I have a 2014 328i. Horrible headlights....halogens. Is there a decent Halogen replacement that will improve my night illumination without going the full route of expensive upgrades
There really isn't much in the halogen world that will give your drastic change without going to something like LED bulbs. I would recommend looking into them with the resistors to keep the warning message from coming on. Other wise you can try Sylvania silver stars they do have good light output for a halogen bulb.
Easiest first thing to try would be some different bulbs - lookup your car on bavauto.com, perhaps the more expensive PIAA Xtreme white 55w H7's might be worth a shot; they may be an improvement, but don't expect miracles. I don't have a comment on the PIAA ion yellow's, have never used them. It might be worth calling them and ask what they've found from what customers have tried. I think I may have tried the Sylvania's too in the past, also good. I suppose the same thing as what could be tried on older BMW's could be done, a separate wiring kit with relays, higher capacity wiring, & higher temp plugs, running off the battery lead, using the original light plugs as the triggering switch for the relays. The problem with just throwing in higher wattage bulbs is the stock wiring is adequate for stock bulbs, but you risk a meltdown running higher wattage bulbs on stock wiring. Housings might be another consideration - the old headlights, the lens reflector the bulb sat in was metal, so heat there wasn't an issue, it was though for the bulb plug & wiring. Interestingly, Susquehanna Motorsports shows a Hella light housing, I have to wonder what's different about it from the stock light housing, since it uses the same bulbs. Susquehanna has light wiring kits to run higher-wattage bulbs, although as mentioned, if the light & bulb housing is 100% plastic, perhaps not advisable to try to run the highest possible wattage bulbs. One downside of higher watt halogens is shorter lifespan; you'll be replacing bulbs more frequently. Otherwise, Charlson's suggestion to run LED bulbs with appropriate resistors. http://www.rallylights.com/hella-headlamp-bmw-3-series-2012-f30.html http://www.rallylights.com/all/wiring-harness
