HELLA H7 Standard Halogen Bulb, 55W

Works as intended …
Tip time..
Dont touch the bulb when installing the bulb , you will shorten the life span of the bulb and create a more orange light output.
If you dobtouchbthe bulb just wipe it clean with a dry cloth or napkin.

Recently purchased a pair of these for a 2011 Subaru Outback. For the majority of people who have never had to replace a headlight bulb on these cars, consider yourself lucky. There are many methods online, but all involve some level of disassembly of the vehicle. Personally I go for the remove the front bumper and light assembly route.

I had one bulb burned out when I started, but was replacing both due to the amount of work to get to them. After replacing with hose Hella units, I had two working lights that produced less light than the one single previous one did. It was so bad that during a night test drive you literally couldn’t tell the headlights were on.

Replaced with some Sylvania one’s that I could get quickly from a local source. Immediate difference. So the Hella’s definitely had something wrong with them. I’m going to do Hella a favor and assume it has to do with Amazon’s counterfeit issues. I specifically was wanting to use the Hella Long Life versions as they seem to have a reputation of lasting a very long time.

But think twice before buying these from Amazon.

This is exactly what I needed for my 2008 Mercedes ML350! It was pretty easy to install and seems like a great quality bulb. I can’t speak to the lifespan yet but I’ll circle back in a year or 2 (if I remember). As for right now it’s a really bright bulb and gets the job done at a great price!

2011 hyundai Santa Fe, the H7 only fits the High Beam stock bulb. It is noticeably brighter and whiter and improves my visibility on dark country roads. $28 is cheaper than hitting a deer. I will be searching for a similar upgrade for the low beams, it’s a different connection but now my eyes are spoiled and craving that sweet sweet bright light!!

Fiz a instalação no farol alto do Ford Fusion, excelente iluminação com o farol regulado corretamente, recomendo!

My car is going on 22 years old, so I’ve replaced this more than once when the low beams go out (different bulb for high beam). Probably should polish up the plastic in the headlight, though I live in the sunbelt, and these fog up again after awhile (wish they still used sealed beams, the sun didn’t degrade the glass and you got whole new unit for much less expense and lower maintenance). Probably should replace the headlight reflector unit and plastic, not just because of the fogged plastic, but also mine has some sort of built in city light unit but the insulation on the wiring has deteriorated and threatens to short out even if the wiring to the low and high beam bulbs itself is fine (wires are inside the headlight unit…probably should just cut the wire, since they’re not required to pass inspection, and don’t really do much besides look unique….kind of like the light bar on my Dad’s 80’s Mercury Sable but for a European car.

Anyhow, assuming you can get to the back of the unit to open it up (one side is easy on my car, the other side have to move the battery since it is in the way until you’ve replaced the bulb…might be good to just replace both high and low beams on that side while you’re doing it even if one bulb still works). Bulb is keyed so it is oriented by the unit it goes into, there’s a wire clip that I always forget how it works between changes since usually several years go by between replacements. Of course, try to keep the protective cover on the bulb and don’t touch it with your hands, else you should wipe it down with alcohol to remove any oil that gets on the bulb (handle it by the stem and try not to touch the glass portion when putting it in place).

Probably shouldn’t wait until my state inspection to check, but sometimes it is oddly hard to know bulb is burned out on one side unless you leave lights on and get out of the car to check…on my car you have to have keys in ignition, otherwise the headlights don’t come on, so don’t scare yourself if none of your lights come on with switch in on position but the keys not in the right position in the cylinder. Another hint, I live in the sunbelt and state inspections are during the day, originally I think I had a buzzer that came on if the lights were on with the keys out of the ignition, but doesn’t work anymore, so make sure to check to make sure your lights are turned off during the day after the inspection is complete, or you risk having a depleted or even dead battery due to lights being on and you not noticing since it is so bright out…..caught me 2 years in a row at inspection time where they guy didn’t turn my lights off after checking that they worked OK, and I couldn’t tell (parked outside in the sun so didn’t know they were on) and drained the battery….even if headlight is off, other lights still on if switch isn’t turned off (my car has manual light control, no photoelectric sensor to automatically turn them on/off on top of the dashboard).

Replaced with the original halogen bulb…LEDs are popular now and I’m sure use less energy, guess I’m traditionalist but try to keep original type of parts when replacing them…maybe lighting doesn’t matter as much, but sometimes there’s a reason the OEM part was spec’d, found out in my profession that one guy usually isn’t aware enough to second guess the original intent of the designer if they specify part for some reason you might not be aware of….I respect their time doing the engineering, and hope they do the same if they buy the end product I work on (nothing vehicle related)….probably more important for filters and such, but keep that philosophy even with parts that aren’t that sensitive to options