# What bulb is our Factory Fog Light Bulb? H-8?



## theasiansource (Jul 18, 2003)

I have a 2001 525i. Is the factory fog light bulb a H-8? Is it easy to take out and replace the bulb?


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## BimBob (Jun 16, 2003)

If the fogs on your 2001 are the same as those on my new 2003 525, the owner's manual might describe how to replace the bulbs - mine does. The bulb in my fogs is a very rare bird, new on the market. It appears that maybe they are only available from the dealer and probably at a premium price. They are a ridiculous low 35 watts which almost makes them ornamental, not particularly functional at all.


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## theasiansource (Jul 18, 2003)

BimBob said:


> If the fogs on your 2001 are the same as those on my new 2003 525, the owner's manual might describe how to replace the bulbs - mine does. The bulb in my fogs is a very rare bird, new on the market. It appears that maybe they are only available from the dealer and probably at a premium price. They are a ridiculous low 35 watts which almost makes them ornamental, not particularly functional at all.


I just found a pair on ebay! I just ordered them and hopefully they are not too blue. I just want a superwhite look to match the hid headlights. Hey, do you know what bulb our factory angel eyes uses? I want to change that to superwhite


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## KCLARK (Jul 2, 2003)

You found H-8 bulbs in "superwhite"? I have researched this some time ago and found out that PIAA is just now getting ready to distribute them to the east coast. They are available on the west coast, however, at a premium price ABOVE the cost of the stock bulbs ($70-$80 bucks a pair). I recently had to have one on my fogs on my 530 replaced, and wound up putting the stock bulb back in. Couldn't find wher you found the bulbs, so please......do tell where we can get them on ebay(from whom?). 

As for the AE bulb replacement i saw a write up about this on another forum. They dont make a superwhite version bulb that powers the AE's they do make a matching sized bulbs that is brighter (higher in wattage). Stock AE bulbs is 5watt, if i remember correctly the forum member indicated he used a 10watt bulb that he found at a marine boating company that sells lighting equipment for boats. Fitment was not exactly perfect either, he had to do some sort of modification to the bulb housing to get it to fit. Email me i will send you the link.


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## KCLARK (Jul 2, 2003)

Correction: stock AE bulb is 10 watts, the guy replaced it with a 20watt bulb. He got it from here: 
http://www.boatus-store.com/browse/item.asp?IID=17242


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## theasiansource (Jul 18, 2003)

KCLARK said:


> You found H-8 bulbs in "superwhite"? I have researched this some time ago and found out that PIAA is just now getting ready to distribute them to the east coast. They are available on the west coast, however, at a premium price ABOVE the cost of the stock bulbs ($70-$80 bucks a pair). I recently had to have one on my fogs on my 530 replaced, and wound up putting the stock bulb back in. Couldn't find wher you found the bulbs, so please......do tell where we can get them on ebay(from whom?).
> 
> As for the AE bulb replacement i saw a write up about this on another forum. They dont make a superwhite version bulb that powers the AE's they do make a matching sized bulbs that is brighter (higher in wattage). Stock AE bulbs is 5watt, if i remember correctly the forum member indicated he used a 10watt bulb that he found at a marine boating company that sells lighting equipment for boats. Fitment was not exactly perfect either, he had to do some sort of modification to the bulb housing to get it to fit. Email me i will send you the link.


Hi! Yep, i just bought a pair of the H8 Superwhites! Ebay seller id: globalpremier

He has 3 more auctions left. Price is $24.99. I will let you know how good they are.


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## theasiansource (Jul 18, 2003)

KCLARK said:


> Correction: stock AE bulb is 10 watts, the guy replaced it with a 20watt bulb. He got it from here:
> http://www.boatus-store.com/browse/item.asp?IID=17242


I tried that link and didnt find anything. What post was the other person who did it in?


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## BillP (Jan 4, 2002)

theasiansource said:


> I tried that link and didnt find anything. What post was the other person who did it in?


One of the folks who did extensive experimentation with various AE bulb wattages and other solutions was H8LUUZN over on Roadfly. His conclusion was that the higher wattage bulb really didn't do very much to make it any whiter. H8 did have some success making it whiter (but much dimmer, can't see at all during the day) with some type of film layered near (but not on, it melted that way) the bulb. He had to do some fairly major surgery to get it to work.

Here is a nighttime picture showing the difference between his car (left) and a car with stock rings. Again, you can't see them at during the day so they are significantly less bright than stock.

http://members.roadfly.com/h8luuzn/sign.jpg

Basically, making the AE rings whiter is a PITA with questionable returns.

Bill


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## BimBob (Jun 16, 2003)

I'm sort of an old time fog lamp purist... they ain't fogs unless they're YELLOW! I wonder if there will ever be yellow H8 bulbs available?


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## theasiansource (Jul 18, 2003)

Installing the new H8 Super WHite bulbs took about 4 minutes. Very easy. They are a perfect match for the xenon headlights now. ALl i need to do is figure out how to change the factory angel eyes to that white now. But seems like there is no way to do it.


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