Headlights sanity check

[shotgunwinner]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and this is my first thread, hopefully I'm not breaking any rules. I found similar threads although they are a few years back and thus the ebay listings are gone.

I recently bought an A3 8P 2006 with (I believe) bi-xenon headlights with DRL as well. The right xenon has been giving me issues so I figured I would swap both xenon bulbs. This then got me wanting to swap all the lights, as they are very yellow and not so pleasant (especially with the xenon comparison) in my opinion. I will list the bulbs I stopped on below, but please correct me if I'm wrong in anything (I have not taken out any bulbs from the car to verify their fittings with the exception of the xenon ones so could be incorrect) or if you have suggestions.

Xenon bulbs (D1S) - Amazon product . These seem to be well reviewed and are just tad brighter (whiter) than the standard ones which sounds pretty good.

Fog lights (H7) - Amazon product . These lights will rarely be used but I saw the same brand and model so figured they should look decent.

Side/Parking lights (W5W) - Amazon product . Same as above, keeping the theme to be as close as possible to each other.


DRL (P21W) - here is where I'm having some issues with choosing. Osram have some plain ones although they seem to be plain yellow-lighted bulbs which is not what I'm looking for (especially since these lights are on for the most time). It seems there are two options:
- Go with something like https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192252614753 OR https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332221930595 (Please let me know if anyone has used either ).

- Or go the LED route which I'm hesitant to do since none of the others will be LED and I would need to purchase something like https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322834229729 and then a LED bulb.

I would be very grateful for any feedback of any kind
P.S. I wrote to t8ups as well, but figured I would post here as well while I wait on his response.

 

[SootySport]

Cool blue sidelights don't look good with Xenon headlights IMO, need to be bright white. Besides LED's are affected by heat from the headlights and fail too soon, t8ups will confirm that.
For fogs I bought cheap Chinese white halogens at about £2 the pair inc. postage and they match Xenons perfectly. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2Stuck-6...617506?hash=item3b0dcd20a2:g:EmoAAOSwMN9XQtVR
Gosh they've gone up 36p.

 

[shotgunwinner]

Hey, thanks for the reply! I thought the same although it seems that despite the name none of the Osram lights above actually have a blue colour, most of the reviews I've read simply specify them as bright white.

Oh, and seems my links got deleted so they are:

Xenon - Osram xenarc cool blue itense D1S
Fogs - Osram cool blue intense H7
Parking lights - Osram cool blue intense W5W

 

[Nessy]

I’ve got Osram Cool Blue Intense (CBI) bulbs in my headlights (mine are only single xenon , so for me D2S) and I love them.
For sidelights I use the Halfords LED Premium White ones ( they’re actually Ring brand) and they’re stupidly bright, lol, with a very white colour.Their lifespan isn’t great though, judging by the reviews of them and I’ve had one fail after only 10 months.
For front fogs I also use Osram CBI , although in the S-Line the fogs in the bumper are not H7, they’re H11.
Oddly enough, I have 2 pairs of the fog bulbs, both Osram CBI H11, one pair Made in China and the other Made in Germany.
The Chinese ones have a noticeably bluer tinge to them , in fact I prefer them to the German ones!
Be wary of counterfeit branded bulbs when buying expensive xenon units, I bought my D2S Osram bulbs from Amazon and they came with a holographic sticker with code to check on the Osram website that they were kosher.
I wouldn’t overall describe the CBI as a blue light though, to me (subjective option I know) I’d describe it as very white with a tinge of blue......

 

[shotgunwinner]

I’ve got Osram Cool Blue Intense (CBI) bulbs in my headlights (mine are only single xenon , so for me D2S) and I love them.
For sidelights I use the Halfords LED Premium White ones ( they’re actually Ring brand) and they’re stupidly bright, lol, with a very white colour.Their lifespan isn’t great though, judging by the reviews of them and I’ve had one fail after only 10 months.
For front fogs I also use Osram CBI , although in the S-Line the fogs in the bumper are not H7, they’re H11.
Oddly enough, I have 2 pairs of the fog bulbs, both Osram CBI H11, one pair Made in China and the other Made in Germany.
The Chinese ones have a noticeably bluer tinge to them , in fact I prefer them to the German ones!
Be wary of counterfeit branded bulbs when buying expensive xenon units, I bought my D2S Osram bulbs from Amazon and they came with a holographic sticker with code to check on the Osram website that they were kosher.
I wouldn’t overall describe the CBI as a blue light though, to me (subjective option I know) I’d describe it as very white with a tinge of blue......

Hey, thanks for replying ! For the xenons I do feel the CBI will do well, I'll be buying them from Amazon so hopefully they are legit. I will be happy with either only white or white with a slight blue tinge as it should look really nice both ways.

The S-line fogs are indeed H11, although I don't have the external S-line so they are H7 for me. I saw that they are lower colour temperature, do they still look completely white for you?

I'm still otherwise stuck on the DRL lights as it seems choice is very limited. Has anyone tried the above two options? Or can anyone recommend a LED one which will work without issues?

 

[Nessy]

TBH even the CBI H11 bulbs appear a bit yellow compared to LED , but they’re very good.
I use my front fogs as DRL’s (done via VCDS and turned down to 70% brightness) and have no complaints.
As mentioned before though, my Chinese H11 CBI’s have a whiter appearance than the German ones....
I know this to be true as I had my bumper off not that long ago and so decided to change both bulbs for some newer (as it turned out, German ) ones , well the new ones were so yellow in comparison the old ( Chinese) bulbs went straight back in,lol. Both sets are Osram CBI with the same kelvin rating so a bit puzzling.