Mr. Stern further emailed: "Brake lamps 30% brighter, no danger to wiring or lens housings, Type P3496, $6.10 ea. Reversing lamps, 100% brighter, no danger to lamps or wiring, Type 796, $7.20 each." Concerning the front fog lights he commented: "Variable by production date. Tell me all the lens markings you find on it, and I'll advise." I plan to proceed with all of these items from him, and will comment here later about the installation & results.
I have Hella H4 Flats in my 308 with 80/100W bulbs and NO wiring mods. I have used them for about 7 years with no issues. They are bright and on high you can see forever it seems. I bought them from Tire Rack many years ago if I remember correctly. About $100 total at the time. John
I also upgraded the brake lights and reversing lamps with noticeable difference. A nice, cheap upgrade. Your fog light bulbs are H3s in the 328, the lenses should be the same throughout the line.
Yes, very nice gentleman. BTW concerning the wiring harness, he mentioned that while he does not send instructions for this out with the item itself, those instructions are viewable on his website.
Upgrade completed. The difference is amazing, and I recommend it to 328 owners (presumably 308 as well) wholeheartedly. Summing up: Talked with Daniel Stern and he sent me the stuff to do the headlights, brake lights, and backup lights. Cost $265 plus shipping ($29 2nd day air). Couple of slight "imperfections": He sent 6 brakelight bulbs instead of the 4 actually needed, and only one wiring harness (discussed below). Went to my autoelectric gurus, Peter's Auto Radio of San Francisco. Rick Theis knows his way around Ferraris; the previous SF Ferrari used to outsource its electrical work to him. And a nice guy with fair prices. Rick took 4 hours, which came to $356.28. This included an additional wiring harness. When Rick got into the 328's headlight system, he found that it had two separate wiring systems, one for each headlight. He could have used the same relay/harness to cover both new lights, but said that there would be less stress to run a separate relay/harness to each light, which sounded good to me. So the complete upgrade came to $650.28. Took the 328 out for a drive this evening, and the difference, as noted, was amazing. If you have an OEM 328 headlight system, don't argue, just do this!
Rachane, Thank you for the report. It's nice seeing where you're going at night. The first thing I did when I got my car home was to replace the old, tired OEM sealed beams with the E-code Carellos. I'm also happy to see that this thread was helpful in your understanding and ultimate installation of your upgraded lighting systems. Barry
Or instead of spending $650 and altering anything in your car, you could spend $100, pop the Hellas in yourself in a half hour, and have the brightest headlights I have owned on any car I have driven and be (I am guessing here) just as happy!! I still would say to get the Hellas to anyone that asks...... And with the extra $550 left, buy two new Ferrari shirts, a chrome shift knob from Ricambi, a nice bottle of wine, a blanket, and a picnic basket already made up, and take the wife on a drive, and then to a bed and breakfast in the country. Oh yeah.......and STILL have enough to pay for a fresh oil change before the trip!!!! But if you are happy with yours, you are happy!!!
You may be quite right, but automobile electronics are something I know little about, and don't want my red fantasy to go up in an electrical fire (or just become inert) because I did something ignorant and stupid to it.
I hear ya. But if you can change a bulb in your house, you can change it in your car. Well.......okay........maybe not QUITE as easy..... ;-)
Well, even in the house you have to not put a 100w bulb in a fixture marked for 60w max, be careful not to octopus the wiring, blow fuses/breakers, and so on. In the threads on this 328-lighting topic, I noted warnings about not overloading the car's OEM wiring with higher-draw bulbs, etc. Just want to be careful.
(Said in a deep, heaven-like voice) Do not use a 90/100w bulb unless you install a relay harness . You WILL melt the stock relay holder and/or steering wheel headlight switch.
Gotta agree here!! My god, does he have someone fill the gas and check the air in the tires too? Lotta risk with screwing those up too. But like changing the headlights...very unlikely.
Rachane, ignore the skinflints. You made the right decision by doing the relays and harnesses. You are getting full voltage to the lamps unlike those that only did a lamp swap. Plus,your NLA headlamp switch will thank you for it.
I'm not in the least offended. If you know your way around automobile electricity, more power (literally) to you! I had a private laugh over the quip about gassing up. For awhile I had a Cadillac CTS-V. The first time it needed gas, I pulled into a crowded station, then, increasingly in a panic, desperately searched around the cabin, in the console, in the glove compartment, etc. for the button or lever to release the cover over the gas cap. Finally a kindly bystander walked over to the cover, pushed on one side of it with his finger, and it rotated open. Duh.
Lent car to a friend recently and it came back with a busted Left Front Fog. now I need both clear lenses. So did anyone come up with a great source for this glass yet? Im also curious if anyone here thinks that the windshield repair guys can repair these?? JJ
Verell was working on it, talked about on another thread, but sounded like he was off the project for a few months at least but promising to get back on it then. Jeff
Im thinking of fixing these with the Glass guy and then putting those temp clear shields on there for driving. Then get some new ones for the shows.. JJ
I put the 3M shield material as soon as I heard the cost(if can even get) to replace those lenses. Jeff
this problem isnt going away. This picture taken this morning at PAG car show in Irvine. JJ http://www.frank4cars.fotki.com/c--c/cars--coffee-4707/img5269.html
Yea. I dont know if you remember me. We showed up at VCR once together you with your car and myself with my 89. I remember what you did so I had to do it. How you been. I may be looking for a director for some upcoming projects if you know anyone. Talk later. JJ
