My upgraded headlight harness should be arriving shortly (thanks jhc7399!!) so I'm about to get some headlights as well. I've seen SilverStars reccomended here quite a bit, but since I can never leave good-enough alone I decided to do some research myself; this is what I found:



The SilverStar give more of a white light, but note the primary power, life, and price. The XtraVision has the same power output (same as SS and improved over basic), lasts 5x longer than SS (and more than 2x basic), and is $10 per light cheaper than SS.
So is the slightly whiter hue of the SS really worth it? Do they seem any brighter in real world useage? I'll be getting a small LED bar for offroad runs, and since i don't live in a rural area there aren't really any long stretches of dark roads.

Ive read complaints on other forums about the life of the SS, people like the light but gripe about changing dead units every 6 months (YMMV). From what I see, the XV will suite my needs just fine. Don't know if anyone will get anything from this post, but I figured I'd pass along my findings anyway.

 

Here's a random pic that Google found for me. The SS have a noticeable whiter tint, and by the eye appear to be slightly brighter, but the XV are no slouch when compared to the standard. FWIW the standard is about what my XJ puts out now, if that.

 

The harness and stock headlight are a great improvement it self. I run ss because there off shelf local.

 

I've used the XtraVision before in other vehicles and think it is the best bulb overall. Between price, bulb life and light output (without being too stinking blue) it is a best buy IMHO.
I congratulate you sir for not wanting the brightest, bluest, most blinding and annoying headlights on the planet.

 

Thanks. Both my car and the wife's have factory HID which I've grown quite accustomed to, if the life of the SS wasn't so pathetic I would have strongly considered them.
I've received the upgraded harness, and got a couple XV lights from the parts store. Pics to come soon.
Question: I'd like to take pics to show the difference. Should I do standard lights/upgraded harness, then the XV lights? Or stock harness and XV lights, then harness? Or does anyone even care? Maybe I should just do all stock, then all upgraded. I'm probably just way overthinking this, and will probably forget to take pics anyway.

 

I ended up with one SilverStar and one XtraVision in my XJ, it's easy for me to compare them. The SS is noticeably whiter, cleaner light. Because the XV has a yellow light color, some of it seems to be absorbed by terrain/road. So the SS does seems brighter.
I have not had any longevity issues, had them installed for three years. Also have Putco harness.

 

The best upgrade to start with...its amazing how much the harness improvs the stock,lighting....then once you add an h4 with housing.....you will ask why you never did it before

 

Yea I found that also that my ssu only bulb lasted 6 months the other a year. The xv that I have now have lasted about 2 years so far I think. I have the ipf housing and harness so it makes a huge difference from stock. I personally have got fed up with them and have started ordering them online with 90/100 in packs of ten so I have a spare or two now.

 

I did a lot of research on bulbs when I did my h4 conversion and I ended up with Osram Silverstar 2.0's 55/60w. I've been very happy with them, good color, light output, and life.