2002/V70 (H7 Low Beam Headlight Bulb)

Mr. Detail · Post by **Mr. Detail** » 24 Mar 2023, 06:13

TGIF! Heh guys, just curious if anyone has replaced their standard OEM (H7) low beam headlamp bulb with something better and without throwing any error codes?
It's funny how when I am driving at night I can almost tell which oncoming car is newer or older by the color of their headlamps.
Usually a yellowish tint is an older car and the new ones are all pure white.

Post by **vtl** » 24 Mar 2023, 07:49

You may want to replace the headlight assembly altogether. The glass is not transparent, the reflector is burnt or chipped off.

Vova585 · Post by **Vova585** » 24 Mar 2023, 07:52

I tried in the past ebay xenon kits, tried different variations of headlamp bulb(advertised as good, better, best for night time driving) and my conclusion- low beam headlights on 01-07 V70/xc is garbage. High beam light I would rate OK. I even replaced both headlights with OEM and it improved a little,but still garbage only comparable to the turning radius of our cars.

People with factory HID lights are more lucky,but conversion will likely cost more than our cars are worth nowadays

Post by **vtl** » 24 Mar 2023, 08:02

Vova585 wrote: ↑24 Mar 2023, 07:52 low beam headlights on 01-07 V70/xc is garbage.

I don't agree. 05+ with plastic headlights are quite good. Sure, they are not as bright as modern LEDs, but when driving a lot in darkness I'm taking a good halogen any night. Much less eyes fatigue.

For a couple of years I've had halogen, xenon and LED headlights on my vehicles, and I liked halogen the most. Xenon and LED had too sharp cutoffs, LED was also too blue, which was terrible on eyes. Since then the LEDs were wrapped in polyurethane, and that reduced the light output and shifted the color to a warmer part of the spectrum. Plus I have a spot lightbar and flood pods, which make forest roads navigable at night. But I took them off my Volvo with halogens, which was driving those roads just fine.

Vova585 · Post by **Vova585** » 24 Mar 2023, 08:23

Let's agree to disagree here.
I had 98v70XC at the same time as my current 01v70xc and difference was not in a favor of 01v70xc. My 01 has glass lenses and I compared the light output from them to other people's with 05-07 with plastic and I haven't seen much improvement. You can find many forum topics where people were complaining about issue with low beam lights and I yet to see one person who would find a great and road legal solution(some people even were transplanting inside reflector lenses).
In regards to the discussion about how it feels on your eyes to drive with newer cars with LEDs I agree that halogen feels way better and not blind as much.

Post by **vtl** » 24 Mar 2023, 08:28

I've had both 02 (glass) and 05 (plastic) at the same time. 05 was in order of magnitude better.

Post by **jonesg** » 24 Mar 2023, 12:23

My 1990 volvo 740 had poor lighting, my 2004 V70 is very good, it helps if they're aimed properly.

Post by **volvolugnut** » 24 Mar 2023, 13:08

Just want to add. If you have plastic headlight covers, keep them polished to clear.

volvolugnut

Vova585 · Post by **Vova585** » 25 Mar 2023, 21:01

volvolugnut wrote: ↑24 Mar 2023, 13:08 Just want to add. If you have plastic headlight covers, keep them polished to clear.

volvolugnut

In my family autopark I have several newer volvos xc60 and xc70, for each of them I opted to install clear" film protection". It was installed by a local company Ziebart who guarantees that in case if damage to the headlight from rock, salt they will replace headlight. On some cars I have this film for almost 8 years now and can assure that no scratches to the lenses or fading of the protective uv coating occurred. Company replaced the film on 1 car due to my concerns that it started to look scratched. Film replaced and it looks beautiful again. Well worth in my opinion especially with the price of HID light $850. Plus you don't have to polish the lenses this way

Post by **vtl** » 25 Mar 2023, 21:18

Vova585 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2023, 21:01 In my family autopark I have several newer volvos xc60 and xc70, for each of them I opted to install clear" film protection". It was installed by a local company Ziebart who guarantees that in case if damage to the headlight from rock, salt they will replace headlight. On some cars I have this film for almost 8 years now and can assure that no scratches to the lenses or fading of the protective uv coating occurred. Company replaced the film on 1 car due to my concerns that it started to look scratched. Film replaced and it looks beautiful again. Well worth in my opinion especially with the price of HID light $850. Plus you don't have to polish the lenses this way

I did that for all of my vehicles.

XC70 got Lamin-X - mostly for debris protection. It worked exceptionally well in that respect, however the film shrunk over time a bit and lost transparency at the edges. It is also yellowish. Lamin-X was hard to install. I did a goofy job, it was not perfect to begin with. But it outlived a new windshield (log truck propelled a rock) and bumper+foglight (hit a bear).

Didn't even think of wrapping XC60, because of insane curvature of the headlights.

Tundra got 3M. It is thinner. Was hard to install, too. Not perfect, but imperfections are less visible than on XC70. When I finished the job I figured out it was not needed, because a new OE LED headlight for Tundra is like $300. The truck carries the flag of retired XC70, with more offroad madness. It is scratched all around, yet the headlights are probably the most pristine looking part of the whole frontend, thanks to wrap.

Sequoia got 3M, too. I cut it to cover only the front, flat part of the lens. Mainly for bugs/rocks protection. The headlight is slightly more expensive, around $400.

I'm thinking if I need to go ahead and buy a pair of new Valeos for XC70. Kid number one is willing to inherit the wagon when time comes, but I'm not sure it will be possible to get new OEM parts then.