T6.1 H7 & H15 Bulb Upgrades

[F2JON]

Ah, I think I see now! So your van is a conversion from T6 to T6.1 front end?

Yup

 

[bluezie]

In which case, it would seem like there is a coding issue going on here.

 

[bluezie]

H7 Nightbeaker & VW standard H15 lamps. They look whiter in reality, the phone camera yellowed them a bit.

 

[bluezie]

The verdict on the +200 H7 Nightbreakers is, as expected, they are very good! So good, that the standard H15 main beams seem to have little effect over the H7's, what I need now is some +200 H15 Nightbreakers, or some LED bulbs that provide a proper beam spread and no bulb errors. I live in hope!

 

[F2JON]

Yes I agree the h7 are whiter and a much brighter light but the h15’s are disappointing colour wise, the light is great off them both

 

[Ozi]

I had a similar view, neither the H7 Phillips Extreme (+150%) or the H15 Osram intense blue were as white as I’d hoped. However, the light they produce is a marked improvement - on both dipped and full beam. I’d still like a little more light on dipped, but it’s a lot lot better than the standard Osram‘s that I took out. And full beam is excellent.

 

[T4goneby]

I’ve finally managed to get mine swapped over, mostly anyway. H7s in and working (+200) and the h15s out and swapped, when you guys are putting the connector back into the h15 - are you doing it with the bulb in situ or before you fit the bulb back into the headlamp??

I’m struggling at the minute to get it to stay on whilst fitting the bulb back into the light, so reverted to bulb in first - but now can’t get the connector back on either side with the bulb in place.

H7s were straight forward in comparison!

 

[T4goneby]

I’ve just found a really useful post elsewhere on the forum for anyone else struggling with getting the H15 back in and connected…

 

[needsmust]

Heartfelt thanks to T4goneby and whoever the original poster was.

This was driving me nuts. I don't think the neighbours have ever heard such language. I was already feeling like an idiot for not realising these were H15 bulbs and not H7s as I'd wrongly assumed. To be faced with a numpty trip to Halfords because I didn't have enough reversible knuckles and an endoscope to put the originals back in was a very real prospect.

The Philips Racing Vision GT200 H7s have made a worthwhile noticeable difference on dipped beam, but there's no equivalent H15s. I'm beginning to wonder about LEDs...

 

[Bighair]

I took the bumper off and took the lights out. Much easier. You have to (imo) remove the cable connector off the H15 in order to turn them to release from the headlights. If you force them with the cable on you will damage them, unless someone knows otherwise. Anyway. I’ve fitted LED from Halfords. They are H7 and fantastic. The H15 were from Amazon and immediately bought up error code. £55 so should do what the say with no error. They’ve gone back but now on the search for a white H15. I’ve done the same to the fog lights from travellinlite. They are easy and great. I know loads will say led not legal but new van, lights are abysmal and I live in the middle of nowhere. Bloody dangerous. Any recommendations for H15 white bulbs, I’d be interested.

 

[needsmust]

I took the bumper off and took the lights out. Much easier. You have to (imo) remove the cable connector off the H15 in order to turn them to release from the headlights. If you force them with the cable on you will damage them, unless someone knows otherwise. Anyway. I’ve fitted LED from Halfords. They are H7 and fantastic. The H15 were from Amazon and immediately bought up error code. £55 so should do what the say with no error. They’ve gone back but now on the search for a white H15. I’ve done the same to the fog lights from travellinlite. They are easy and great. I know loads will say led not legal but new van, lights are abysmal and I live in the middle of nowhere. Bloody dangerous. Any recommendations for H15 white bulbs, I’d be interested.

Just for clarity/sanity (and this is T6.1) - the cable connector comes off the H15 before removing the bulb, but back on to the housing before replacing.
I was almost ready to face removing the lights but with the above tip it’s a cinch.

 

[F2JON]

Just for clarity/sanity (and this is T6.1) - the cable connector comes off the H15 before removing the bulb, but back on to the housing before replacing.
I was almost ready to face removing the lights but with the above tip it’s a cinch.

Yes it’s the t6.1 and No the h15 bulb just twists out, you don’t have to remove any plugs or cables,

 

[drewid]

Has anyone upgraded to the Osram Nightbreaker +200% H7's, and the Osram Cool Blue Intense H15's? How do the colour temperatures compare, do the look ok?
I was hoping there would be some +200% Nightbreakers in H15, but it would appear the Osram cool blue is the only upgrade available.......

I bought some foe a range rover with optical lights . Couldn't see any difference and sent them back . I was well disappointed

 

[Camper_Chris]

I didn’t remove anything , the h7 are easy enough they just pull out and clip back in , the h15 are another matter, you have to turn them anti clock wise as your looking at the back of the light, they’re really tight if they’re the original bulbs, I’ve changed mine several times since and I’m quite a pro now I know how, the first time I did them I used long nose pliers to get some leverage on them , I asked several places they told me I’d got to remove the headlights, but if you give them a good twist they will come out, you won’t break anything. Good luck let me know how you get on

I started to change my H15 bulbs today, the off side was easy, but when I gave the near side H15 a good twist the back broke off the bulb, so I'll now be taking the headlight out tomorrow to remove the broken bulb, get the broken bits out and fit the new bulb.

 

[MrD]

What a pain in the backside the H15 are , worst I have ever had the displeasure to deal with. Found the passenger side cable connector to bulb was loose on opening up to remove the bulb, strange .

Anyway then tried some H15 LED bulbs with a “99%” canbus rating……they didn’t work at all nothing just bought up an error of check DRL headlight bulb (half expected this if honest). So called it a day and tried to replace the H15 originals (which seemed to have the faintest of blue hue to them not upgraded from new) what a nightmare took me over 1.5 hours to try and locate the bloody cable connection back onto the tab prior to bulb absolute pain. Given up now with LED .

For info these were the LED that just did not work….

H15 LED Headlight Bulbs 70W 14000LM High Beam Daytime Running 6500K Cool White | 2 Bulbs

▶350% Brighter than halogen light bulb. ▶H15 can work as both high beam mode and daytime running light/DRL mode. ▶Upgrade high power 70W 6500K white effective 14000LM lighting output. ▶Perfect beam pattern, double-sided CSP3570 LED super focus obtain version wider and farther,no blinding to...

auxbeam.com

 

[Camper_Chris]

What a pain in the backside the H15 are , worst I have ever had the displeasure to deal with. Found the passenger side cable connector to bulb was loose on opening up to remove the bulb, strange .

Anyway then tried some H15 LED bulbs with a “99%” canbus rating……they didn’t work at all nothing just bought up an error of check DRL headlight bulb (half expected this if honest). So called it a day and tried to replace the H15 originals (which seemed to have the faintest of blue hue to them not upgraded from new) what a nightmare took me over 1.5 hours to try and locate the bloody cable connection back onto the tab prior to bulb absolute pain. Given up now with LED .

For info these were the LED that just did not work….

H15 LED Headlight Bulbs 70W 14000LM High Beam Daytime Running 6500K Cool White | 2 Bulbs

▶350% Brighter than halogen light bulb. ▶H15 can work as both high beam mode and daytime running light/DRL mode. ▶Upgrade high power 70W 6500K white effective 14000LM lighting output. ▶Perfect beam pattern, double-sided CSP3570 LED super focus obtain version wider and farther,no blinding to...

auxbeam.com

To be honest I found it easier to remove the bumper and headlight after the H15 bulb broke than the struggling I had done previously trying H7 LEDs and changing them all to uprated H15 & H7 bulbs. It was the same with my MK4 Golf, bumper off headlight out, change bulb

 

[MrD]

I did consider that but seemed overkill, it was mostly ok just that one passenger side H15 not locating on the tab at all not helped by not being able to see in . Btw what H15 did you end up with in the end?

 

[Camper_Chris]

I did consider that but seemed overkill, it was mostly ok just that one passenger side H15 not locating on the tab at all not helped by not being able to see in . Btw what H15 did you end up with in the end?

The H7s are easy to do in place, it's when it starts going wrong it's just easier to sort with the bumper off and headlights out.

I fitted Osam Cool Blue Intense H15 plus 20%, they are a bit better than the standard bulbs which do appear to have a blue coating on the glass.

 

[Blink982]

I have a T6.1 California, have there been any developments with upgraded halogen bulbs? I regret not getting LED but economies had to be made with the spec. I intend getting H7 Osram Nightbreakers as I've used them before in a previously owned BMW but are there any alternatives to the H15?

 

[bluezie]

The Nightbreakers are pretty good, but because of that, the standard H15 main beam is rubbish, and hardly makes any difference to the light projection.
Osram really need to make H15 Nightbreakers, and things would be fine. Cool Blue are only slightly more powerful, so not really any use.