eh, I'm a girl and I have to figure this out on my own.

I have a 2004 Volvo S40 T5. One of my low beams went out and I'd like to replace both headlights with the new bright stuff, the blue/white type of lights that light up the road but don't blind people.

I'm shopping on Amazon and I found:


Would these be the way to go, or are there others (I can buy on Amazon)

Thank you for your help

 

OK first question - does your car have Xenons or standard H7 bulbs? Xenons have a special ballast so you can't use true high output Xenon bulbs without the whole set up. Assuming you have standard H7 bulbs, the OEM is a 55W bulb, so if you drop in a 100W bulb, it risks pulling 80% more current - which can fry the wiring. Some brands like PIAA are 55W but state they have the equivalent lighting power of a 100W bulb. Not sure if that's really true but at least if its rated at 55W you don't risk an electrical issue. My personal opinion is the white/blue color doesn't really improve vision and I'd be wary of these "better" bulbs. Not the same as a true HID upgrade...

 

I don't know what's in there now, but I assume its the stock stuff, so sounds like not a good idea to get these bulbs. So should I just let the mechanic figure it out and charge me?

 

Forget about the fancy headlights, go with stock wattage Flosser H7s. .

 

Thanks for the link...I'll order the box of 10! why don't they just have two...eh still looking

 

How about these? they are the same wattage:

Bulb, H7 Halogen, 55 watt. Flosser Ultra Lamp high performance bulb.
GermanAutoParts.com

 

I've found the Flossers to have a long life which is important if you have day running lights. The Flossers last a year and you can't beat 6 bucks each delivered. I also have two vehicles that use the same H7 bulb.

If you just want to buy one or two, get the or the .

 

Good choice actually. But what they don't tell you is that with incandescent light bulbs there's a tradeoff between watts, brightness and life. So if you buy a higher brightness bulb at standard wattage (55W) it will have a shorter life.

Having been down this road I decided to stop paying 20 bucks for bulbs that last 6 months and buy the cheapest standard bulbs.

Oh and you probably know this already but when you install these bulbs do not touch the glass envelope with bare hands, not even the slightest touch. If you do, oil is transferred from your skin which causes the glass envelope and the bulb itself to fail very quickly.

 

Great advice, thank you so much Migbro! I'm going to go with the Phillips standard bulbs. Not sure who is going to put them in, certainly not me.

Thanks again!

 

They're easy to change, you should do it yourself, you'll feel like tank grrrrrl. You'll also do a better job than the monkey you pay to do it, who won't care if they touch the glass or not.

 

hahhahahha.... I'm a girl! I can check oil and water and some very basic things.

 

Repeat after me. A woman can do anything a man can do.

You're probably 65, right, which is why you call yourself a girl.

 

hahahhahaa 65...no 51... I can anything i WANT to do...key word WANT... I don't want to do it! that's why God created men, they are tools

 

Behold the true nature of woman, lol. You're supposed to keep that secret. Team woman will be annoyed you let the cat out of the bag.

 

haha now to find myself a tool hahhaha

 

I'm not sure about the Gen2 S40s, but for my 2000 S40, I found I had to remove the battery to get access to the drivers side bulb. If your 04 is like us older folks (talking about my car, but I'm also on the AARP mailing list now.... ouch!) - open the hood and you will find a round 3" rubber cover on the back of the headlight. pop that off and you should see a spring clip holding the bulb in place. I find it easier to pull off the connector to bulb so you can slide off the connector then press the ends of the clip together then rocker away from the bulb. The bulb fits only one way with a small slot/tongue so when you insert correctly, it should center itself in the reflector. rocker the clip back on making sure the spring fits into its slots (this is where having small hands really helps...), then slide on the connector. look at the bulb from the outside to make sure its centered or the lamp will project in some odd way. Hopefully your 04+ is same as my 2000 here... as noted, try not to touch the bulb as any oil may shorten the bulb's life.

 

you do it for me!

 

Gen2 is FAR easier than the first gen models. Open the hood, pull up on metal bar holding light housing, gently push housing out the front. Now you have complete access to the housing without trying to fit your hand down behind the battery. I have a 2001 and 2005 and the difference is night/day.

Edit: trade secret. Go to Autozone or Advance and buy your bulb. Go at a not-too-busy time and ask very kindly if the counter guy can install it for you. My daughter has it down cold. She assumes the "poor little ole me, I'm just a girl" attitude and they are falling over trying to help.

 

hey thank you for the tips Hudini!