Hi group, wanted to change out the single bulb (low/high combined) headlights for dual bulb (separate low & high bulbs) and use LED's on my 2012. Is there any real difference in light output? Also, what else would need to be changed? I see there are harnesses for this and I am guessing a couple changes in AlfaOBD would also be necessary.
If you're planning to upgrade to LED lighting, I would recommend making a considerable effort to find a set of Projector Headlight housings.
Installing LED bulbs in Duals or Quads may function adequately; however, any of the reflector-type housings could be prone to scattering the light from certain bulbs and blinding the oncoming traffic.
The Projector Housing's low beam side contains a focused lens that reduces the scattering effect.
As far as the difference between Halogen (incandescent) lighting and LED, it's night and day.
I've always hated the feeble performance from Halogen lighting. After upgrading to LED, I can easily use my low beams to navigate dark and twisty rural highways at about 50 mph. Then turn on the high beams, and everything becomes very well illuminated.
My LED bulbs are a couple of years old now; the available LED bulbs get more powerful every few months. My low-beam bulbs are rated at 10,000 lumens, and the high-beam bulbs are 12,000 or 15,000 lumens.
If I were just starting on upgrading to LED, I would try to keep the low beam bulbs on the lower output power side to reduce the annoyance for oncoming traffic. The 10,000 lumen bulbs are quite satisfactory to me, and tough enough on oncoming small cars.
For the high beam bulbs, the sky is the limit. Why not get 20,000 or 30,000 lumen bulbs?
And, I bought the inexpensive Fahren LED bulbs from Amazon because they're cheap, work very well, and have a 3-year replacement warranty.
Just be sure to get the low-profile bulbs; they're not all the same. There are endless threads on upgrading to LED, with detailed explanations and Amazon links.
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