Headlight wattage question
 

After seeing all the posts indicating favorable results with Silverstar bulbs, I bought a pair to put in the Depo euros I am installing. I did not notice until I got home that these are rated 65/45 watts. (H4 ST, 300E)

The question I have is when on high beam, are the wattages are additive?

Since I no longer have to drive 80 miles through the country to get home every night, I now seldom use high beams and welcome the higher wattage on low beam, but if the wattages are additive, the Silverstars put out 110w on high beam where the stock bulbs (55/60) put out 115w.

Am I missing something here? Could high beam/low beam usage account for the differences in opinions on these bulbs?

This all started from wondering if the stock harness/relays would handle the higher wattage bulbs as some have suggested. If based on total watts, it looks like there is no problem.

The stock witing can handle the 65/45, but when you use the blue coated bulbs rated at 80/100 watts, the stock wiring can't handle it, which leads to melting. Silverstars are a good bulb, I swear they get brighter after about 10 hours of use.

I too feel that after the bosch H4 headlight upgrade, that buying the silverstar bulbs was some of the best money spent on the car. The bulbs that came with the H4 kit were nice, but the silverstars are a much whiter light. I really want to do a HID conversion, but it seems to be too much of a hassle for the 7" round lights. Eh, I'm looking into buying a W124 300E, and know that it can be done on those cars relatively easily, so my dreams of HID lighting will just have to wait until then.

The high and low beam are separate filaments, so the power ratings are not additive.

Duke

Since I do not have both connected yet and cannot try it to see, I did not know if both filaments light at the same time. Does this mean that there is a 15w difference in high beam power?

Yes...