H4 ?s

[austin552]

Is there a difference for years? Are Euros different? Do I just need a conversion kit and bulbs if I buy the assemblies? Which bulbs should I get? What is a good price for used assemblies?

Thanks,
Austin

[80-911SC]

1- no
2- yes
3- no , but relays are recommended
4- as bright as you want up to a point , on coming traffic get irritated
5- varies as low as 100 up to 300 us dependant on condition

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

You can get bulbs "as bright as you want," but you'll have a hard time finding them. I have 135/90s (watts) in my H4s and can't remember where I got them five years ago, but I think the most I've seen available in the U. S. recently is 100/80s or something like that "for off-road use only." Most places only sell DOT-legal bulbs, which are way below even that.

[tcar]

If you put them on a car that has H5's, you need a plug adapter for the H4 (or even US) bulbs.

100/80 is very bright. You need relays for them.

[flmont]

I got the H4 replacement headlamps for my 77' they were I think 40.00 ea,..and they are bright .....Fm

[austin552]

So what is different with the Euro H4? Will they work and are they cheaper? Sounds like the 100/80s are too bright.

[kodioneill]

There are hella h4s and bosch h4s the latter are the expensive ones. You can get them on the bay for 180 each with chrome rings euro type.

[rllevin]

Pardon the slight hijack.
Will H4s fit the H5 87-89 carreras without modification of the mounts?

[mpetry]

you can mount the H4 (Bosch) headlights on your 87-89 with no problem, they just snap right over the flanges on the headlight bucket. You will need the adapter cable.

As for the "European" version, the Bosch H4 IS the european lamp. However, euro cars had the town bulbs wired up, and there's an extra wire in the headlight bucket for that - I believe it is hot when the "parking" lights are on.

It used to be that when you went thru a town in Europe, you were supposed to turn the "main beams" off and only these little bulbs were illuminanated. You can see the bulb in the H4 housing, it's down at the bottom.

[Canada Kev]

City light bulb shown below.

[EmeraldE]

Anyone know where to find these - I did notsee them on our host's list?

Thanks,

Bob

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by EmeraldE

Anyone know where to find these - I did notsee them on our host's list?

Thanks,

Bob

The city light bulb holders are not sold separately (Bosch list very few parts separately from the main assembly - I think lenses are about it). The city light bulb holders come in the Bosch H4's when you buy them from our host. Unless you're going for the retro (chrome) look, might as well buy the cheaper ones with the black rings, because the paintable trim ring completely covers the edge of the Bosch headlights anyway when installed.

The bulb holders Bosch used in the US front marker lights are identical to the "city light" bulb holders in the Bosch H4 units.

The Hella H4's are replacement reflectors designed to take an H4 bulb that are a straight swap for US sealed beam units and fit into the original sealed beam mounting. (Daniel Stern stocks a 7" Cibie H4 replacement reflector (optionally with city lights) that fits into the same sealed beam mount.)

The Euro (Bosch) H4s are a completely different design and entirely replace the original headlight internals in the bucket.

[EmeraldE]

Spuggy, thanks for the response but I should have been more specific. I just bought a Euro car with the H4's that have the city light feature - I just need to find the correct amber bulbs.

I appreciate the help.

Bob

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by EmeraldE

I just need to find the correct amber bulbs.

What you're looking for is "ricer" bulbs.

It's a fallacy that amber or yellow is "correct" for "Euro" lights.

The only people who EVER did this was the French, for headlights/fogs/driving lamps (rumour is it was a thing to differentiate French cars from German after WWI), and even they gave up on it in 1993. It'll certainly put out less light, some people thought it was better for fog.

Mystery to me why anyone would want to make a German car look like it was registered in France.