Cibies vs IPF Headlamp

[dieselenthusiast]

Should I go with the IPF, or does Cibie make a superior product?

 

[Alaskan89XJ]

Did my research on the subject 1.5 yrs. ago, and ordered up a pair of CIBIE's, from D. S., as well as a harness, with all components needed to 'plug and play', from his 'custom harness' maker. I can say the improvement was spectacular over oem, especially since I went with 65/75 w. OSRAM bulbs. Sort of illegal wattages.., but living somewhat remote with moose intent on kissing vehicles they are good lights. Lows are a wide spread, and I adjusted left side lower than stock so as to not blind oncoming, but a tad higher, and wider for right side. High's are adjusted out to 1,000 yards, and are a bit like tunnel vision, yet on L.&R. sides, the light spread still offers more 'ditch' light than oem's. The switch between lows to highs is mind-blowing, and requires mental ergonomic adjustment, lol, to such a dramatic change of pattern's over oem. Reflective road signs are annoying in the sense that they are nearly blinding, which does not help the eyes to adjust to those darkened blind spots, with lol, spots in the eyes as a result. STILL.., I intend to obtain fog lamps in order to gain better side-to-side lighting to compensate, fill in gaps, better recover from road signs, etc. In other words, four headlights are 'mo-'betta. The CIBIES are French glass tech., and the OSRAM H4's are German tech. Try 'googling' for IPF/CIBIE photo demonstrations, and see which patterns you like.

 

[dieselenthusiast]

Thanks Alaskan89XJ. It sounds like that the IPF and Cibie are similar in quality, although the main difference might be in the light pattern? I know what you mean by the moose warnings. We don't have moose here, but we have some monster elk that like to stand in the road in the middle of the night. These mountain roads don't allow much time before you’re right up on them. I need light, that's for sure. Even the mule deer are everywhere, and the extra side-light would be nice.

 

[Jeepguy03]

I've never dealt with the Cibies but I have the IPF housings and love the beam pattern. They have a sharp low beam cut off that looks close to HID projectors. The high beams also have a nice spread and the housings are good quality. My friend rode with me one night and liked the housings enough to buy some for his own XJ.

I have the IPF housings, eAutoworks.com H4 harness, and Hella 90/130w bulbs off Amazon.

 

[lazyxj]

I run the IPF housing and friends use the Cibie and Hellas. All of them have the European style E-Code patterns and are high-quality, compared to the cheap, thin and easy to break Autopals.

An upgraded harness, bought or DIY, is essential for greater light output.
With an improved housing, run a high-wattage bulb to get the most illumination and bang for your buck
I use Hella 100/80-watt bulbs in the more conventional yellow-white color.
None of that fake HID blue light for me.

 

[O-Gauge Steamer]

I ran Cibie Oscars on my Triumph way back in the early 70s... Talk about not being in compliance with DOT. The folks at Cibie have been making advanced lighting product for generations.... I like them and most likely will be replacing my stock junk with them this spring.

 

[Alaskan89XJ]

...little update. I tried to do what I suggested to you as per demos. re: the two light systems head-to-head. Failed! I've seen some seperate images from those on perhaps this site, as well as others.., revealing the patterns, etc. Anyway, on my search to give you the best advice, as per this date, I wanted to see if I could even further upgrade my headlights.., albeit more of a curiosity on my part. Hmmm... I was surprised to see so much disappointed IPF users. Seems their quality control has gone downhill, or design changes are less than desirable.., hmmm... don't know what the real deal is about them, but the fact remains that there are a lot of complaints.., see for yourself. Maybe they are made in godless commie china now! (Remember, every dollar we send to china supports their industrial drive to fulfill their "declared unrestricted warfare" against the West, i.e., US, as in the U.S.A.). Anyway, some say the glass on the CIBIES are thicker than the IPF. Whatever.., just get some rectangle wire stone guard protectors. Those are useful for any headlight. Set should only set you back under twenty bucks.

I have never read anyone with IPF's describe the difference in overall spread differences between the CIBIE's to the IPF's.

Once had some lucas aux. lights on my '61 Porsche. One displayed a sharp rectangle light about 180 degrees to the horizontal, and from the bumper, immediately downwards, and out to about a 100 feet. Those were the best I've ever had, lol, yet the Brits, when discussing upgrades frown upon the now defunct simple Lucas products, i.e., in order to get into restorations, etc. Their 'pencil beam' lights would light up bascially just a two lane road, i.e., before it became 4 lane Interstate 80, some mile out! Problem with that was that with the headlights on, with both the wide, and pencil beams, every freak'ing rabbit in the neighborhood would come to the light, and that's the last thing they would see, as travelling at 90mph, was just a constant thump, thump thump, etc., lol, kindof nightmarish.

Anyway, the CIBIE lows have great side to side coverage, and then going to highs.., is a big difference. Startling I say, similar as to just only running the Lucas beams descriped above . If I had a camera, and could figure out how to do it, I'd send in some pics. Maybe someone here will do it to theirs.., meaning both IPF, and CIBIE camps, and describing the wattages they use. Best comparison would be two views, one from each company, with the same wattage bulbs types, in order to really make a glass dispersion look see as per their crystal splayings. Seems like the industry types do not want us to really 'see' what the results would be like by buying their product. It's like left to us to share the reality of those alleged results.., no easy task, 'eh? ::

 

[Johnnie Walker]

I currently run IPF H4 housings, they are wort the cost.

 

[dieselenthusiast]

Here’s the info that I got from Daniel Stern. Do I want the built-in parking lamp or not? I can’t see why it would be a huge benefit, but maybe I’m missing something here.

"Pair of Cibie replaceable-bulb headlamp units (best-focused,
most-efficient units in production), Part number 82440
$74.95/ea without built-in parking lamp or part number 82438
$75.95/ea with built-in parking lamp. This is a small 5w
bulb ($4.24/ea) that sticks through the lamp's reflector
into the lamp itself, a couple of inches away from the main
headlight bulb, via a socket and grommet. "City light" is a
common casual term for this. The official
European/international term is "front position lamp". North
American terminology calls them "parking lamps". It is
_only_ a parking lamp, not capable of producing an effective
or legal daytime running light or turn signal function no
matter what bulb is installed.
Custom-built relay harness, ready to install, part number
HARN-RIK2, $139

Bulbs, Osram 70/65w, part number 64205, $22/ea.

Optional: Bulbs, front sidemarker light, 60% brighter, part
number WX6W, $4.24/ea."

 

[Talyn]

IPFs and Cibies are both good lights. I prefer the Cibie beam pattern a bit better as I think the cut off it a bit sharper. I run Narva 100/90w bulbs.

As for the built in parking lamp I have it and its cute, but not really useful. I wouldn't get it again.

 

[Alaskan89XJ]

Yeah.., I agree about the little lamps.., cute, but unnecessary. Think I plugged up the holes, can't remember, lol. I did order the harness, as I did not want to try to make one up in the dark, parked outside on the snow, etc. Big hassle. Figured I save time, (thus money), just ordering it all in one shot. The harness is really well built, i.e., overbuilt. Fits very, very well.., since it is custom to the XJ. Set-up time was quick, relatively speaking, lol. D.S. is really busy, has a life, so unless your timing is perfect, be patient. When parts arrive, probably two different boxes, i.e., two different days.., you will be happy with the results. However, remember the lights must be adjusted differently to the DOT types, and will have a pattern that will take some time to adjust to. After a couple of months I am still finding them a bit difficult to mentally get used to.., at least at the wattage bulbs I am using. I can imagine the higher wattages other members are using, might be superior.., albeit more illegal than mine. I'm at the threshold as a DD. For off-road, or way lonely one lane dirt roads, or long expanses across a desert, I would expect the higher wattage bulbs would be great. In the lattermost case, those headlights five miles away coming at you could be a cop.., and guess what?

 

[Talyn]

Mine is a DD and the higher wattage bulbs are not a problem if your lights are aimed correctly. In the 9 or so years I have owned the Cibies I have gotten flashed only a handful of times. I have gotten flashed more in a vehicle with stock lamps.

 

[FlexdXJ]

If you are looking for superior lighting do an HID retrofit, thats the only way you're gonna get great light out of an XJ without pissing off the lighting Nazis on here. I have autopal housings and DDMtuning HID's in mine and its bright but its not the best pattern. That said I don't get flashed very often and when I do its usually a really low car, proper aim helps a bunch!

 

[Darky]

If you are looking for superior lighting do an HID retrofit, thats the only way you're gonna get great light out of an XJ without pissing off the lighting Nazis on here. I have autopal housings and DDMtuning HID's in mine and its bright but its not the best pattern. That said I don't get flashed very often and when I do its usually a really low car, proper aim helps a bunch!

But HIDs in an H4 housing, especially Autopal, does piss of the lighting Nazis around here. It's only a matter of time before DanMan2k6 shows up to tell you how wrong you are...

 

[hubs97xj]

No, that's sbxj or whatever, with the foil taped-together projector setup, that thinks we're all mouth-breathing retards.

 

[cnjcherokee]

Does anyone know where to find a plug and play wiring harness? Im having trouble

 

[FlexdXJ]

But HIDs in an H4 housing, especially Autopal, does piss of the lighting Nazis around here. It's only a matter of time before DanMan2k6 shows up to tell you how wrong you are...

I know he's lurking somewhere! I want some retrofits but I'd rather have a cage!

 

[Alaskan89XJ]

cnjcherokee--

Check out posts #4, & #9. Google. Also, if you look around this site as per the harness upgrade, you will find other brands, with pros, and cons.

 

[iwannadie]

If you are looking for superior lighting do an HID retrofit, thats the only way you're gonna get great light out of an XJ without pissing off the lighting Nazis on here. I have autopal housings and DDMtuning HID's in mine and its bright but its not the best pattern. That said I don't get flashed very often and when I do its usually a really low car, proper aim helps a bunch!

You don't have a HID retrofit, you have an unsafe/illegal HID hack job.

 

[Frankkl]

I installed a set of Bosch H4 housing with Silverstar bulbs and the results are great. No upgraded harness.