Headlights Osram or Depo

I bought two sets of aftermarket headlights to replace my halogen lights on my mk6 gti. 2nd pair were from “osram” and were much better than the spyders but still didn’t compare to stock as far as brightness goes. My advice, splurge on OEM replacement HID’s or keep them stock. If you are set on changing them I would highly recommend OSRAM. They are from Germany and made very well!

The DEPO headlights will be a really good upgrade over the 03-05 headlights.

Replaced them with some Depo lights from RockAuto. Plug and play again, and WHAM! Beam pattern? Lovely. Clarity? Perfect. Leveling? Works, but not even needed. They were good out of box.

Mine are going on 5 years probably and holding up great! I highly recommend retrofitting a xenon or led bulb in there (I left the high beams halogen). Much brighter and the color of the light is much more modern.

Last year I installed a new set of Osram LEDriving headlights in my '17 Golf SportWagen to replace the crappy stock halogen units. I ordered them from a vendor with Germany and they were not cheap ($1000) but totally worth it. The difference in light output is significant and they also look really sharp and modernize the front end of the car.

Assuming you have an early model with the sealed beams, they are a great upgrade. If you are replacing OEM ellipsoids on a later model, there is a drop in quality. Still, they cost 1/3 of the price of new OEMs these days. Those same DEPO headlights are sold by a dozen different resellers so you could probably find them slightly cheaper.

Ive seen people talk about issues with the seals and water getting in them, but I’ve had three sets on different cars and it was never a problem. After a couple years the set I’m using now had an issue with one of the wires going into the bulb socket but it wasn’t hard to rewire it. You do need to use a little care when aiming them because the adjusting mechanism is a bit flimsy, but manageable.

They are the most commonly used replacement headlights for E30s. They aren’t quite OEM quality, but they work just fine. If you have functioning OEM ellipsoids and are looking to upgrade, this is not that. If you have the old sealed beam headlights the difference is night and day.

I got mine about 6 months ago, and I love them.

I strongly recommend resealing them. I didn’t have issues with mine initially, but decided to go ahead and do it, considering how hard they have been to find.

I have depo on my e36. They didn't fit too well to install, but they go in. Yhe harness is pretty easy installation. One positive and others to the lights

Main problem with depos, is they aren’t always sealed properly, so the headlights will have moister inside.

I have had my Osram headlights installed for over 3 weeks. I am very very disappointed in the light out put of these. I am going to say that the stock halogens where much brighter (lumen wise).