if the glass of the bulb itself is not clear, you will be loosing light. blue bulbs are like putting blue sunglasses on your headlights, you will loose vision. By adding relays to standard 55/60 watt bulbs, you will notice a difference. Like I said, I would not exceed the stock 55/60 wattage in the flush mounted headlamps. The recessed 200mm rectangles found on the 300SD, are safe for highwattage, but stick with 55/100s, anything else will cause you to increase the glare levels on low beam for you and others. Going over 100 watts for high beam is excessive. As you increase the wattage, the lumens emitted from the bulb do not increase linearly (30% more watts do not equal 30% more light). So paying extra for 130 vs 100 watts will give only a small amount more light.

I understand that people want the look and all, but beauty is in eye of the beholder. I love that I can drive for hours at night and not have to worry about what the road puts in front of me. With my headlamps aimed every 10K miles (about every 3 months), well protected with Xpel.com's 3M headlamp protectant (to prevent pitting or cracks in the glass lens), relays and 14 gauge wiring for reduced voltage drop, and my headlamp leveling and washing system working together to keep the lights level with heavy load and clear of dirt, respectively...it makes driving at night a whole new experience.

If your gonna do highwattage, reguardless of bulb color, add relays and new wiring. Melting a harness or causing a fire is a horrible way to end a day (night). Your loved ones will thank you for it.

Form follows function in my book.

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2002 VW Golf TDI-169,000 miles B20