Headlight Upgrade -Daniel Stern

Daniel seems a bit fickle; I ordered some lenses/reflectors from him a few years ago, and he was very prompt. A year or two later, I had the same thing as you -- a few emails and never a response.

If you must have Cibies, Aardvark sells them, too: http://www.cibieusa.com/ They seem to have been in a price war with Daniel Stern in the last couple of years, seeing who can raise theirs higher faster.

If you don't absolutely need Cee-Bee-Aay lights and are fine with honest-to-goodness Hella optics, you can't beat Susquehanna Motorsports -www.rallylights.com. Their prices are the lowest you will find in North America.


- T

 

Anybody know about sticking the available Xenon light setup in a Cibie? Ebay has some setups made by reputable companies. The output beats halogen and the power consumption is claimed to be about 35W. I wonder if there is a risk of melting anything? The bulb gets super hot, but so does a halogen. Both caution not to touch the glass cause it will absorb heat at the smudge, and cause the lamp to break. I like the part about lower current going through the existing harness and switches. What am I overlooking??

Thanks!

 

Same situation here -NO communication from Stern nohow. I went to great measures looking for a working phone including a whois on his domain and reverse 411 etc etc. Since he won't return emails but has some happy clients I finally concluded he has a day job in/around DC with the CIA and is away from home a lot and doesn't need the hassle associated with running a business.

I finally did a relay mod on my own and pleased with the outcome. He doesn't offer anything which isn't available elsewhere. Many have reported changing to higher wattage bulbs but for me, the relay bypass which reduced my 2.5v drop to a 0.5v drop (measured from battery hot to highbeam hot) made a fantastic brightness difference (plus saving the headlight switch from lifespan shortness from the high current).

___________________
Ferrari Wiring Diagrams
http://www.ferrari308gtbi.com/

 

Yes, what actually makes the upgrade are these other (most important) bits. Main thing that he sells are the relays and the other small bits that make it work (in line fuse, relay holders, light connectors, etc.). What he adds is a one stop place to find everything (you could shop around and probably find it cheaper, but his knowledge and service level and one stop shop were good enough for me to just buy it from him). If you do a seach on this site, you should find reasonably detailed instructions of what to do. Also, scour his web site thoroughly. He's got a couple of wiring schematics that are pretty useful and should serve as the basis for your set up.

I had the same hot and cold service experience with him, however. He was responsive to e-mails and very helpful before I purchased everything. He is without doubt very knowledgeable. I then went back to him asking about my specific intended layout (including a schematic) and he never responded to my questions about my intended set up. I installed it as planned and it has turned out to be one of the best upgrades I have ever done to the car. I highly recommend it on any and all older cars (not sure I would do it to my 328 because to me it has decent lighting as it sits; a 308 may be another story, I've never driven one at night and given the age, it could very well benefit from this upgrade in any case, it will brighten up the lights significantly)

Alberto

 

I don't know where he is these days, but back around 2004 I had his phone number, and he was in Canada. And the parts shipped from a warehouse in Texas. Sorry, I don't have his number any more -- long gone.


Tomburns -- you can buy the relays and wires anywhere. As a matter of fact, rallylights.com sells good quality relays (Hella or Bosch). They might even sell kits -- worth a look. Use DS's web site for the diagram, buy the optics of your choice, buy your wire from a BOAT STORE -- marine grade wire is better (tinned copper, more strands, insulation more resistant to the elements), and buy good quality relays from just about anywhere other than retail stores (which sell Chinese junk).

- T

 

You're referring to HID (High Intensity Discharge) bulbs. Xenon is not really the right way to describe them. They may or may not have Xenon gas in them. Regular bulbs can also have Xenon gas in them. HID's are the ones that only draw 35 watts typically.

 

When i did mine, I had great help from my two main guys Mike and Jeff.


Hope it helps

http://74.86.28.138/~ferrari/forum/showthread.php?t=135375

 

I installed the Euro code Hellas from http://www.rallylights.com/ on both my previous 78 308GTS and my 87 328GTS and as long as you stick with stock 55w/60w H4 bulb, you do not have to add the relays and extra wiring. But doing so will add some voltage and brightness if you do, as Paul308 mentions.

 

I am lucky that when there is no snow on the ground, we have over 20 hours of daylight. I put some Slyvania sealed beams in mine, but have never driven with the headlights on.

 

When I did my upgrade, Daniel Stern was very hit or miss with communication as well. He was right on it one moment, then was AWOL for one month or more. He eventually always got back to me. Either be patient(it's been over a year since I communicated with him BTW) or use his website for it's good info and order the parts from someone else. Need the two relays, a fuse holder(blade always easiest), and the necessary wire plus a connector to the headlamps. The relay is a standard Bosch relay and the connector is shown in this link as well as additional info: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135375&highlight=daniel+stern

Mike328 has a lot of experience with this and has actually done a HID headlamp replacement. Haven't heard from him on here recently, where are you Mike? Search the topic under his username, probably more info to get.

I got same rare Marchal headlamps from Daniel, his last two, a bit more expensive than the Cibies but really nice. Notice at least two times improvement in the brightness and focus of the light over what was in place previously. For some reason, only used them once since then. Need to drive the car more!

Jeff

 

Here's another link brought up by ChrisMorse on another thread going on now in this section. Very good info:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65424&highlight=ultimate+lights+308

Hope this helps.

Jeff

 

Found his contact details:

Daniel Stern Lighting <[email protected]>
You may voicemail or fax your order toll-free on 1-866-861-8668. Please
note this is a recorded orderline only. If you wish to speak to me in
person, please use 416-766-2327.

Good luck.

Alberto

 

I followed the Pizza man's example with the Cibies and the 85-80 Osrams. It seems that the really high 100 & 130 watt stuff doesn't last as long ??

I emailed him last night and he responded this morning with a lot of good information, (i am also doing my wife's honda too). Emailed him again about the tail and parking lights and he said he had the stuff. I ordered it today 6-2 and am looking forward to some real LIGHT.

Thanks guys for "lighting" the way.

chris

 

After a few "slow to respond e-mail exchanges", I finally placed an order with Daniel Stern...

Two weeks go by and no headlights arrive, yet my VISA card was immediately charged $691!
An e-mail to Daniel...days go by, no response.

Another e-mail to Daniel. His response is "Well, we didn't have the CSR low beams you were looking for after all, so the "shipping department" held up your entire order. What would you like to do? WTF! Why is this my problem? Why wasn't I contacted?

My response: Cancel the part of the order for the products you don't have in stock...and send me what you do have. Oh, and please credit my credit card for the difference (about $500).

His delayed response: Well, if that's what you want to do, I'll do it. (Hmm, what choice do I have?)

A week has gone by since the last communication; Still no product and no credit on the VISA...I've now wasted a month with this guy, am out $691 and have nothing to show for it...Is this the kind of vendor you really want to do business with?

Next call: VISA

Onward,
David

 

David,

Exactly the right thing to do -- call Visa and contest the charge for nondelivery of the items. They will follow up with him. Don't waste your time, let the credit card company deal with him.

Steve

 

Does anybody have any idea if you can install the "Two Lamps with Hella 60/55w Xenon +30% Long Life H4 Bulb" or "Two Lamps with Hella 60/55w Xenon +50% H4 Bulbs" without adding wiring and relays? Listed here:
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/7in.asp

 

Jimpo - Suggest you start a new thread - I suspect you can accomplish that lamp change (donno but splitting to a new thread might help). Added wiring and relays isn't necessary but you will be left with the same 2V+ drop and hardship on the fragile switch that you have now without much added light output. There is plenty of help-you need not fear the wiring/relay job.

 

Yes, I did EXACTLY that with Euro code Hellas and those bulbs from rallylights.com. No problem, no fuss. 200% improvement!! Check your voltage as Paul suggests. You probably can improve it even more if you have a voltage drop. I did not notice one in my 78 308GTS, but it was a total "garage queen" before I bought it, and had an absolutely perfect electrical system, with all lights running bright. My friends even comment on how brightly lit my tail lights ran compared to many other similar vintage Ferraris. Same with my 328, no voltage drop, but the 328 has a much larger output alternator than the 308.

 

I see Jimpo has a 328, he should not need to do the relay thing, as the 328 electrical system is much more robust, with better fuse box, and higher output alternator. Remember, most Euro 308/328s came with H4 55w/60 headlights as stock equipment. Low watt sealed beams were only spec'd for North America.

 

Do you recall which bulbs you used? There are 4 or 5 options on the website with the 55/60w rating.

 

For guys who have relay mods, where are you taking power from, battery, fuseblock, or alternator?

cheers
Eric

 

I use the battery for the high-amperage circuit and fuse block for the relay/switch circuit; that way you can pick key on, low beam, high beam, etc. for when the lights can be turned on.

 

The +50% xenon. The +100% was not available when I bought mine a few years ago. The +50% were a bit whiter, with no bluish tinge, so they looked and performed fine. I don't think there was much advantage to them, other than they were not as "yellow" as a traditional halogen bulb.