H4 To H7 Upgrade

[Cuffy]

Just managed to snaffle myself a pair of H7's from the book of face and all being good, these should be with me by Monday next week.
The list of jobs is getting considerably longer.

• Fit new lights
• Sound deaden front doors
  • Maybe fit new speakers whilst everything is off.
• Fit puddle lights from Saxoboy

Cue Siberian weather conditions and these projects to be postponed until spring, where the list will have grown again.

 

[dubber36]

Where are all these H7s coming from? I can't imagine that many were optioned new on PVs and Kombis, so they must be coming from Shuttles and Caravelles. Are these being crashed, or are people changing them for THQ and the like?

 

[Stay Frosty]

I reckon H7s aren't enough of an improvement over the H4 to be worth spending too much money on as they're still reflector type headlights and pretty small reflectors at that, take anything up to £180 for the online H7s away from the price of THQ type projectors and they start to look a better proposition.

 

[t0mb0]

I reckon H7s aren't enough of an improvement over the H4 to be worth spending too much money on as they're still reflector type headlights and pretty small reflectors at that, take anything up to £180 for the online H7s away from the price of THQ type projectors and they start to look a better proposition.

I’ve just moved from THQ to VW H7 and didn’t notice a meaningful drop in output. They’re both a world away from the VW H4.

 

[Long tall John]

I reckon H7s aren't enough of an improvement over the H4

They blooming well are. Not perfect but still loads better. I can see properly now and feel safe again.

 

[Stay Frosty]

Going back a couple of years and pretty much the same discussion and Rich @RedUn at the time took pics of his H4 headlights output and then his Dad's H7 headlights output and pattern, both vans with stock halogen lamps and there was barely any visual difference between the two setups on dipped beam, certainly not enough to merit one being twice as good as the other.
Now if we're changing lamps to get away from the abysmal performance of stock halogen 55 watt lamps then I've gone my way, others have gone to alternative halogen lamps in H7 headlights and Hid lamps in the THQ headlights, they have projector lenses on dip giving probably the next best alternative to the factory VW Led arrays.
At the end of the day I've posted my video and that's how I carry on, simply shouting about how good "B" and "C" are instead is just so much conjecture without some actual evidence of the increased performance.

 

[ginkster]

Where are all these H7s coming from? I can't imagine that many were optioned new on PVs and Kombis, so they must be coming from Shuttles and Caravelles. Are these being crashed, or are people changing them for THQ and the like?

I think many are coming from people upgrading to THQ. Certainly the ones I bought were and usefully he was selling them for a very reasonable price. The H7s are a fantastic upgrade over the H4 even with road legal E approved bulbs. The brightness, shape and spread of light on dipped and main is much better and perfectly acceptable, unlike the shockingly poor H4s. I can’t imagine the THQ lights are any better with halogen bulbs as projectors tend to reduce output relative to a good reflector. They will of course be considerably better with LED/HID bulbs but that just pushes the cost up even more.

My H7 lights and a full set of bulbs cost £110. There is no way the THQ lights are 6x better!! I’m used to all singing and dancing twin LEDs (VW too) on another car and find the H7s fine in comparison.

 

[dubber36]

THQ lights with halogens are poor compared to OEM H7s.

I bought mine for vanity reasons. I wanted a more modern looking headlight so had them with LED bulbs. They looked good, but the performance was nowhere near what I hoped they'd be. I went on a bit of a mission to find the best light source for them. I went through a whole host of halogen and LEDs before landing on 4300k HIDs.

So in conclusion, if you are a person that likes to do everything by the book, OEM H7s are the best lighting upgrade for the money there is.

 

[Stay Frosty]

Just to be clear as this is the final thread ever on the subject of H4 headlights, would that be standard halogen 55 watt lamps in standard H7 headlights, headlights that haven't been coded so that dip and main beam come on at the same time?
I wouldn't mind but we're onto the T6.1 now and realistically by the time I can afford a Transporter with Led headlights my driving licence will have expired... would like an ID Buzz though after seeing that one at Busfest.

 

[dubber36]

Just to be clear as this is the final thread ever on the subject of H4 headlights, would that be standard halogen 55 watt lamps in standard H7 headlights, headlights that haven't been coded so that dip and main beam come on at the same time?

Standard and factory coded to work properly

 

[ginkster]

Just to be clear as this is the final thread ever on the subject of H4 headlights, would that be standard halogen 55 watt lamps in standard H7 headlights, headlights that haven't been coded so that dip and main beam come on at the same time?
I wouldn't mind but we're onto the T6.1 now and realistically by the time I can afford a Transporter with Led headlights my driving licence will have expired... would like an ID Buzz though after seeing that one at Busfest.

Standard E marked 55w bulbs (Osram 100%) coded to work as they do from the factory (i.e. dipped stays on with main beam).

Main beam is excellent but it was the improvement in dipped I was really after and that is a vast improvement over H4 and perfectly acceptable. £110 well spent in my opinion.

p.s. agree re the Buzz

 

[Cuffy]

Standard E marked 55w bulbs (Osram 100%) coded to work as they do from the factory (i.e. dipped stays on with main beam).

Main beam is excellent but it was the improvement in dipped I was really after and that is a vast improvement over H4 and perfectly acceptable. £110 well spent in my opinion.

p.s. agree re the Buzz

What bulb set up did you go for?
I'm toying with wither Night breakers or Philips GT Racing for the H7's, Philips white vision Ultra for sidelights and Twenty20 LED for the DRL's.
Cheers.

 

[Chippie1]

What bulb set up did you go for?
I'm toying with wither Night breakers or Philips GT Racing for the H7's, Philips white vision Ultra for sidelights and Twenty20 LED for the DRL's.
Cheers.

I went with the Philips GT racing and the Philips white vision ultra back in February very happy with them

 

[ginkster]

What bulb set up did you go for?
I'm toying with wither Night breakers or Philips GT Racing for the H7's, Philips white vision Ultra for sidelights and Twenty20 LED for the DRL's.
Cheers.

I went with Osram Cool Blue Intense for the dipped and main and Twenty20 for the DRL. The LEDs are canbus friendly but if your battery is low will give a bulb out warning. This clears on the next start when the battery is back to normal.

Osram Cool Blue Intense H7

Twenty20 DRL bulbs

 

[Cuffy]

I went with the Philips GT racing and the Philips white vision ultra back in February very happy with them

I went with Osram Cool Blue Intense for the dipped and main and Twenty20 for the DRL. The LEDs are canbus friendly but if your battery is low will give a bulb out warning. This clears on the next start when the battery is back to normal.

Osram Cool Blue Intense H7

Twenty20 DRL bulbs

Cheers chaps, good to know that they all give good results, think the bulb replacements will cost more than what I paid for the actual units

 

[Chippie1]

Cheers chaps, good to know that they all give good results, think the bulb replacements will cost more than what I paid for the actual units

At least your be spending money on bulbs for a decent unit as I’ve said before I’ve spent good money on bulbs for the useless h4s that’s now sat in my loft gathering dust as I can’t give them away! Crazy but the bulbs in them are worth more than the lights

 

[hip99]

I notice that these lights are generally advertised as suitable for 2016-2019 vehicles. Does anyone know if they would work on a Dec 2015 T6?
Thanks

 

[dubber36]

If it's definitely a T6, then yes.

 

[saintclarkey1]

I bought some Twenty20 Cree LED DRL's for my H4's about a year ago and the bulb warning light has just come on (despite the bulb being fine). A quick clear of the fault in VCDS and an engine recycle has resolved this but just wanted to see if anyone else has had this issue with these DRL's? They got good reviews from the forum for being fault free so was surprised to see this behaviour.

 

[ginkster]

I bought some Twenty20 Cree LED DRL's for my H4's about a year ago and the bulb warning light has just come on (despite the bulb being fine). A quick clear of the fault in VCDS and an engine recycle has resolved this but just wanted to see if anyone else has had this issue with these DRL's? They got good reviews from the forum for being fault free so was surprised to see this behaviour.

View attachment 180701

Was your starter battery voltage a bit low? You can get a bulb warning if the starter battery voltage is low when the ignition is first turned on. The warning will clear when you restart if the battery has had a chance to recharge a bit.