Replacing Headlight Bulbs

[1990LS400]

From my 13+ year experience with a now departed 1990 LS, my opinion is that the generation one lights are mostly hopeless. The main problem is with the sloppy beam pattern created by the lens. Using high wattage bulbs mainly emphasizes the bad beam pattern and blinds other drivers. I even had a high wattage (100/80) bulb explode and had one heck of a time cleaning the resulting residue off the reflector. I was told once that H4 light assemblies from a 93-94 LS could be used on 90-92 LS but that it was an all or nothing deal -- replacement of the entire headlight assembly, including the backing frame, and side lights was required. I never tried this due to the $1,000+ cost at the time. But maybe the 93-94 lights could be found in a salvage yard at a lower cost.

The best bulbs I found in terms of cost and longevity were G.E. 9004HO which produced a much whiter light, filled in the gaps in the light pattern and cost less that $15 for a 2-pack --> http://www.gelighting.com/na/faq/faq_auto.html

I sure wish there was an easy solution as I struggled with this problem for years.

[mzhang86]

Thanks for the responses. I'll look at the GE and the Silverstars and choose one to replace the bulbs in my car. I never noticed the sloppy beam pattern created by the lens. It might be partially because i'm still using the yellow bulbs? The HID kits IMO are a bit too much to spend on the lighting system.

[lexusboy]

I just did full replacement of all my headlight bulbs to silverstars, I got H4, 9006, 9005. I got two bulbs for 30 each. In my opinoin I spent around 100 bucks and it was worth it. The white look is awesome. I love my silverstars. If I had more money I would love to get actualy HID. Did they have HID available from the dealer in 96? If so I could check around for junked cars? Aslo are HID only for low beams or are the low/high?

[wwest]

Poor, sloppy, beam pattern....

That's what most irritates me about the 92, nothing you do will really improve the forward vision at night. A friend of mine went so far as to cut openings in the lower portion of the front end to add driving lights.