright headlamps. They made quite a difference.

I've searched the net to see if Sylvania makes a H11 Silver Star and the answers have been yes... but I can't seem to find them anywhere. So I wrote Sylvania. They replied and told me the H11 are mainly used in European automobiles and have recently been introduced to the US over the past few years. You can currently purchase standard H11 bulbs at any auto supply store but the H11 Silver Stars will not be available to the public until September of 2009. (Next month).

I went ahead and installed a set of 9005 Silver Star Ultras in the High Beams and a set of 9145 Silver Stars in the Fogs.

WOW - I thought these headlamps were bright before. I can't imagine what they must do if you have HID lamps.

So for those of you who may want to upgrade from standard halogens to Sylvania Silver Stars... wait until September - they will be available at almost any Auto Parts store. :D
 
I have the high and low beam silverstar premiums in my LS headlights and they definitely are bright. What is the difference in the numbering system? Is it a difference in brightness? All this time I thought it just had to do with bulb/connector size.
 
TDUB said:
I have the high and low beam silverstar premiums in my LS headlights and they definitely are bright. What is the difference in the numbering system? Is it a difference in brightness? All this time I thought it just had to do with bulb/connector size.
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I personally don't know the difference in the bulb numbering system. You are talking about the way the different bulbs are named? (H11, 9005 and 9145).

I can tell you there is a big difference with the amount of light the H11 outputs as compared to a 9006. The H11 seems to be brighter. I don't have the devise to actually read the Temperature or Luminous Flux. All that stuff is beyond my comprehension... I read about it and stay completely lost. All I know is the bulbs are brighter.
 
The H11 is an HID bulb, the 9006 is a standard bulb. The only problem I had with the silverstars is the lifetime of the bulbs. Especially the Fog light bulbs. I think I got 2 months out of them and 6 months out of the headlight bulbs. Yea they are alot brighter but bulbs should last more like 3-5 years.
 
Lincoln ave said:
The H11 is an HID bulb, the 9006 is a standard bulb. The only problem I had with the silverstars is the lifetime of the bulbs. Especially the Fog light bulbs. I think I got 2 months out of them and 6 months out of the headlight bulbs. Yea they are alot brighter but bulbs should last more like 3-5 years.
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I've had Silverstars in two of my other cars and never had an issue with the life of the bulbs being short. I have driven a '94 Mark VIII for six years and the bulbs are just fine... I wonder why yours went out so quickly. Has anyone else had this issue? I have always made sure to never touch the bulb with anything... they say if you do touch the bulb you can clean it with alcohol... never had to. I always put cotton gloves on when working with halogen bulbs. I get them from my work... used for scanning images - keeps everything print free.

Silverstars are advertised as having a long life... Hmmmmm
 
I didn't touch the bulb's and they say that the oil from your skin will make the break. But all the other bulbs I have ran I never had a problem with. I'm running Phillips version of the silverstar right now with no problems, but they art no way near as bright. They are better than standard bulbs but not quite the silverstar.
 
umm...silverstars in the LS = bad idea.
you would be much better off with HIDs. I had a set of silver stars in my high, low and fog beams, long story short i was burning a bulb out ever couple of months. they look great, but the LS [or at least my gen 1] has a problem with water vapor seeping into the housings of the headlights, and i am skeptical about the water proof-ness of the foglights. I think this kills the bulbs. the silverstars look great, but if you do the math 2 sets of silver stars = 1 set of HIDs. i just bought myself a set of HIDs, they should be here tomorrow. $105.00 shipped... ill let you know how i make out with them.
 
yea my bad, I was thinking of something different when I saw the part numbers.
 
my high beams were bright enough so i left them alone. i put silverstar ultra's in the lows, and regular silverstars in the fogs. its more than ample lighting. i'll have to wait and see how long they last. there is certainly a big color difference between the highs and lows.
 
Eurythmian said:
I was going to say the same thing. Thanks for pointing that out.
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No problem. I only know because I was just looking into HIDs myself.

And FYI for 2006 or i would assume Gen2 LSE owners Sylvania lists the fogs as 9145/H10 but they are H11s as well. I found this out the hard way.


TDUB said:
So I already know the lumen range I want to go with but what size of bulbs would you guys recommend when I get my hid kit?
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I don't get what you mean here. You get the bulb type that retrofits to your factory bulb size and pick a color temperature.
 
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